4 Niggativity
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Scott Wilson
Abstract
On the eve of the neoconservative war against Iraq, Admiral Timothy Keating evoked an old mainstream hip-hop hit as his battle cry. Gangsta rap irrupts in the midst of this war in which deregulated capitalism provides the conditions of survival and combat. The term 'niggativity', indeed, which would seem a highly appropriate term to describe the attitude of Niggaz With Attitude (NWA), was actually coined by Chuck D himself on his solo album the Autobiography of Mistah Chuck. On this album, the ambivalence of niggativity is directly addressed and clear lines are drawn between progressive and non-progressive forms of African-American negativity. In academic commentary on the aesthetic of hip-hop, claims have been made for it as both a postmodern form and a form that is intrinsically African-American in its rejection of linear Western musical models.
Abstract
On the eve of the neoconservative war against Iraq, Admiral Timothy Keating evoked an old mainstream hip-hop hit as his battle cry. Gangsta rap irrupts in the midst of this war in which deregulated capitalism provides the conditions of survival and combat. The term 'niggativity', indeed, which would seem a highly appropriate term to describe the attitude of Niggaz With Attitude (NWA), was actually coined by Chuck D himself on his solo album the Autobiography of Mistah Chuck. On this album, the ambivalence of niggativity is directly addressed and clear lines are drawn between progressive and non-progressive forms of African-American negativity. In academic commentary on the aesthetic of hip-hop, claims have been made for it as both a postmodern form and a form that is intrinsically African-American in its rejection of linear Western musical models.
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Front matter i
- Contents v
- List of figures vi
- Acknowledgements vii
- 1 Introduction 1
- 2 Supercapitalism 16
- 3 Negativity 40
- 4 Niggativity 64
- 5 X-essence of the wigga 80
- 6 Big Momma Thang 97
- 7 Mom and pop rage 109
- 8 Columbine 126
- 9 Rage of the machine 143
- 10 Bass spirituality 157
- 11 All is war 168
- Bibliography 187
- Discography 194
- Index 196
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Front matter i
- Contents v
- List of figures vi
- Acknowledgements vii
- 1 Introduction 1
- 2 Supercapitalism 16
- 3 Negativity 40
- 4 Niggativity 64
- 5 X-essence of the wigga 80
- 6 Big Momma Thang 97
- 7 Mom and pop rage 109
- 8 Columbine 126
- 9 Rage of the machine 143
- 10 Bass spirituality 157
- 11 All is war 168
- Bibliography 187
- Discography 194
- Index 196
