Prof. Griff Calls Out Contemporary Artists For Supporting The Exploitation Of Their Own Culture
Thursday, August 27th, 2009
Hip-hop pioneer takes local artists to task
Posted by Federico Martinez | Muskegon Chronicle August 27, 2009 06:03AM
MUSKEGON HEIGHTS — The question: “Who is the face of hip-hop today? Whoever says ‘Jay-Z’ is an idiot,” Prof Griff of the legendary hip-hop group Public Enemy bluntly responded during a recent forum in Muskegon Heights.
Griff was addressing more than 150 people who attended the event, which was held Saturday at the Muskegon Heights Boxing Club. The program, sponsored by local radio station 103.7 The Beat, is one of a series of culturally related workshops that the station is hosting this year.“The face of hip-hop today is white — white, corporate America,” added Griff. Griff’s lecture was titled “Black Music: The Psycho Analytical Destruction of a Stolen Legacy,” and anyone thinking they could cruise through this class was quickly put on notice by “The Professor.” ”You’re not going to agree with everything I’m going to say, I’m just going to tell you that from the beginning,” said Griff. “Those people who are going to get angry and red-faced with me, that’s fine too, because I have to move you out of your comfort zone.
“If you listen to the local radio station and you’re digging what’s going on the station and you’re going down to the club and partying into that same madness, you’re going to have a problem with The Professor today,” he continued. “If you think — someone on the panel said Jay Z is the face of hip-hop — if you think he is, you’re definitely going to have a problem with Griff today.”
With that, Griff served up a music history lesson that highlighted the contributions of socially conscious singers and musicians such as Marvin Gaye, Nina Simone, Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin and Curtis Mayfield. He also pointed out that the roots of hip-hop stem not just from music, but also poetry.
PROF GRIFF AUDIO
• Prof Griff Part 1
• Prof Grifff Part 2Some of the early rap and hip-hop pioneers include Gil Scott-Heron and Afrika Bambaataa, he said.
Griff argued that the white music industry has profited from black music — including jazz, blues, R&B, rap and hip-hop — for years. The same music industry frequently rewards black performers who live up to negative stereotypes, such as the rap “gangsta,” he said.
