Blogs


ABOUT ME


  • » Name: Amanda Bassa
  • » Location: VA
  • » Member Since: 09/21/07
  • » Bio: student, future change maker, and everything you wouldn't expect me to be.
  • » Contact Me:
  • » Syndicate: RSS RSS

MY RECENT POSTS



MY CALENDAR


  January 2008  
S M T W T F S
    1 2 3 4 5
6 7 8 9 10 11 12
13 14 15 16 17 18 19
20 21 22 23 24 25 26
27 28 29 30 31    
« Dec Feb »

MY TAGS


2007 • aids • album sales • art • barack obama • basketball • beijing olympics • bill clinton • bush • china • college • cops • crime • d.c. • darfur • dc • dead prez • deonte rawlings • displacement • dmv • downloading • drugs • e-thuggery • election • endorsement • ernie paniccioli • excessive force • films • florida • free • frosty freeze • gangs • gentrification • go go • go-go • google • heroin • hillary clinton • hip hop • hip hop honors • hiv • hype • illegal downloading • immortal technique • injustice • irv gotti • jay-z • judah • justice • kanye west • lil wayne • longevity • m1 platoon • mafia • mainstream • mark ronson • marky • mary read • media • mixtapes • music • myspace • n-word • nandomcflyy • nas • new york • o'reilly • obama • old school • olympics • oprah • parenting • police brutality • politics • positivity • radio • reggae • rock steady crew • rock the bells • russia • sampling • sean bell • sean taylor • sex • shootings • soundtracks • supernatural • television • terrorism • tibet • tv • tyra banks • underground • vh1 • virginia tech • wale • war • x.o.

MY FAVORITES




The Undisputed Truth

Hip Hop 101


January 21, 2008 | Tags: Hip Hop, college

It’s no secret that I am dreading my return to school this week*. Seeing as how I’m four years deep into the pursuit of my undergraduate degree, I’m now at that point where I only need something like two more classes to finish my major’s requirements (in this case, and in true college system fashion, one is a prerequisite to the other and the prereq isn’t being offered this semester – another plot to keep me there longer and keep yanking my loot). You know what this means? Time to load up on the most random of classes, with the most wonderfully rated** professors that I can find.

One of these classes ended up being a course on hip hop that happened to fit nicely into my schedule. I should be excited about this, but I’m afraid it may end up being the first thing I drop in my frenzy to reduce my credit load to the lowest level possible that it can be in order to still maintain a full-time student status. See, I love hip hop. I truly love it. Why? Because it’s a part of my life. I don’t “research” hip hop by reading books on it or sitting through lectures. I live it, by having immersed myself in its elements firsthand. I really believe that it is damn near impossible to do the culture justice when you’re confined to the walls of a classroom. Just ask anybody that’s ever participated in a study abroad program.

Basically, I feel that the course may prove to be a large disappointment. Not only that, but I really detest classes at this point in my college career. And I’ll be damned if I ever experience an ounce of dislike towards hip hop, even if it’s just the fact that I may dread attending a class on the subject.

On top of all of that, I can’t even begin to fathom how I would feel if I had to start writing papers or something for this course. Imagine pouring your passionate thoughts onto paper about something near and dear to your heart…only to have them graded? By somebody supposedly “superior” to you? That thought alone makes me want to throw the textbooks (that I haven’t even purchased yet) at the nearest wall.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that I don’t have anything to learn. I’m sure there’s something I could take away from the class – I’m certainly no genius. However, the concept of literally being schooled on hip hop is unappealing to me. So is it just me, or does sitting through a class about a certain topic take the enjoyment out of it?

*Parking services – you can eat shit. That is all.

**Read: lenient, not caring about attendance, easy grading, low workload giving, etc...

------------------------------------------------------------

I'm going to keep doing this until I get word that Mr. Paniccioli is getting the support that he deserves. So on that note...have you bought one of Ernie's books yet? By the time you answer that question out loud, he may have released another. Keep your eyes on lulu.com for his latest.


The views and opinions expressed in this blog are those of the writer and not necessarily those of HipHopDX.com or Cheri Media Group.

0 Comments