Out of the mouths of babes.
I was shell-shocked recently when I walked into Detroit’s Cooley High School to speak during their Career Day. The kids are huge, many of the girls and almost all of the boys are taller than my 5 feet 7 inches. They are loud. Bopping down the hallways with mp3 players on their ears, unable to separate themselves from music for even the five minutes between classes. “That’s a whole song!” they exclaim when I inquire. They were fascinating.
Chris “Kazi” Rolle, the founder of The Hip Hop Project, a successful after-school program and now a critically acclaimed film, said that the thing that he did to get through the teenagers of the so-called “lost” generation, was to listen to them.
It was so simple, it was scary. Listen to them. Stop talking at them, stop talking about them. But listen to what is important to them, and listen to how they feel, and how life is treating them. Then, you will learn how to help them.
So, as I went from class to class, talking to different grades. Mrs. Rowley’s first hour was very attentive. They wanted to know who my favorite people to interview were, and how I got into entertainment journalism. They wanted to know the keys to my success. I told them, READ. Read a book, everyday for at least 15 minutes. Not just hood books, but real books, and expand your mind. They promised that they would as they listened to me with rapt attention. Then, I asked them what they wanted to be. There was one rapper, a few doctors, a couple lawyers, no teachers, one artist, and a bunch of others who had no idea, and I assured them, that’s okay.
Mr. Blackwell’s second hour was a little different. I walked in as he and a female student were having a heated discussion. She practically told him to shut up, “Hey.” I said, “That’s not nice.” and she looked at me like I was crazy, I could hear her mind telling me to mind my business. I gave them the career spiel, and then got down to it. Pulling up a chair, I asked them, “What kind of music do you like?” They love Lil Wayne, all of them. They also like Fantasia and other R&B singers. They aren’t really feeling Bow Wow, and there were only a couple Jay-Z fans in the bunch, which horrified me. They don’t really like Nas either. Amazingly, they aren’t even feeling Pretty Ricky.
I asked them, and Mrs. Dozier’s third hour History class, what they don’t like about hip hop, and they said, “the cussing”. The kids think there is too much profanity in the music, and they don’t like all the “B’s and H’s and the N-Word.” I was shocked! This from the “lost” generation, the little brothers and sisters with the pants hanging off their butts, and headphones glued to their ears, oblivious to space and time… They don’t like bad language?! “No.” they said. They think it is a bad influence and it makes their friends say bad things and their little brothers and sisters say bad words. They like to buy the clean versions of albums, it’s easier to listen to and less offensive. (Shocked)
Then I asked them, “Are you guys burning CD’s?” Not really, they responded. They would rather have the real thing. They want the cover, and the inserts. They want to read the credits, and they think that real CD’s don’t scratch as easily. Plus, there is a certain prestige in having the real one. However, they are broke teenagers, and if they really want it, they will get it the way they can afford it. Bootleg. But, they assured me, if the prices were a little lower, like $9.99, they would always buy the real thing, which would lead to a decrease in piracy, which would save the industry money. This is a tactic the major record companies have never considered.
Even more interesting was the radio conversation. “How many of you guys call and request songs on the radio” There were two or less in every class. They don’t like the radio. “They play the same thing, over and over.” Then you get the CD, and you listen to every song, but that one. They aren’t really feeling all of the southern dance music, or even the songs that were supposedly meant just for them like Lil Mama’s “Lipgloss” or “Chicken Noodle Soup.” They complained that those songs aren’t talking about “nothing.” They want substance. They want rappers their age, who have something to say, like they do…
If only someone would just listen.
