h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Crikey, glad you posted that Happy. I like Rammstein. Course, I don't actually speak German, but still...

Now that's an interesting sub question in itself. Is it ok to take music etc as seperate from the views of the composers and/or the views expressed by the songs? I don't pay much attention to lyrics at the best of times...

Depends on the songs and the messages, I think. Personally, I do pay a lot of attention to lyrics, because clever or meaningful lyrics make the song more enjoyable to me. It's why I never really got into the whole grunge phenomenon... most of the lyrics were inherently meaningless.

If it's just one song from a band I usually like, I'll just cringe inside and skip over it on the CD. But if there's a lot of lyrics that make me uncomfortable, it just puts me off their music entirely.

There are entire genres of music I won't listen to because I don't like their lyrics.

Speaking of that, and still on topic slightly, do you think the popularity of rap and hip hop music will break down racial barriers eventually? It's sort of hard to hate an entire group of people when you really like the music they make (rap being an almost exclusively African-American phenomenon in the US), isn't it?

But what if you really hate that kind of music? Does it make the division deeper?

Good point. No, I don't think so. I'm not particularly fond of most rap, but then again, I've never been particularly interested in what race someone is, either. I once had a Navajo woman tell me I didn't like her because she wasn't white, to which I replied that I didn't like her because she was lazy at work and I had to do my job and most of hers. I wouldn't have liked her if she was green with purple spots and from Venus...it had to do with her as a person, not with her ethnicity.

I guess I was still thinking of the idea of teens and hate groups. If the predominant music for teens is rap, then the likelihood of a young teen rap fan getting into a white power lifestyle is lower, yes?

Rap's pretty big in Russia, both American bands and a home grown variety. I must say I saw this as a very positive sign. But I was having a chat with some of my teenage students and they were saying that the problem is that there is tension between people who like that music and the whole scene, and those who explicitly see this and the music itself as a bad thing simply because of the fact that they see it as a black thing. By 'tension' I mean actual feuding gangs or groups, whether they be part of an actual organisation, or more spontaneous collective. So liking rap music turns into a bold statement of exactly where you stand rather than a fashion thing which gently eases prejudice. Or even a simple matter of musical taste.

I dislike rap for bad lyrics and annoying noises. And I dislike the rap scene because it teaches violence, ignorance, and drug abuse. Race don't enter into it... these are terrible traits in anybody.

Though I must admit, the fashions are good for comic value.

"And all the girlies say I'm pretty fly... for a white guy"