While Hip Hop is now a widely accepted form of music, at is core is it not about conformity, or adherence to social norms or conventions, or being acceptable to the powers that be. Hip hop is about rebellion, revolution, defiance, and non-conformity. One of the best representations of this core of hip hop is the Wu-Tang Clan, lead masterfully in its early days by Robert Diggs, aka the RZA. As RZA and the rest of the Clan emerged from the 36 Chambers they weren’t seeking mainstream acceptance they were audio iconoclast, challenging what Hip Hop historically sounded like and America society at large.

Ultimately Hip Hop and America adapted to the Clan with its alchemical mixture of the wisdom of the Nation of Gods and Earth’s (Supreme mathematics), Black Nationalism, and the realities of growing up in poverty in NY. In other words Wu-Tang didn’t conform to society at large, they stood out and dared anyone who didn’t value their neck to say something. So to hear the leader of a legendary group like this insinuate that by not wearing a hoodie, buttoning up your shirt, and cleaning up your appearance African American men can protect themselves from police violence, is stunning.

In the context of a discuss regarding the Black Lives Matters movement and issues related to policing RZA commented “When you think about some of the brothers who are being brutalized by the police, you also got to have them take a look, and us take a look , in the mirror, at the image we portray.” He went on to state “I tell my sons, I say, if you’re going somewhere, you don’t have to wear a hoodie–we live in New York, so a hoodie and all that is all good. But sometimes, you know, button up your shirt. Clean up.”1.  After the inevitable response from social media occurred RZA responded on Twitter to the criticisms that were raised. He stated in part “How can an original black man be a coon &sell out? You best look deep into my words &make an assessment….I could never condone police brutality or any form of injustice and oppression…..Knowledge of self means studying self to improve self. Peace. I’m not condemning the kids for their garments. We live we should learn and evolve. When are we men at 21 or 41?”2.

I’ve been pondering RZA’s comments and his response to the criticism raised. It’s hard for me not be in complete agreement with the widespread condemnation that’s been offered in response to his comments. But there is a part of me that hesitates because I’ve heard family members say essentially the same thing. “Don’t be out in the world dressed like no one cares about you” was something my Grandmother would tell me when I was younger. Those words rattle around in my head when see young people on the metro, about the same age I was when I was first listening to Wu-Tang Forever or RZA’s album Bobby Digital. When I see them are some of jeans a little too low? Are their voices a little too loud? Yes they are, so was mine when I playing Built Only For Cuban Linx with by peanut butter tims and Sony Walkman at full blast, that’s the point isn’t it? It’s that old cliché why fit in when you can stand out. What could be more hip hop than that?

Further the notion in RZA’s comments that an individual’s clothing choices can positively affect their level of safety when dealing with the police is unrealistic at best and raises the spectre of According to the ACLU in the first three quarters of 2015 18,351 people were stopped by the police.3 Of those stopped 83% were people of color (54% Black, 29% percent Latino). (In case you were wondering 14,795 were innocent). Among those thousands stopped some had to have worn hoodies, some had to have worn suits, in the end it didn’t matter. Eric Gardner lost his life in an encounter with the police in Shaolin, aka Staten Island New York. He was wearing a t-shirt and jeans, it didn’t matter.

RZA is a Hip Hop legend, I’m sure he understands the culture on a level that I don’t. But I know that suggesting that young people dress differently, which won’t make them safer in interactions with police, is about conformity. It feels like a repudiation of the path that he blazed on his way to Hip Hop immortality. That path was based on speaking truth to power, on telling society that their sugar coated reality was lacking in substance, and then providing the soundtrack to a generation refuting that society that said in part “why can’t you put on a suit a tie and be respectable.” People shouldn’t have to conform to gain freedom from stereotypes, real Hip Hop is the antithesis of that. In the end after reflecting on his comments it just feels like…Bobby Digital went analog.

 

1. http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2016-01-07/rza-on-hillary-clinton-succeeding-barack-obama-that-s-a-one-two-punch-
2. http://www.musictimes.com/articles/61283/20160111/rza-responds-criticism-over-comments-regarding-black-youth.htm

3. http://www.nyclu.org/content/stop-and-frisk-data