Faculty Interview with Fine Arts Chairman, Professor Joe Selmon

For our group presentation, we were supposed to interview a faculty memeber about our topic. My group, New Group 5, chose to discuss the discussion of how Black America views Hip-Hop. Every generation has had some type of music that has revolutionized their generation but that has also been rejected by those older than them. Even watching "Ray" (starring Jamie Foxx and Kerry Washington), there were scenes where Ray Charles was screamed at to leave the stage because he was playing "that devil music". He was taking traditional church songs and turning them into soul music and people didn't like that. Is that the same thing that is happening to us? I asked my chairman in the Theatre Arts Department, Joe Selmon, about how Black America views Hip-Hop. Oddly enough, he not only gave me great insight to take back to my group for our presentations but he mentioned many of the things that Dr. Pollard said in his presentation on hip-hop. While he said he doesn't care for hip-hop too much because of the images that it comes with, he said there is no denying the impact that it carries and there is also no denying that have made a positive impact in this world. The first name out of this mouth happened to be Public Enemy and their star track "Fight the Power". He said coming from a militant background where Black people in this country were proactive about their concerns, Public Enemy was instrumental in the "changing of the guard". He sees a lot of positivity in hip hop but he is beginning to see the problems with it. It doesn't promote education, it objectifies women, and it doesn't promote wise financial decisions. I would argue that much of the music before it did the same thing but that discussion is for another day. It was encouraging hearing from another source, especially the chairman of my department, that he appreciates the contributions that hip-hop has had on the world he continues to live in. Great interview!