Liberator 4.4
Mos Def's "Katrina Klap:" Is He Serious?!
words: Kamille Whittaker
 

I'm typically not one to critique anyone's creative expression, but I'm officially disenchanted with the direction our cultural artists are choosing to take in regards to social commentary, particularly Mos Def, who was the first from the Hip Hop camp to release a musical retort to the government's response to Hurricane Katrina. The mainstream media hailed his release, "Katrina Klap," as "taking the president to task," and "leading the charge" against the government.

I beg to differ.

The ditty was lackluster, at best, and that's just from an artistic standpoint (yes, I'm judging "art"). Socially and politically it was a gross mishandling (albeit unintentional) of the power and responsibility that cultural artists, like Mos Def, have.

In his book, "The Crisis of the Negro Intellectual," Harold Cruse speaks extensively of this power, and more specifically, on the role of the artist in the public sphere. Historically, the role of the artist has been intimately intertwined with social movement. Wherever there were massive artistic and cultural movements (i.e. Harlem Renaissance), social and at times political movements were not far behind. In fact, they often occurred simultaneously. Thus, the artist has been the composer of the social agenda, and rightly so. Art, AUTHENTIC art, has the potential to be revolutionary. It can change concepts and educate consciousness--provided it stays away from the sentiments du jour.

So why then, are we hearing crickets after one of Hip Hop's more intellectually adept and self-proclaimed leader officially "took the president to task?"

Perhaps what we are "hearing" is evidence of the debilitating nature of cultural power misused. It's both stifling and stagnating. There's more to the Katrina situation than what Mos Def rhymes about, yet since we are easily riled and likewise, easily pacified, everyone is content with Mos Def simply "saying something." Is that it? Has he fulfilled his duties?

Indeed, Rapper Kanye West is to be commended for coming out first and garnering the world's attention. But the next move was not to have every other artist come out and say the same, exact thing, rather it was to expound upon it, and reinforce it with the cogency that it needed in the first place. Just consider the dialectical discussion that could have stemmed from Kanye's statement...with the world listening? Instead, the current trend (which is endemic to black culture) is to just repeat the same statement over and over hoping that the shock value will continue to shock. Even if there was any merit initially, it loses its impact and potency solely on the dynamics of repetition.

I fear that in its most critical moment to date, Mos Def's inability to expand the breadth of the discussion may have made the hip hop community irrelevant.

Here's why. We must be wary of being so enamored by someone actually speaking up and going out on a limb that we forget to hold them to some sort of standards (as any constituency should do their leader).

The questions to be asked are: who is the audience? To whom are we speaking? How do we avoid preaching to the choir? Who's we and who's the choir? If the choir does need preaching to (which in most cases it does), is what we are saying thought-provoking, engaging and mobilizing? Most importantly, are we listening to the needs and sentiments of the community? Harold Cruse calls it establishing a cultural critique. The moment that we are content and satisfied with merely "saying something" is when we have lost confidence in our ability to be collectively critical, analytical, strategic and effective. We have lost faith in the potential reach of our words and the collective agreement that could possibly ensue.

So what is so unsettling about Mos' ditty? Everything he's said has already been said-- from the man with no teeth in the street to Jesse Jackson-- which does not necessarily make it insignificant by any means (yawn-inducing maybe, but not insignificant). It's just that we've collectively moved onto the next level of discourse--exploring the political, cultural, historical, and economic implications of Hurricane Katrina-- so essentially, it makes Mos a regurgitating lager that could possibly have stymied the effectiveness of our constructive dialogue. After all, when Mos speaks, people most definitely listen and he has already spoken. Now, who else do we have in our arsenal, Lil' Jon? Scary.