The Hip Hop Wars Quotes

“Cowardly silence aside, these executives could not have transformed commercial hip hop into a playground for destructive street icons alone. Clearly, the corporate takeover of commercial hip hop has also been facilitated, directly or indirectly, by artists (especially those who have become moguls and entrepreneurs) who gleefully rap about guns and bitches, liberal and conservative critics and academics, and journalists who uncritically profile these artists and hip hop fans of all races, classes, and genders. This shift was not inevitable; it was allowed to happen.”
― Tricia Rose, The Hip Hop Wars: What We Talk About When We Talk About Hip Hop--and Why It Matters

“Powerful corporate interests that dominate radio, television, record production, magazines, and all other related hip hop promotional venues are choosing to support and promote negative images above all others—all the while pretending that they are just conduits of existing conditions, and making excuses about these images being "reality.”
― Tricia Rose, The Hip Hop Wars: What We Talk About When We Talk About Hip Hop--and Why It Matters

“What do fans, artists, and writers mean when they defend an escalating, highly visible, and extensive form of misogyny against black women by claiming that there are bitches and hoes? And how have they gotten away with this level of hateful labeling of black women for so long?”
― Tricia Rose, The Hip Hop Wars: What We Talk About When We Talk About Hip Hop--and Why It Matters

“The criticism that hip hop advocates and thus causes violence relies on the unsubstantiated but widely held belief that listening to violent stories or consuming violent images directly encourages violent behavior.”
― Tricia Rose, The Hip Hop Wars: What We Talk About When We Talk About Hip Hop--and Why It Matters