What Can the Music Business Do About Gun Violence in Black Neighborhood?

Tiffany Purple is a Grammy-winning songwriter and songwriter advocate who has written hits for Jennifer Hudson, Fantasia, Jason Derulo and Zendaya, amongst others. She is founder and government director of the 100 Percenters, a 501 c3 group with the said purpose of advocating “for all music creatives with a concentrate on BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, Individuals of Coloration) and marginalized creatives.” She has spoken at size concerning the challenges confronted by songwriters and has written two Juneteenth essays for Selection.

A well-known rapper is gunned down, the music trade mourns, makes just a few statements, after which returns to enterprise as regular, selling content material that glorifies Black homicide and trauma.

How may anybody imagine that these photos and lyrics don’t affect the already traumatized psyche of Black America, and perpetuate dangerous stereotypes about Black individuals? I just lately posted a clip from Pastor Michael T. Smith’s TEDx Speak on my Instagram, the place he speaks on how Black homicide is a advertising and marketing technique. May the music trade show him incorrect? Sadly, proper now, the reply is not any. He says, “It doesn’t take motion to maintain racism going. It takes inaction.” 

So many are looking for a extra gradual strategy to handle anti-Blackness within the music trade, which I refuse to make. We’re in an epidemic! We’ve run out of time. Gun violence prevention group Brady states that “Gun murder (mass shootings, so-called “on a regular basis” violence, and police-involved shootings) is a common American risk. However Black People are 10 instances extra possible than White People to die from it. And Black youth fare even worse. Black kids and teenagers are 14 instances extra possible to die from gun murder than their White counterparts.” 

Primarily based on current media protection, it could seem to be the variety of rappers drying from gun violence is rising — however in actuality, this plague is ravaging your complete American Black male inhabitants. In 2020, 52% of all homicides in the united stateswere towards Black males — and so they characterize simply 6% of the united statespopulation. After the September homicide of Rakim Hasheem Allen — recognized to the world as PnB Rock — I started to teach myself on gun violence within the Black neighborhood, and folk, and the numbers are devastating. Within the metropolis of Philadelphia alone in 2020, 80% of homicides had been towards Black males. It ought to come as no shock that essentially the most harmful cities in our nation are additionally essentially the most impoverished.

So how can the music trade assist? Effectively, simply final 12 months, the U.S. music enterprise made $15 billion in income, with hip-hop being the No. 1 style — so it’s only proper that this trade do a greater job of supporting the communities the place the music comes from. This may be achieved in a number of methods, equivalent to higher funding for community-run outreach packages, conflict-resolution packages, mental-health packages, colleges, and after-school packages.  

Over 7,000 colleges round this nation now not have music packages, and people colleges are predominantly Black. The music trade generates far an excessive amount of cash off the backs of Black artists and Black tradition, so there isn’t a motive that it shouldn’t be considerably aiding our communities.  

The violence, the medication, and the gangster rap consequence from a lived expertise in an inhumane setting. Dwelling in these circumstances considerably impacts one’s psychological well being. Our neighborhood is affected by PTSD, paranoia, nervousness, melancholy, and a lot extra with out the assist wanted to work by means of these points and heal correctly. In the event you consciously take heed to lyrics from a few of the present gangster rap songs, you possibly can hear their ache and trauma. My coronary heart breaks for my brothers and sisters combating to make it out, attempting to not succumb to all of the negativity round them, and attempting to make a means for themselves after they don’t have many choices within the first place. It’s tragic.  

So, what can we do? Listed below are 4 issues I’d such as you to contemplate.  

1. Use acceptable language; exchange “rappers are dying from gun violence at a speedy charge” with “Black males are dying from gun violence at a speedy charge.”  

2. Learn the lyrics to a few of your favourite gangster rap songs. Soak up what the music is saying with out the beat, and ask your self if you happen to nonetheless assume the message is wholesome for the Black neighborhood.  

3. Put money into the underserved Black communities that gangster rap comes from nonetheless you possibly can.  

4. Signal the 100 Percenters anti-Blackness open letter.