pgp282: Love & Hip Hop, Not!

I want to start this post by saying that Love & hip Hop is a disgrace to all things Hip Hop but I have to at least acknowledge the superficial nature that does exist within the new Hip Hop Culture. I can’t help that in seeing the name “Love & Hip Hop”, I actually expected to see a show of real artists showing their love for the music and community, expressing how Hip Hop has inspired them, showing their influence on hip hop. I expected to see a few battles, hear some good beats, see some records spinning, and be taken inside the studios. I wanted to see some dude in dirty jeans kicking it on a brick wall writing down lyrics in a composition notebook. I wanted to see what caused me to LOVE Hip Hop, not what makes me cringe every time I hear the term.

I don’t hate Hip Hop, I just despise what mainstream media and commercialized industries have turned it into. I could go on and on on that point alone but this is about “Love & Hip Hop, Not!” as I call it.

To begin, this is a show that’s supposed to follow four women whose only common bond to hip-hop is the men they date. Maybe they threw love in the title just to make it seem more appealing or to fool real hip-hop heads into watching at least one episode but first of all, if your own connection to hip-hop is the man you date then a more adequate title is “Golddiggers Who Love Men in Hip-Hop!”

The shows description says, “These four women struggle against shifting loyalties, family drama, and the pressure of trying to make it in the hip hop game”. The only loyalty in this show is MONEY, the family drama is baby mamas, and trying to make it in the hip hop game is these chics trying to ride the coat tail of any rapper that they can. Another show of fake hair, fake nails, fake everything…. And no, I don’t have a problem with women that like to wear weaves, if that’s your thing then do you boo! However, I do have a problem with women that have no ambition or goals for themselves, women who use children as golden tickets out of poverty, women who make it ok to cheat as long as you’re throwing them some bread, and women that show no respect towards one another.

Furthermore, the shows description goes on to say;

“Emily lives her life behind closed doors. She is rapper Fabolous’ girlfriend and the mother of their two year-old son…a fact not many people know. To most, she’s known mainly as Fab’s stylist. Emily never walks the red carpet with him and he never publicly claims her as his girl…maintaining his image as the eternal bachelor. She has waited eight years for things to change but will Fabolous ever be marriage material? “… Insert blank stare here _____ o-O

Is this the type of foolishness that we want our children growing up believing? If a man will not take you anywhere, only acknowledges you as his stylist, and refuses to acknowledge anything else between you, sorry boo but you’re a jump-off, a chop down… That is not a relationship. I will not have my nieces, cousins, or sisters to look at this and believe that anything about the above description is ok. Is this what we’re settling for? You have got to be kidding me.

I’m asking myself if the 2.5 million people that tuned in for the premiere were as duped as I was into believing for a moment that this would be a credible show.  And to think that they are thinking of branching this show out to other cities. This is a broke-down, hood glamorized version of Real Housewives; and not even the Orange County episodes, but the Atlanta episodes. Hood meets TV dressed up in stilettos.

Love & Hip Hop is nothing but a new spin on an old thing… And that old this is another way to exploit our community. But what is worse is that we are allowing ourselves to systematically be made a fool of, one reality show after another. From Flavor of Love to For The Love of Ray J and I Love New York, while love is a common theme in these shows, there is no love there. They take the most dysfunctional foolishness that they can find and call it reality. Reality for whom? I know my mother would STILL split my wig if she caught me acting anything like these chicks do. And yes, I called them chicks not chics because a chic is attractive, fashionable, stylish, and smart. A youngin that hasn’t reached adult stage and is no more than part of a flock.

AtlTomGirl (aka Nykieria Chaney) is encrypting her mark on the world through her many dynamic talents. Taking the U.S. Spoken Word scene by storm, Chaney has performed at many of the world renowned open mic hot-spots through out the US. in addition to hosting gspot radio show, Nykieria is active in the LGBT community and a strong advocate of HIV Awareness.

As a Spoken Word Artist, Open Mic Host, Playwright, Radio Show Host, Motivational Speaker and so much more, she continually proves herself as an indubitable word-smith.

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