Community and The World is obviously a pressing issue at large today. Many people are deeply concerned over our foreign relations and even internal struggles in our country such as the left versus the right. However, over the past two weeks, the readings and episodes of The Get Down I have reviewed have made me think about and question the theme of community and the globe.
Looking through these themes through a Hip-Hop lens isn’t too difficult because there are so obviously so many themes of community in the culture. In Episode 4 of The Get Down we see characters such as Fuerte struggle with money and have to face tough decisions such as talking badly about graffiti in order to raise money for his community. Watching this part of the show made me think of the reading The Making of a Hip-Hop Globe because it talked so largely about children of this era being suppressed by the powers at be. I connected to this immediately and it made me raise questions such as; What would I do if I was in Fuerte’s shoes? And I’m not quite sure I have the answer to that. On one hand, I see how raising an alarming $10 million dollars for the city would be amazing, but having to trash talk something I love so much (in my case music) would be a very difficult choice.
In Episode 5 of The Get Down the theme of community graduates from political to more artistic and musical which interested me very much. Specifically watching Zeke, Shao, and the Kipling brothers come together and grow as artists to prepare for their DJ battle against the Notorious Three. This scene made me think of the reading (Re)Building The Cypher because it discusses haveily how hip-hop need not be hyper-political and can be artistic and beautiful. This reading made me question how politics can bring communities together such as in the other reading, but can also be purely artistic and vocal.
Overall between the readings and the episodes of The Get Down, I pondered a lot on the theme of community. Hip-hop is a powerful sticky glue that can keep communities together which was clearly shown in all the media reviewed. I enjoyed this theme and I’m glad I was able to give my own thoughts and connections I processed.
