Prophets of the Hood has truly been a fascinating read. I knew on some level that hip hop is very complex, but I have never taken the time to seriously think about it or dissect it. I've been thinking a good deal about the last chapter, where Perry comments on the direction hip hop is moving. She says that "status is attached to the goods, not in the mimicry of white privilege, but rather in an effort to recast status." She also says that hip hop's extreme consumerism can mark a form of subversion, but that it is also related to the larger capitalist framework and culture that hip hop exists within.

I see two sides of a contradiction at play here. One is the effort to create a Black culture that is its own, that values Blackness and innovates in a society that constantly devalues Blackness. The other side of the contradiction is still existing within that very society while trying to escape it, in a way. Perhaps to be more clear, what I'm trying to say is that hip hop tries to subvert racist culture and ideology, but in order to do so it still defines itself in relation to such ideology. It is impossible to create something completely separate and independent. I have been thinking about this because it seems that one is not truly escaping the oppression they face if they are constantly defining themselves in a negative reaction to it. To give another example, my friend chose not to learn how to cook because it is what women are supposed to do, and she did not want to fit into the stereotype. But she did not make that decision because she had no interest in cooking, rather she was reacting negatively to sexism. Is this being liberated from sexism if you are still reacting in relation to it?

Then again, is it even possible not to do that? And is hip hop trying to be a truly liberating force, or to give some sense of reprieve and distinct culture within this society? It seems to me that there are limits to trying to create something liberating while still existing within a racist society. No matter what, one will be reacting in a negative relation to the racist ideology. Therefore, I think that hip hop has the ability to create space for limited liberation, but it is still saturated with racism and sexism, whether directly or in directly, that it is quite limited. We would have to destroy racism before truly independent and liberating culture can be produced.