Young, Black, Rich and Famous

I really enjoyed reading the article, “Young, Black, Rich and Famous ‘Ball, hip hop, and the Redefinition of the American dream” by Todd Boyd. The article was well written and it basically discussed the merger between basketball and the hip hop culture, and the person he consider the driving force behind the merger, Allen Iverson. During the period when this article was written Allen Iverson was in his prime of his NBA career to date. With a MVP trophy on his resume, repeated deep playoff runs, and a great marketing scheme by reebok Allen Iverson was easily one of the top, if not, thee top player in the NBA. I like the way Boyd (2003) examined the relationship between hip hop and the NBA, stating that Allen Iverson’s “Supreme indifference to conventional, taste, or standards is what makes Iverson such a lightning rod for controversy and a hero for hip hop”.

The first paragraph after the subtitle “Real Recognize Real” is really what caught my eye, and if you’re reading this blog right now it is essential that you go back and reexamine this passage. This really caught my eye when reading this article; Boyd makes some strong but, very true statements in my opinion. I feel that some different aspects of White society have attempted to censor Black culture because it’s not thought to be part of a particular way of life. I think people focus on the negative issues of hip hop too much and not the positives. Hip hop serves as a major outlet to reach the American public some see it as the epitome of hip and cool in society. (Boyd, 2003) I think this is also true hip hop has so much influence on society just look at the rumors about Jay-z, part owner of the New Jersey Nets, he and Lebron James are very close friends and there is speculation that the New Jersey Nets will attempt to sign Lebron in the summer of 2010. Hip hop will forever have correlation with the NBA, after all, athletes and artists are so similar, both being young, Black, rich and famous.