Can’t Knock the Hustle: The Dismal Ethos of Modern Hip Hop and Black Culture (w/ Jason A. England)

My guest for this episode is Jason A. England, acclaimed writer, cultural critic, and English professor. We use Jason's controversial piece lamenting the state of popular hip hop as an entry point into a broader conversation about the damaging effect the "can't knock the hustle" ethos has had on the music as well as Black culture writ large.

We discuss the illusory appeal of representation, inclusion, and symbolic politics for Black folks, including segments on the warped individualism cultivated by social media and the unfortunate popularity of consumption as resistance.

• Jason's Defector article: “50 Years Later, Is There Anything Left of Hip Hop?”

Listen to full episode:

Can’t Knock the Hustle: The Dismal Ethos of Modern Hip Hop and Black Culture (w/ Jason A. England)

Black etc podcast

Episode Notes:

• Bad Boy Records

• Jay-Z

  • “What’s the difference between a 4.0 & a 4.6…?” from “Imaginary Players”

  • Grammys boycott

  • “Inside the Louvre with Beyonce & Jay-Z” – Meredith Carey

• Master P

• Playboi Carti is Our Miles Davis – Nick Sylvester

• Ron G tapes

• Black Nixonian capitalism

• “Beware the Gentrification of Juneteenth”–Chris Thompson

• “Rap is Outta Control” – EPMD

• “How Hip Hop Conquered the World” – NYT Magazine

• MAGA rappers 

• Public Enemy

  • “Who gives a f*** about a g*damn Grammy” from “Terminator X to the Edge of Panic”

  • S1Ws

• X-Clan

• Jungle Brothers

• “In Leather Medallions and Hats, Symbol of Renewed Black Pride” - NYT Lifestyle, 7/30/1989

• Afrika Bambaataa

• KRS ONE

• #OscarsSoWhite

• A Tribe Called Quest

• Lil Nas X

• “One Fetish After Another: PTA Exploits Black Women and Averts Revolution” – Brooke Obie

• “The Original Sin of Sinners” – Dr. Jared Ball (imixwhatilike)

• poptimism

• “Lately” – Jodeci

• “Lately” – Stevie Wonder

• Keith Sweat

• Taylor's Version: The Poetic and Musical Genius of Taylor Swift – Stephanie Burt

• Joni Mitchell

• Tori Amos

• The RealDoll

• Fantasy Baseball

• Jennifer Lopez vocals

• MF DOOM

  • “Tell y’all devils ‘hell no, sell your own Jell-o’” from “Beef Rapp”

• “The GRAMMYs (And Kendrick) Made Drake Give Up His Quest For A Classic” – Zander Tsadwa

• Billy Woods

• Black Journal: Is It Too Late? (1972)

• Akinyele

• “Mo Money, Mo Problems” – Notorious B.I.G. ft. Mase & Puff Daddy

• “It Takes Two” – Rob Base & DJ EZ Rock

• Nice And Smooth

• “I Want To Thank You” – Alicia Myers

• “Over Like a Fat Rat” – Fonda Ray

• “I Found Lovin” – The Fatback Band

• “Keep On” – D Train

• “Computer Love” – Zapp & Roger

• “Let the Music Play” – Shannon

• “Funky Sensation” – Gwen McCrae

• “Funkin For Jamaica” – Tom Browne

• “Nights (Feel Like Gettin’ Down)” – Billy Ocean

• “Cold Blooded” – Rick James

• “Love Come Down” – Evelyn Champagne King

• “And the Beat Goes On” – The Whispers

• “Hot Music” – Soho

• The Crisis of the Negro Intellectual – Harold Cruse

• Between the World & Me –Ta-Nehisi Coates

• Leo Tolstoy

  • War & Peace

• Cheers

  • “Sumner’s Return” (S2 E5)

• American Fiction (film)

• Percival Everett

  • Erasure

  • James

• Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s visit to Farmville, Virginia