Informal Writing Assignment #4

John Randolph, also better known as Jay Smooth, is the artist that I choose to write about in this week's IWA. He is the founder of New York's longest running hip hop radio show, WBAI's Underground Railroad, currently running on its 20th year. Using his website, ill Doctrine, Jay posts video blogs to evaluate and engagingly talk about frequent issues, such as racism, politics, and homosexuality to name a few, from a hip hop perspective in his humorous and notable technique. Jay's choice of words and language isn't too harsh as he tries to set an example by showing a little benevolence and redemption to the people he criticizes while still being fully aware of their wrongdoings and foolishness. But simply, Jay just wants to be part of the global conversation and have his voice be heard.

One of the videos that I watched was called "How To Tell Someone They Sound Racist". In this video, the featured topic is racism and Jay explains to us how to approach a conversation dealing with race. He starts off by differentiating two types of conversations - the "What They Did" conversation and the "What They Are" conversation. The "What They Did" conversation focuses mainly on the person's words and actions and explains why what that person did or said was inappropriate or racist. The "What They Are" conversation takes the conversation to another level and uses what that person said or did from the "What They Did" conversation to draw conclusions and to pinpoint what kind of person he/she really are. Jay's stance on a conversation dealing race is that everyone should focus on the part that matters to them the most and states that everyone is accountable for the impact of his/her own words and actions. It's not about who they are, but about what they did or said. Although this video show no direct relation from a hip hop perspective, Jay manages talks about the truth using his political and personal analysis, something that hip hop artists tries to do in their music. His voice is poised and invigorating and he has a versatile flow from the beginning to the end. Finally, Jay is blessed with the skill to wrap his all thoughts together.

Another video that caught my attention was "A Layman's Guide to No Homo". In this video, Jay describes the popularity and growth of the phrase "No Homo" in hip hop culture. The term "No Homo" is one of hip hop's most beloved and intriguing phrases, invented by a Harlem rapper named Cam'ron of the Dipset crew. "No Homo", according to Jay, combines hip hop's everlasting love and passion of language and wordplay with our insecurities about sexuality. People say "No Homo" after they unintentionally say something that sounded homophobic or gay. It was used as a defense mechanism by young males who were afraid not because they were being gay or looked gay, but afraid of the words that they spoke sounded gay. Jay explains that the majority of people use the term "No Homo" more as a comedic device without realizing its absurdity rather than being classified as anti-gay. Its basically just harmless fun, but if taken the wrong way, it could lead to a lot of controversy. Although he loves the creativity of hip hop's wordplay, Jay's always been on the anti-"No Homo" side because he finds it offensive no matter how people use it. Just like any other word, people should judge it on a case by case basis and see if its really appropriate to say it.        

Both videos expanded my knowledge greatly as one video provided me some good communication advice while the other video gave more insight on a slang term that I once used pretty frequently. In my opinion, Jay Smooth is as talented as any artist or blogger there is. He is clear and precise about the issues he talks about and his approach is very intriguing. His thoughts definitely deserves recognition and his messages needs to be heard.