Cheap Underground Chicano Rap Show (DVD) Price

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Customer Reviews of Underground Chicano Rap Show

Wassup, Raza?
Years ago, a second cousin taped a bunch of rap videos on BET and we watched them. This is just a Brown, West Coast version of that. This has a slim 10-minute introduction and then they play a lot of videos. Usually on TV, a musician's new disc will be shown on the screen, professionally videotaped by TV experts. This work had several rap artists holding their disc's sleeve in their hand and forcing it up to the camera. Hilarious, and a sign of the low-budget-ness. <
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>Have you ever heard that dumb phrase, "I'm not Black (or Brown or Yellow or Red); I'm human!"? The fallacy of that statement is that we are all human; it supposes that people who strongly identify with their communities of color are somehow not human. Though this phrase is idiotic, people use it because they buy into the idea that race or ethnic pride are dirty concepts. I loved how the rappers here stand against that. They speak often of "Brown Pride." They often address their audience as "Raza," putting Chicanos at the center of the dialogue, rather than at the margins. Some of the lowriders displayed had Aztec drawings on them; this reflects strong indigenous pride and dismisses any idea that Mexicans only have Spanish ancestry. <
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>The work includes an interview with a Chicana rapper. However, women are seen more in skimpy outfits and presented just as eye candy, like in other rappers' videos. I wish this work could have been politicized in other ways. Is it hard to make it as a Chicano rapper? The first video had a Black and Brown duo. Do Chicano rappers regularly work with Black ones? Do they try to include Spanish lyrics? Little of this gets addressed. <
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>Maybe I had a defective disc, but this work seemed not to have chapter selections. You had to watch the whole thing, see nothing, or be willing to push the fastforward button with all your might.