Ice-T and Nelson George discuss crime, violence and hip-hop, which inevitably leads to video games and GTA. Hell yeah video games are bigger than hip-hop. The only thing is that video games lend the feeling of complete fantasy where as some people might actually believe everything that gets rapped to them. Oh yeah, my wife’s favorite NYPD Detective also thanks hip-hop for saving him or something. Link (Peace to ZAID)
Nelson George: Video games are more important than hip-hop. There’s no doubt about it. The violence and nihilism that everyone thinks is in hip-hop is pumped up about 18 times in video games. That’s really what’s driving young male culture, that’s really the new rock’n’roll. The funny thing about this debate is so many hip-hop critics are fixated on rap and not talking enough about video games, which aren’t a racially determinant form. Obviously those Grand Theft Auto guys were very canny because they tied in to Scarface, they tied in to hip-hop. I mean, Def Jam has a line of video games. Hip-hop became subsumed into the games.