Byron Hurt has been making films on the underground. His work mainly focuses on the foibles of black culture, in a work that explores masculinity, feminism, music, media, food etc. questioning the conventions in society and the media. 

It’s these conventions which taken at face value by most but can contain a destructive streak.

As the disco singer of the 80s became a thing of the past, the 90s saw the emergence of the ‘Gangsta’ rapper, who to many became a new and dangerous representative of black masculinity. 

It wasn’t until the 21st century that an alternative seemed to emerge on the popular cultural landscape in the form of Obama’s presidency. This set the precedent for providing men other ways of asserting their masculinity. It is this conflict of manhood, which is the basis of his short documentary weighing in at ten minutes entitled ‘Barack and Curtis: Manhood, Power and Respect’.

The film explores the dichotomy of black manhood with the participation of cultural critics and historians. Interesting and profound insights can be drawn out this short piece. Esther Armad believes that people who don’t fit into the gangsta mould are not considered to be “real men”: “Barack equalled Harvard, someone like 50 Cent equalled hood. Hood equalled virility, Harvard equalled impotence.” 



How did such a negative and destructive way of defining black masculinity come to exist in black communities? For historian Jelami Cobb, it emerged from the white mind in the post-slavery era of American History. “After slavery, to justify the violence that was to prevent us from exercising our rights, the black stereotype changed into the lawless dangerous buck. That was the idea that was placed on black men.”



A century later, through “Gangsta rap”, that same negative self fulfilling prophecy was achieved where every archaic, primitive and ill wishing convention about black identity came alive and created a paradigm of black manhood. As Matt Birkhold suggests, “The black gangsta masculine figure employs the exact same logic as the people who started the slave trade.”

Hurt’s prior work was released in 2006 and is called ‘Hip-Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes’. It features interviews from Mos Def, Chuck D, Talib Kweli, Busta Rhymes etc. as well as journalists and academics. From the outset Hurt lets it known that he loves music, grew up with it and it was difficult for him to make the film. He came to question Hip-Hop’s validity when he finished college and got a job talking to high school students about men’s violence towards women. 





When asking a group of aspiring rappers to display their talents he becomes preoccupied with the question of why so many rappers use violent imagery in their songs. Michael Eric Dyson makes the point that violence is not exclusive to black culture but can be seen in American culture at large. He says, “When you think about American society, the notion of violent masculinity is at the heart of American identity, so that the preoccupation with Jesse James, the outlaw, the rebel, much of that is associated within the American mindset, the collective imagination of the nation”.

When asking the rapper Fat Joe on the importance of being hard in the Hip Hop world, Fat Joe replies “This is one of the flaws from being from the hood. Everybody wants to be hard”. He also is aware of the limitations and dynamics that this can create in such environments. On referring to how people act in a club, he says, “I’m wondering why they can’t just walk around and smile at each other. Why aren’t we there to do the same thing have a nice time partying, get drunk and enjoy the music, but we all looking at everybody like (he screws his face)”. 



Talib Kweli on the other hand takes a more positive view of Hip Hop’s posturing. “Hip Hop is a very ego driven thing, it encourages you to assert yourself, and as a man, especially a black man in this society, you have to learn how to do that”. 



Another theme that this film explores is sexism and the portrayal of women within Hip Hop. It discusses the scandal surrounding Nelly’s “Tip Drill” video in which he swipes a credit card down a girl’s posterior. The problems arising from the objectification of women are similar to the problems of violence – they are not exclusive to Hip-Hop. “Hip Hop culture is not separate from the rest of American culture. Objectified female bodies? Those images are everywhere as well, those images are in advertising, in movies, TV programs.”

Often Hip Hop can be the scapegoat for the degradation of culture and blamed for a whole host of ills that are all too common place within society. “The really negative thing about music videos and advertising is that is the only way in which women are presented,” says Sut Jhally.

All the work of Byron Hurt is thought provoking and relevant and seems to be asking questions and shining critical light on a subject few people wish to venture in. The commercial Hip-Hop scene can be compared to smoking. Most people who do it agree that its bad for them. Whether they’re going stop or not is a moot point.