A Comparison Of Hip-Hop Culture In Make It Last Forever

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In Make it Last Forever, Gwendolyn Bolton, deconstructs the stereotypes surrounding Hip-Hop culture as well as the black community as a whole. One of Bolton’s main characters Darius is symbolic for many of the stereotypes in the black community. To the general society, Darius may seem like a contradiction to these stereotypes. He is a rapper that makes feel good music, respects women and his family, doesn’t do drugs, and does not promote violence. The average rapper and/or stereotypical young black male in America are seen to portray all of these behaviors. Going against these stereotypes is why the author constructed Darius as such while putting him in an intense romantic situation. The author puts a symbolic character like Darius in a respectable …show more content…

Society has deemed Hip-Hop to be a space for misogyny, and this book shows the complete opposite. The author combats stereotypes of black men and Hip-Hop all within the same book. According to Harlequin who published Make It Last Forever, Harlequin Kimani Romance stories feature sophisticated, soulful and sensual African-American and multicultural heroes and heroines who develop fulfilling relationships as they lead lives full of drama, glamour and passion” (Harlequin.com). This book fulfills all of the above. The audience was left with thrills, chills, and in awe at all of the dramatically romantic moments. Bolton uses this description to fulfill many of her purposes, which isn’t always obvious within the book. Bolton’s purpose of this novel was to show that Hip-Hop is a space for love and all of Karen and Darius’ past lives indicated that their souls were inseparable no matter how different they were. Bolton says, “His mouth fell open, and he could have sworn he heard his eyes go ping—or maybe that was the sound a heart made when it stopped and restarted" (Bolton1023-1025). Darius has no problem voicing and expressing his emotions toward Karen or any other matter. This is seen as weak and feminine in the black community but, the way Bolton portrays these types of characteristics within Darius it shows that these aspects of him do not take away from his masculinity. Even though this does makes him appear stronger and more charming in a way. He goes against the grain of what society, his family, fans, and/or friends expect of him or want him to be. He shows Karen his love through great measures and here the audience no longer sees Hip-Hop as a designation for misogyny, but for love and how the two (Hip-Hop and love) mesh and intermingle beautifully. Bolton writes, “You’ve known me a lot longer than that, baby. I’m your soul mate, and we’re going to be together

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