Chozen, the new animated series on FX, portrays a gay white rapper that resides on his sister’s couch at a liberal arts college. It is a fusion of the network’s cartoon series “Archer” and HBO’s “Eastbound & Down.” The rapper was locked up after being set up by a former friend, and just now released after a long ten years.
The show crosses the lines of racism and hip hop in many ways. The rapper’s character alone represents something we are not proud of in light of the current music scene. With his main concerns being sex and food, he is now aiming to reclaim his position as the one of the world’s top rap artists. It seems while he used to be a sweet person, prison has turned him the opposite direction, as he is now only concerned about himself and willing to do whatever it takes to get his way.
What is the message that this show is suggesting? It seems they utilize his homosexuality to squeeze in moments of silliness and comedy to uplift and neglect the overall demeaning mood of the music society. His character seems to repeatedly mock a politically correct outlook.
“Who you know gives a shit about the Grammy’s except white people and Kanye West?” With ignorant and rude remarks such as this, the character does not cease to displease audiences in the community who want to uphold the positive and uplifting aspects of music and hip hop.
The actual raps that come from the show start out dull but increasingly gets more vivid as the season continues. While this is an accurate portrayal that music is used to express one’s real life and happenings, the content of these raps are very blunt and almost ridiculous. While the show makes an attempt to portray a rapper who is trying to make it in the business in a positive light, it also does not deny its absurdity in doing so.
written by Shirley Ju
