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It's so much bigger than HIP HOP, HIP HOP, HIP HOP |
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Why?
We are more than the sum of our parts, and hip hop is more than the sum of it's elements. A number. 4. The DJ, The Emcee, The B-Boy, The Writer. Why is Hip Hop the cultural phenomenon it is?
Many stated that the arts of hip hop were a fad. A set of ignorant youths that were brought up invariably to destroy. These young men and women from the innercity streets of New York, too uncultured, and uneducated to take what they had and turn it into beautiful beats, rhymes, and life.
It's hard to say when many of us realized that Hip Hop was here to stay, whether it was the first time we heard Melle Mel dropping his "Message" on the beats crafted by Grandmaster Flash, or maybe when Run DMC became the Kings of Rock, but most of us can say, we know why we participate. Many of us, our only goal is to stay Black/White/Latino/Native/Issei/etc. and die, but we know, when we step into the roda (our circle, the world we exist in, a Capoeira term that fits many of Hip Hop's rituals) whether it is to rhyme, or dance, we ready ourselves to be kings and queens. DJs step to their tables, and see what few can; and writers can turn a wall into a message grander than any simple word.
This is the essence of artistic culture whether it be punk, straight edge, goth, or emo. It's the source of our elitism. Some f us do it for the culture, some of us have been told it's cool, and that being cool is the most important thing in the world. Is there a difference between Rap and Hip Hop? Yes, and No. All Rap is hip hop, the voice of it, the pulse of the rhythm underneath a lyrically continuous, congruous poem crafted to that pulse. However not all Hip Hop is Rap. It is this dichotomy, that has many of my compatriots in the culture confused.
No, Hip Hop isn't dying. Culture does not die, it is rather, squandored, or forgotten.
For this we say, that it's so much bigger than Hip Hop. Hip Hop will live until we forget it, until we move on to another culture. Hip Hop, the artform, grows, changes, evolves ,and is by it's nature greater than the sum of its parts, because we are greater than the sum of ours. We are Hip Hop.
 Caz_Nova · Fri Apr 07, 2006 @ 07:37am · 1 Comments |
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