hip hop = consciousness

Beyond the hype and the shows - the magazines and the ticket sales, in the world of music there truly is a place that is grounded and real and this is exactly what we were talking about in our panel last night where we spent four hours discussing the consciousness of hip hop. It was pretty cool to think about the development of musical styles in conjunction with social movements such as the correlation between gangster rap and the downfall to crack in the cities.

Everyone agreed that hip hop is the most universal form of music because it has affected every part of the globe. It is the most universal musical language and that’s a powerful thing. However, it’s probably too powerful because it inevitably (and perhaps inexplicably, ha ha) got watered down over the years with violence and bullshit, now to manifest in the crystal clear precision of pop artists who make records about things that don’t really matter . . . . because I guess that’s the point.

Hip hop is the language of the streets, it’s the beat of our hearts and it has the potential to put the ‘unity’ back in the ‘community’ if we are willing to let it survive under the radar. It’s a weird time to be living in where everything is mixing. Everyone was saying last night that we have to get back to our roots and that is true . .. but we also have to sow new seeds for the future and I think this means building people up and empowering them to utilize their unique gifts and potential.

One of the major points that was made last night is that hip hop is not just a form of music – it’s a style, a fashion, a way of being, a way of talking and a way of existing in the world. And it is certainly not about being like everyone else - it’s about being yourself. For the most part, unfortunately, that’s not really happening out there in the world too much right now. We’re looking at a homogenous group of dis-empowered individuals who focus mainly on exactly what they don’t have whether it’s internal or external.

Power-less-ness is not a condition, it’s a choice. Change starts with analyzing that choice because you are always the one that will have to make it. You need to decide whether the world happens to you – whether you are a victim of the world – or you decide that you create your own world and actively start doing it. Life is unknown but it is not ill-intentioned, this much I do believe. Life is a perspective and you have to grasp that if you want to set yourself free. Reach for the stars, search for yourself, be who you are.