Saturday, March 28, 2009

Hip Hop

So I know I haven't posted in a while, and I'm sorry. Unfortunately, this first post after a little hiatus isn't going to give you a CD to download or an artist to check out. This time I'm going to give you a little philosophical question. Feel free to just think about it or leave comments if you have thoughts.

So, what I want to ask you is what is Hip Hop? Nowadays, many of us Hip Hop heads will tell you that Hip Hop is not a type of music, Hip Hop is not a style, Hip Hop is not a history of a certain race, rather we'll tell you hip hop is a lifestyle. In fact, if you want to know what Hip Hop is, why not ask one if it's legends, KRS-One...

Hip means to know
It's a form of intelligence
To be hip is to be up-date and relevant
Hop is a form of movement
You can't just observe a hop
You got to hop up and do it
Hip and Hop is more than music
Hip is the knowledge
Hop is the movement
Hip and Hop is intelligent movement
All relevant movement
We selling the music
So write this down on your black books and journals
Hip Hop culture is eternal
Run and tell all your friends
An ancient civilization has bee born again
It's a fact

So, if this is what Hip Hop is, what is Hip Hop when you find yourself in a place not touched by the movement, or not touched by it to the extent that you are. How do you hop up and do it when you can't even see the hop in the spot that you're at? I'd like to think that Hip Hop is big and powerful and meaningful enough to still exist in those places, because as KRS says it's eternal, but does that hop mean something different in those places? Can a movement, in a particular situation exist in only one person? Does it have to?

Ask yourself if you've ever been in a space where you are the only person there who personally feels a part of the movement. Sometimes those situations allow it to come out strong, but where it doesn't, what is it? What is a movement when no one else is moving?

No comments:

Post a Comment