HipHop is a artistic and socio-political movement/culture that sprang from the disparate ghettos of NY in the early 70's / Coming off the heels of the CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT and approaching the end of the Vietnam war it was a crossroads 4 America / specially for blacks in the US our neighborhoods were PROLIFERATED w/a rush of HEROINE / our school systems here in NY dungeon traps with light for learning / blk men some of whom didn't return from tours of duty n the ones who did came w/war baggage (agent orange, addiction, ect..) / these men had families but due to these events and throw into the mix the public emasculation... / they proved to be handicapped parents. The surrogate parents? The STREETS / the streets of gangs, crimes, and the hustlers coddled us and swept us up / but! Being a spirited, rhythmic & expressive people music art dance outlined our existence / it proved a way for us to exhault to scream to dance to laugh and find OUR VOICE / we weren't at the same time skilled musicians as kids. We had records, turntables, ideas and INGENUITY / being natural chemist we took from whatever was availed to us and we created something mighty and special / we cut breakbeats back n forth we took a hybrid of Jamaican toasting along w/ radio jock rap( hank Spann, Gary Byrd, ect.) and / we put our rap down.. / it was a neighborhood thing really. Black and Latino kids were carving out their space and it became infectious / eventually Keith Cowboy coined the phrase hiphop. Yrs later the first rap record was recorded and now we r moving / but during these strides this country still had the monster of racism and racial insensitivity breathing and ruling / believe it or not young black n Latino lives specifically weren't acknowledged in mainstream American culture unless Ofcourse.. / the convo was abt gangs , being criminals or uneducated. And hey! Like I stated early our families were rushed our schools / sucked and we were left to put devices to survive / but HIPHOP showed that we had DEPTH, fire, and BRILLIANCE / the music was undeniable! It moved from NY N became national and even GLOBAL / hiphop now was FOR EVERYBODY!! All of those who cld relate to the roots, the spirit, the history, the energy.. It reached YOU / it touched your spirit n took u up. We magnetized you! That's what brilliance DOES / now u are fulfilling your dreams ... BUT! / you have to take into account the HISTORY as you move underneath the banner of hiphop. As I said before / hiphop is fun it's vile it's dance it's traditional it's light hearted but 1 thing it can never detach itself from / is being a SOCIO-Political movement. U may ask why ... Well / once you are born black your existence I believe is joined with socio-political epitaph and philos / based on the tangled and treacherous history SLAVERY alone this is the case / It never leaves our conversation... Ever. WeAther in our universities our dinner tables our studios or jail cells / the effects still resonates with us. It hurts... We get emotional and angry and melancholy / did u know president Clinton was the ONLY PRESIDENT to apologize for it? / did u know that remnants of slavery exist today thru white privilege? When certain "niceties" r extended your way because of / how u look? Isn't that crazy? I say this 2 say u are a hiphop artist who has the right 2 express herself however she wishes / this is not a chastisement this is not admonishment at ALL this is just one artist reaching to another hoping to spark insight / into the field you r in. I say this in the spirit of a hopeful healthy dialogue that maybe one day we can continue / I've been on twitter a long time and this will probably be my last series of tweets pretty much but / I'm Kool with it as long as I got to share w u. Zzzzzzz's up! Peace!
Via
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