Hope For Hip-Hop

Hope for Hip-Hop?

Over the weekend I came across a video called “The truth behind hip-hop” and it got me thinking, Is hip-hop really as corrupt as everyone makes it seem? With rappers constantly talking about sex, money and drugs it would be hard for those outside the community not to believe the hype. Which led me to my next question, where is all this anger coming from?

G Craig Lewis of The Truth behind Hip-Hop discusses the negative notations associated with hip-hop. As a pastor Lewis has a great influence over the members of the churches community, referring to hip-hop as the work of the devil Lewis reiterates a conversation he had with God.

“There was something coming that was getting ready to rock this nation its gon be worse than a bomb but it was gonna create a bunch of young people that were gonna define order -that form of music that he was forming was what we know as the hip-hop culture”

The term created by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, hip-hop took off in the 1970’s and had a huge impact on the black community. With influential figures such as Mos Def , Common, Queen Latifa and my personal favorites Notorious BIG and Tupac the words of these rappers became the voice of the black community and a new culture evolved.

This art form known as hip-hop became story-tellers of the struggle of the black community. These rappers gave the community a voice that the world wasn’t ready for and because of this controversy occurred. With the struggle now being displayed though words and videos people from all over the world took notice and finally had music they could relate to.

The words spoken in the musical art form provides an image of the struggle shared by those in the community and although harsh, provocative and even offensive, hip-hop is the truth.

Those appose to hip-hop have their reasons and even though it has become a part of me I can understand why the culture is looked down upon but it is important to understand a culture before passing judgment upon it. Hip-hop has become an expression of life and is here to stay.

Are you a fan of hip-hop? Why or why not?
What could be changed to the culture to make it relatable to everyone?