Is it about wearing gold and diamond jewelry? Is it about riding in German and Italian automobiles? Is it about penthouses and mansions? Sure, all of those things can be results of financial success, but is hip hop all about money? Young, independent hip hop artists discuss violence and violent acts in their lyrics. It is true, hip hop does have its beginnings in unsettling, even life threatening environments, but is it supposed to glorify violence? Hip Hop can be about love, but was it meant to promote physical and psychological abuse? Materialism? Socially accepted racism? Fitting in? Is this Hip Hop?
My next book, Michaels Lyric (Soular Planes) is what Hip Hop, music, humanity means to me. Music, Poetry, Hip Hop; those are my ways of being a human. It is not just for entertainment…