Hip-Hop Block presents: What is Hip-Hop missing?
Donald Vincent
Issue date: 1/26/10 Section: Arts & Society
Yesterday, hip-hop maintained the image of big chains, gold teeth, licentious ladies, and the discussion of drug sells popped up on songs, which tells us as listeners what coast or portion of America has the cheapest drugs. But today, change has come.
Rappers do not live the lifestyle their lyrics concoct; however, the new emerging class of rappers is not only conscious in thought, but give you pure emotion, dubbing the term emo-rap.
At Loyola University Maryland this past Wednesday, famous African American director, Spike Lee gave a comedic speech at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Convocation. The one thing I walked away with from his speech was, "All young people need encouragement."
Besides the two most notable institutions- school and church- how can we reach the younger generation and encourage them? That encouragement can be found in hip-hop music.
Encouragement can birth from many different lyrics. Names like Jay-Z, Nas, Common, Talib Kweli, Kanye, and Lupe are the most known of the encouragement speakers known as conscious rappers. However, all these rappers, just because they encourage, do not get the label conscious rapper.
You have to be cultured, conscious about the world around you. For example, how many rap songs have you heard lately dedicated to the victims of Haiti? Hip-Hop has done nothing lately to encourage the youth by educating them.
The song "Some How Some Way" by Jay-Z is a song of encouragement. "Some how, some way/ we gotta make it up out the hood some day." This doesn't just have to pertain to living in the hood, but for anybody who has a struggle; one day they will be relieved. This is a positive message that hip-hop encourages, but we need more of it.
Nas also tries to encourage the youth with his song, "I Can." Children do the chorus and the use of kids emphasizes the effect of his message. "I know I can (I know I can)/ Be what I wanna be (be what I wanna be)/ If I work hard at it (If I work hard at it)/ I'll be where I wanna be (I'll be where I wanna be)."
Rappers do not live the lifestyle their lyrics concoct; however, the new emerging class of rappers is not only conscious in thought, but give you pure emotion, dubbing the term emo-rap.
At Loyola University Maryland this past Wednesday, famous African American director, Spike Lee gave a comedic speech at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Convocation. The one thing I walked away with from his speech was, "All young people need encouragement."
Besides the two most notable institutions- school and church- how can we reach the younger generation and encourage them? That encouragement can be found in hip-hop music.
Encouragement can birth from many different lyrics. Names like Jay-Z, Nas, Common, Talib Kweli, Kanye, and Lupe are the most known of the encouragement speakers known as conscious rappers. However, all these rappers, just because they encourage, do not get the label conscious rapper.
You have to be cultured, conscious about the world around you. For example, how many rap songs have you heard lately dedicated to the victims of Haiti? Hip-Hop has done nothing lately to encourage the youth by educating them.
The song "Some How Some Way" by Jay-Z is a song of encouragement. "Some how, some way/ we gotta make it up out the hood some day." This doesn't just have to pertain to living in the hood, but for anybody who has a struggle; one day they will be relieved. This is a positive message that hip-hop encourages, but we need more of it.
Nas also tries to encourage the youth with his song, "I Can." Children do the chorus and the use of kids emphasizes the effect of his message. "I know I can (I know I can)/ Be what I wanna be (be what I wanna be)/ If I work hard at it (If I work hard at it)/ I'll be where I wanna be (I'll be where I wanna be)."
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