Mashing up Grandmaster Flash's 'The Message'
Sunday, June 22, 2014
Saturday, June 14, 2014
'The Gods of Hip Hop'
"
For many
years there’s been conflict over the consciousness Hip Hop and the
commercialization of the art form. Back in the ‘80s, when the music and
culture were still very much an underground movement, while many were
fighting to bring Hip Hop to the mainstream the “cross-over” was
considered the ultimate “sell-out.”
On one side
of the argument, you had visionaries like Russell Simmons fighting for
the advancement of the culture saying, “don’t treat our music and
expression any different than you do Rock N’ Roll or pop”—and on the
other side of the table there was a segment that believed an embrace by
“mainstream America” would mean the rapping of the culture.
As a result,
we began to see the divide and conquer strategy play out within the
culture itself, where now we have the so-called “God-conscious” artists
and the “elite” of Hip Hop, with a notion that if you’re making money in
the industry in 2013, and a lot of it, you can’t have a
“God-conscious”—you must be demonized and member of Illuminati. This
piece is not meant to argue the existence or non-existence of secret
societies or the impact commercialization has had on Hip Hop culture—but
to take another look at the game and the players in it and God’s hand
on both sides.
Let’s start
with this simple truth—Black people DO NOT control the entertainment
industry. Not in film, music, fashion, TV, radio, distribution, NOWHERE
are we “truly” in control of this industry. That’s a fact. Therefore,
if we’re going to play the game—then it’s about playing it to the “best”
of our ability and masterfully using it to gain some benefit while we
live—that is luxury, money, good homes and friendships in all walks of
life.
The other
truth is that there is no such thing as a “poor” God. The notion that
some Black people and some White people have is that “money is evil” and
there is “righteousness” in poverty. There is nothing righteous about
being without. God is a material God—if he wasn’t then there would be no
universe. Let’s get that clear."
Read more here via Rhetoric Race and Religion
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