A lot of people bitch and moan about how shitty the today’s Hip Hop artists are, or how record labels shove awful shit down the masses’ throats. And while that’s true, no amount of marketing or catchy beats can force you go out there and cop the latest Lil Boosie shit sandwich (in my opinion); it’s YOUR CHOICE.

As Hip Hop fans, our lack of unity is most often displayed by our infighting. We claim we don’t like certain artists because they’re “too mainstream” or “too backpacker” – or some other equally stupid label – without even having listened to the music. We split up and categorize everything into so many tiny fucking groups – why? Because Hip Hop fans were stupid enough to get tricked into it. Ever heard of “divide and conquer?” It’s a tactic used by one group of people to take over another; the Europeans used it to conquer other nations, and the United Sates used it to keep slaves subjugated. In this case, major record labels told us their product was better, and WE FELL FOR IT.

Isn’t it obvious? The world would never have tolerated Hip Hop, because Hip Hop was about change. Guess what? There are very, very power people in this world who will do anything to retain the status quo. So instead, we were told that the likes of Public Enemy and KRS-One weren’t nearly as good as Puffy and Ma$e – and we fell for it. Instead of standing by our the people who helped cultivate the culture in the first place, we fell for the shiny suit syndrome, and never turned back. Now, this isn’t to say that Puff and Ma$e were the first to talk about money, guns and women – they weren’t the first, and they sure as hell weren’t the last. This isn’t even to say that their music is bad (No Way Out and Harlem World still get play from me). Rather, the point is that we accepted blindly what the industry told us. Surely that’s the record labels’ fault, right?

Wrong again.

Look, folks, if something looks like shit, smells like shit and tastes like shit, you probably shouldn’t keep eating it. This all goes back to the initial points: be open minded, and have some standards! Decide for yourself what you think is dope and what you think isn’t. Who the fuck cares if you throw Sadat X and Rich Boy on the same CD to bump in the whip? I sure as hell don’t. If what you eat don’t make me shit, then what you listen to shouldn’t make a lick of difference either – just learn to have balance. You can’t always party, and you can’t always feed the mind – you need to do both.

Like Big Bank Hank of the Sugar Hill Gang once rapped: “Now there's a time to laugh, a time to cry/A time to live and a time to die/A time to break and a time to chill/To act civilized or act real ill.” Have some balance! It’s okay to want to have a good time and listen to some silly-ass shit like Soulja Boy – there’s no rule that says you have to listen to Talib Kweli and Rakim all day. But in the same right, you can’t sit there and treat the shit like it’s the Holy Grail of Hip Hop. There’s a time to fuck around, and there’s a time to learn and grow. Learn to balance the two; otherwise, you might as well say goodbye to this Hip Hop shit.

The fact of the matter is, people around the globe still view Hip Hop as a gimmick and a joke, and it’s not hard to see why. We focus on completely the wrong things – instead of praising artists that expand the culture, we deride them for “selling out.” When someone who isn’t a Hip Hop artist lends the culture a hand, we spit in it. Instead of encouraging unity, we encourage beef. Instead of concerning ourselves with where Hip Hop is going, we’re content with just sitting around, arguing about whether or not the south runs shit, or which city has the highest murder rate. Here’s an idea for you, folks – grow the hell up, read a book, and realize that for Hip Hop to grow, the global community has to come into play. I love this culture, and I’m assuming you do, too. It’s time to stop holding it back with ignorance, and expanding it with open-mindedness. In the end, if you’re looking for whom to blame about the current state of Hip Hop, take a long hard look in the mirror – you might find the answer staring right back at you.