So back to this statement…

“Jay-Z is hip-hop, yes, but the dirty little secret that he likes us to ignore is that hip-hop is not Jay-Z”

So who dictates what is Hip Hop and what isn’t? Why is Hip Hop not Jay-Z? Is that saying that good credit and financial responsibility are not Hip Hop? It has to obviously be scary to concede to the fact that it isn’t Jay-Z and people that look like Jay-Z who make Hip Hop, rather it be the old white CEOs who sit atop their thrones while throwing to us what they think is hip hop. But we are no better because we believe what they tell us.

As much as we would like to believe that we are trendsetters and “exclusive”, we are mere followers to the bigger machine. A machine that feeds us these vices and fills our little heads with pipe dreams and such to the point that achieving them isn’t even important anymore.

The name of the game today is to go out there and try while looking good without actually achieving. Because if you do in fact “make it”, you’ll be labeled a sell-out. There’s nothing flashy about a jump shot…except that its worth two points (and last time I checked the team with the most points wins). Instead we would rather dribble off of your head, do a cartwheel, and try a 360 layup with nobody defending us. We’d rather bask in the glory of oohs and ahhs and miss the fuckin’ rim completely rather than sink a boring ol’ jump shot. We love the journey but don’t want to see the ending. Because when the proposed “end” comes…what is left? Winning the game is not an option. And this is what they feed to us thru Hip Hop. Scary isn’t it?

“I came into a little bit of a revelation recently. I turned 31 and I’m starting to realize that a lot of this Hip Hop/rap thing is for kids. It’s a young people’s movement. And I know we as adults try to hang onto our youth as long as possible but my point is you gotta know when to let go because when you’re 36 and you dress like you’re 15 you look fuckin’ stupid!” – Aries Spears

While that line is laugh out loud funny, it does make you rethink where you are as a hip hop fan. If you are young then I guess this may not apply to you (yet). But if you are an 80’s baby you have to wonder how true this statement is. While Hip Hop may be rooted in the kids and the young people, it is the old man sitting up there getting his belly fat off of our work. You don’t have to “look” rich to “be” rich. Rock & Roll used to be considered a “kids” movement but now you have artists like Aerosmith and U2 still making incredible and timeless music. Do they look like every other rock star? Continued on page 4 »