…or just an outcome of hip hop?

What I mean is, do you truly live hip hop or are you just a product of your environment?  Whether it be your cultural upbringing or conforming to mainstream society?

In sports, mainly basketball as far as I know, there are many references to superstar athletes being a “student of the game.”  In the mid 90s, after the infamous crossover from Allen Iverson on Michael Jordan, Iverson was ridiculed by everyone, from Karl Malone to news reporters.  Or flip it around, in order to magnify a star’s qualities, writers often describe how the athlete is gifted yet they pay respects to the legends who came before them.

The hip hop “game” as many refer to it, I believe is the same way.  The more you know it, the better you are in it.  In my opinion, you can listen to hip hop, dress it, enjoy the beat, and appreciate the wordplay but you can’t feel it unless you know the whole story behind it.

I know there’s a lot of Soulja Boy haters out there.  In fact, as long as rappers are being heard, there will be haters out there, whether they’re independent or mainstream.  It’s only human nature.  What I’d like to express is don’t hate on Soulja Boy.  Just look at his name.  He’s Soulja Boy, not Soulja Man.  Do you think he really knows what he’s doing?  He’s just a teenage kid, who had fun making a song on his computer, uploaded it to his MySpace and got lucky.  He doesn’t know what hip hop has went through to get to where it’s at right now.  Perfect example is how he dissed GZA.  I’m sure he’s heard of GZA but does he really realize how important GZA’s hand was in sculpting hip hop to where it is today?  You know what they say…kids will be kids…I would love to see Soulja Boy attempt to write a song like GZA’s “Fame” which even Jay Z couldn’t pull off.

The purpose of this entry is to urge all you “hip hop heads” out there, to dare you to educate yourself.  One good way would be to pick up Jeff Chang’s “Can’t Stop Won’t Stop.”

I picked this book up a few years ago at the local Barnes & Nobles.  I’ll forewarn you, this book isn’t about the music but about all the backstage drama that went on to bring hip hop to where it is today.

It starts with a little introduction by DJ Kool Herc, one of the forefathers of hip hop, then dives into how reggae and the culture struggles in Jamaica influenced the birth of hip hop.

After reading this book, you can almost imagine being in the Bronx, jamming to block parties thrown by Afrika Bambaataa and the Zulu Nation.

Chang did a lot of extensive research and it definitely shows in the book.  You can learn what really happened during the LA riots and how the song, “Black Korea” by Ice Cube came about.

The author educates you on the different hip hop influenced movies all started up.  I’m talking Wild Style, Beat Street, Do the Right Thing, etc.

Ever watch Flavor of Love?  Everybody is loving Flava Flav right now but do you know who he is?  He isn’t just an old, scrawny black guy who loves fried chicken.  Read about his role in the group, Public Enemy and how they made their voice heard.

Learn about how the graffiti era really jumped off.  How it evolved from such a simplistic art expression, to glorifying it in art galleries, to its downfall.

Aspriring to start a magazine?  Read about the founders of the first hip hop magazine, The Source, and all the backstabbing that took place in order for it to get to where it is today.  You really didn’t think the magazine got to where it is by just interviewing the right people and having the nice covers, did you?

The book contains in-depth details into how the music genre went from a cultural phenomenom to a mainstream, globalized reality.

By the end of the book, I don’t expect you to fully feel hip hop, but you sure will understand it a little better.  After reading this literature, you won’t jump the gun to accuse hip hop for ruining society.  This message is for the white suburbian kids, who think they’re “gangster;”  the ignorant adults who bad mouth our culture;  Soulja Boy and the next 1000 kids who wish to be like him.

Visit the library, go to a book store.  Read this book.  Educate yourself.

And become a student of hip hop.

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