What IS Hip Hop?

Before I get started, let me first make it clear that I’m a white boy, originally from Maine, and that I am fully aware of this fact.

I hear a lot of flack around town these days about Hip Hop. It’s usually negative, something along the lines of, “I can’t stand that Soulja Boy shit”, or “All they talk about is bitches and hoes”. I’m here to put the record straight on what Hip Hop is, and why it’s more than just a rapping.

Hip Hop is a culture. What started off in the late 1970’s as dancing, graffiti, and rapping has emerged into much more. Early pioneers such as Big Daddy Kane, Grand Master Flash, Young MC, Naughty by Nature, and Run DMC paved the way to bring the Hip Hop culture into commercial America.

Today Hip Hop is like cinema. When you go to a movie, you have so many different choices. You’ve got Drama, Comedy, Action, Horror, Rated-R, Rated-G, Porn, and Cartoons. It goes on and on. Hip Hop, as well as Rock N’ Roll for that matter is the same way. You’ve got entertainment rap, such as Soulja Boy and Snoop Dog. You’ve got Gangsta rap in the likes of Dr. Dre, Warren G, 2Pac. East Coast rap in B.I.G. and Diddy, Dirty South, and CHI-Town with Kanye. It goes on and on, and that’s just the rap element. You’ve also go Producers, DJ’s, R&B singers, dancers, etc.

The point is there is a place for all of it. Don’t walk around saying you hate Hip Hop. That’s like saying you hate life. When you go to the club you can’t deny that you love hearing Soulja Boy when you’ve had a few drinks and you’re ready to cut it. That’s what it’s there for. It’s entertainment. At the same time, driving in your car you pop in a Lupe Fiasco, or Common, maybe Pac. Those are the guys that get you when you’re in an intellectual mood. You’ve got guys like Cee-Lo, who can give you both. Let’s not forget something like Erika Badu, or Outkast either.

The culture of Hip Hop is in everyone, even a white boy from Maine. Don’t hate on something you really know nothing about. Because when it comes down to it, the Hip Hop you hate, may be the Hip Hop in you…