The power of the spoken word called hip-hop! By: Erykah Achebe

"Hip hop is the perfect verse over a tight beat." Who cannot remember the earliest memories of hip hop when it started in the late 70's to early 80's? Artist that made their mark from a political standpoint include artist such as Grandmaster flash and the furious five who took a hard look at social issues and it's portrayal of black inner-city life. Some other artist that helped pave the way for future Mc's include artist such as KRS 1, Run DMC, Doug E. Fresh and the Sugar Hill gang who are legendary for their song entitled Rappers delight.

When hip-hop started, it was not about how much money you had or how big your rims were on your car, it was about standing for the black movement. One of the major events that mark the beginning of the hip hop era is the freestyle battles. During freestyle battles, one opponent would show off his lyrical ability, poetically flowing about events that are affecting society and human empowerment. Today rappers are glorifying this thug image and "ghetto mentality" instead of trying to improve the situation.

After attending the Media and Communication arts, hip-hop conference that was held at Clark Atlanta University I was honored to get the opportunity to hear what some of the panels of presenters had to say about their viewpoints on hip-hop and how it has evolved. The first presenter was Rabiyah Karim- Kincey, author of Nommo Rhyme & Reason. She describes the Nommo principle as "the power of the spoken word"

During her presentation, she discussed the significance of hip-hop culture in the African American community, and also made a notion that instead of black people putting each other down and destroying our race in hip-hop lyrics that we can create, rebuild, and encourage each other with positive words and act as positive role models. Another presenter was Thurman Garner who is an Associate Professor at the University Of Georgia. Mr. Garner brought up a topic for discussion when he asked the question "why is more than half of the hip hop music purchased by a predominately white crowd? Another point that Mr. Garner presented was to encourage teachers to allow students to bring their music to class and discuss the lyrics and its significance if any that it has on their generation. Mr. Garner made said " hip hop is our economic survival and acceptance in to a white society." Today we have artist that try to keep hip-hop music alive such as Common, Talib Kweli, and Mos Def who are known as conscious rappers (those who are concerned with things that are affecting our society). Modern day hip-hop includes artist such as Jay-Z, Kanye West, and Nas, who still try to maintain their hip-hop credibility by challenging and changing the way their lyrical content is presented to the mass public. Another legendary artist was the late Tupac Shakur. Tupac raped about things that were affecting the African American community. Some of the songs that he is highly credited for include Brenda's got a baby, Me against the world, Keep your head up, Changes, Dear mama, and many others.
One of the modern day movies that depict how hip hop has lost its touch is the movie Brown Sugar, directed by Rick Famuyiwa. I don't think that hip hop is dead but I believe if we don't start getting real MC's that rap about more than materialistic things then hip hop will loose its touch. I believe we will be able to expand in hip-hop culture if rappers diversify and challenge the perception that the media presents of African Americans





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