Have You Forgotten Hip Hop?

This holiday season has me buying more music than ever before! The likes of Drake, Wale, and J.Cole have me feeling hip hop again! Yet, I believe there is still an underrepresented story the medium has yet to tell. It’s that of the Black Family. I ask you, just because we become adults and take on our responsibilities, should we forget hip hop? Does the Black Family fit?

I have not totally forgotten hip hop. I feel it has forgotten me. In a business built upon the next witty thug, slick producer, or street sound; it’s easy to see why hip hop and my life do not resonate together. I am far and away in the presence of this lifestyle. I can’t brag about the cars, clothes, or garden tools. But, I can still feel hip hop.

I am a family man with responsibilities. I grew up listening to Biggie, 2Pac, Public Enemy, DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince, etc. These artists influenced me in one way or another. It would be foolish of me to not acknowledge the contribution hip hop has given to my outlook on life and family. Listening to hip hop was a journey that seemed to have no end.

Yet somewhere between there and here; hip hop became deadly, violent, and out of control. It began telling me I should stay high, strapped, and unfeeling towards women. This is where hip hop forgot me; a young man from the deep south who enjoyed the variety of the culture. It became less about individual and familial nourishment.

The Black Family requires nourishment from everything it takes part in. For me, hip hop stopped doing that. It became a showcase or comedic fodder for where our community’s moral fabric is deteriorating. If anything at all is positive about that blemish, it’s showing those interested where work needs to be done. Hip hop can nourish again.

As of late, I have been contributing to hip hop more often. I don’t know if its nostalgia, my yearning for days past, or a true resurgence of the art as mental exercise. But, it does have me excited again! Hip hop is not as nourishing as it once was. But it only takes the next witty rapper, legit producer, and community sound to turn that around!

Oh! Don’t forgot to pick up my freshman album “FamilyMan – NO CH$UP” dropping December 2011! Here is the track list!

1. It Is What It Is
2. NO CH$UP
3. Same Argument
4. Craigslist
5. 6×9′s featuring T Byrd
6. Do You Want a Spanking?!
7. Vacation
8. Six In Da Chamber
9. Date Night
10. Open Enrollment
11. PTA Cypher featuring Asher’s Mom, Mr. Timmons, and Raymond Jones