"I don't give any props to mainstream discussions of hip-hop…Most of these discussions, even if it's on the Oprah show, are not properly contextualized and don't lend themselves to real critical and analytical dialogue…Hip-hop doesn't exist in a vacuum, it comes from the culture and experiences out of the larger culture, and that's not something really getting talked about…You really can't speak about hip-hop as an outsider though – that's wack. The reason I can speak about this with authority is because I am part of the culture, I grew up in it and with it. I truly love hip-hop. I feel like I am hip-hop…We need more rap songs that stress purpose / with less misogyny and less curses / let's put more depth in our verses…More or Less" on the new release…I get just as much love from my Down South audiences as I do anywhere else, and I think that's because the music resonates with them no matter what…You can't listen to crunk all the time, all day long…Although that's what program directors at radio stations would have you believe, it's just not true."
Cool dude, but I have a problem with what people consider Hip-Hop these days. Just because it’s Black-based and there are men spitting verse to music, doesn’t make it Hip-Hop. In my humble opinion, Hip-Hop, in the mainstream, died with African Medallions, Malcolm X T-shirts and the day Russell Simmons gave it away to Europeans. The style, elevation and progress of Hip-Hop are currently reflected in the home-buying, entrepreneurial, hard-working, family-based lives of the young Black individuals on whom Hip-Hop was based. Hip-Hop was our lives, our style of dress, our swagger, how we interacted with each other and the world—a total package. Rap was only one small portion of our existence. I’m not saying I don’t appreciate today’s Rap stylings. From Tupac, Biggie through to Common and Kanye West, the essence of Hip Hop still resonates on the airwaves--in essence. So no, I can still appreciate Rap, I’m just saying that most of these recent issues are not Hip-Hop. Call it, gangsta rap, crunk, junk or spunk, whater, just don't call it Hip Hop. I am Hip-Hop, what’s going on today is something else.
