Hip-Hop Shaped My Life

My freshman year at Framingham State College was full of me making an ass out of myself. I grew up in Medway, MA where we had a 1% racial diversity. The only black guys I knew were dudes I met through music. I was ignorant. Typical ignorance had me asking every kid that was a shade darker than khaki, "Do you rap?". Wow. Just in case you were looking to make a new friend, here's a racially charged conversation-killer. Have fun! My intentions were only to build with people though. I always loved talking to anyone about music and the techniques of rhyming and making beats. I did end up meeting a few cats that shared my obsession. I'm still close with one of them today. (What up Pete!)

If you're a Hip-Hop head, you can skip over this whole post. I think this is more for the new generation of scared parents. My folks are still trying to figure it out. I would be blasting Public Enemy's Apocalypse '91 and they would shake their heads. Mind-blowing messages for a 12 year old boy and super-scary, hold-onto-your-purse, black-rage for a couple of white, middle-class, suburban parents. What they still, to this day, don't realize....and I'm 34 years old as I write this....I was learning everything they couldn't teach me in school. When hip hop had a real message, it had real fans and a real movement that could be stopped by very little. Hip-Hop is a powerful teacher.

Here's 5 ways it shaped my life:

5. The choices you make directly affect your life.

There are countless songs about the wrong path and how you can ruin your life forever. The most notable are probably “Children's Story” (Slick Rick) and “Just to Get a Rep” (Gangstarr). They were songs about losing your life on a quest for notoriety. Another song, “Tearz” (Wu-Tang) taught me how real STD's and AIDS were. It was a first-hand story about the guy's friend. I couldn't learn that in my public school.

4. There is a separate U.S. History they don't teach in schools
   
   
   Public Enemy had me looking at the country different. They were letting America know that it ain't all good. The country is messed up for young black people. “911 is a Joke” had me like “Huh?”. And of course N.W.A.'s “F the Police” was a face melter. I'm 10, 12 years old thinking, “Cops are a problem in your neighborhood?”. These were the go-to guys when you needed help in my town.

I learned about Malcolm X, Minister Farrakhan, Larry Davis, Mumia Abu Jamal, Nat Turner. Look these dudes up. They are important pieces of U.S. History that somehow got left out of my text books.

Knowledge is so important. Different points of view are so important. This is how we learn as a society.

3. Question everything.

You should ask why a lot. It only leads to the truth. Don't just eat what your fed. KRS-ONE was a monster at breaking down the things I learned and just accepted as truth. His self-titled album had me buggin out on a few topics. Mostly on my Christian faith. On the way home from church, I asked my mother if she knew that the cross was a form of capital punishment and why would we all get on our knees to worship it? I was 14. She was dumbstruck. No answers that day. I had questions for everything and I had a couple of cool teachers that would field those bombs I threw. Thank God for them. Bottom line: Ask questions. You'll be smarter in the end.

2. Always have a message

When you have a mic in your hand and people in front of you, say something. Share something. Share with them, what's most important to you. That's the only way I can learn about you and your point of view. Don't get me wrong, I love a good trash-talking battle rap with clever punchlines. And I love party joints that get the place rockin, but the underlying message is the meat, the protein, the nutrition. We can't survive without it.

1. Be yourself

By far, unequivocally and with out question, the most important thing Hip-Hop taught me was to be me. You have to be yourself. God made you with a purpose. He loves you and wants you to be the light that shines. You are awesome the way you are, and you should go be that to the tenth degree. Don't try to rap like this dude or make beats like that guy. All they're doing is being themselves too. So go and be the best “You” you can be and let the next generation look at you as an influence.