I love HIP HOP

With the death of Heavy D, I began to reflect on my love for Hip Hop. I started to think about the first raps I can remember. I can't even recollect who it was, but I knew I loved it. See, hip hop has been in my life since I can remember.

I was born in 1982 in Chattanooga, TN. I grew up on East 3rd Street. If anybody from Chattanooga reads this, they will know 3rd street is like 20 miles long. But, my house was just up the block from Notre Dame High School. Back then East Third had a reputation for being a little rough. My first couple of bikes as a youngster were stolen pretty quick...hell, I remember some crackheads stole my grandma's water hose. SMH!!!!

The streets were street, and the music began to become a reflection of black people's struggle. One of my favorite television shows growing up was YO MTV RAPS! I loved that show. It was hosted by FAB Five Freddy. Back then Fab Five was the man.

Back then  you had a few hard core groups like N.W.A, but the main types of rap you would hear were sounds that you could dance and groove to. Every rap video would have a dance. And my boy Heavy D was the overweight lover that could groove. I remember I would go to the kitchen, make some kool aid, get me a cup and then find the television. I would sit my cup of punch down on the table next to the television and start dancing with the videos. During commercial breaks, I would take a sip of juice, towel off my sweat, and start dancing again when another music video would come on.

Man, it makes me recall the days of the group Kid and Play and their movies that starred unknowns like Martin Lawrence. The fights on the playground in elementary school of who was a better rapper MC Hammer or Vanilla Ice? Queen Latifah making songs about not calling women bitches and hoes. Dr.Dre and Ice Cube when they was just some guys off the block. Go back and look... Ice Cube was rocking a jerry curl. MC Lyte, Digable Planets, a Tribe Called Quest, Sugarhill Gang, Public Enemy,  Big Daddy Kane. The list goes on. These guys were just a part of my beginning stages of finding love with Hip Hop. Me and my cousins loved hip hop so much back then that one of my first dogs was a white cocker spaniel whose name was Eazy-E.

As we progressed into the 90's, I finally got my first rap cassette. Wrecks N Effect was the group. They had a few hits, and I would wear that tape out. Rump Shaker was their classic hit. You can hear that saxophone sliced and placed into Jay-Z's song Show me What you Got from the album Kingdom Come...See, I been listening to rap so long, I knew Jay Z had bought the saxophone section from the Rump Shaker song and placed it into his own song...pretty dope Jigga.

About in the fifth grade, I moved from a predominately all black neighborhood to an all white neighborhood. Talk about culture shock. But, I adapted, especially when it was time for recess. In the mornings my mom would drop me off to school for before care around 6am so she could get to work on time. I met this kid by the name of Brandon York. Brandon was this lil white kid with red freckles and red hair. Every time I would come to school I would always see him sitting there listening to a tape player. One day, I didn't feel like playing super nintendo, so I asked him what he was listening to that day? His response, "Snoop Doggy Dog"!

Now, I'm sure some parents and older folks reading this will think...In the fifth grade you were listening to SNOOP DOGGY DOG!? And the answer is yes! I listened to it. That tape, was a classic for my generation. That tape had grandmama's singing SNOOP DOGGY DDDDDDDDDDDDOOOOOG! BOW WOW WOW Yippe Yo Yippe Ya...DEATH ROW IN THE HOUSE! haha....

From Murder was the Case to Gin and Juice, wow...that tape was a classic. I can only shake my head and laugh that the whitest white boy introduced me to Snoop Dog. The irony of that is comical. But that's hip hop, it doesn't judge. Think about it, a white boy by the name of Emniem may just go down as the greatest MC to ever pick up a mic.

Hip hop became a reflection of the times. From Notorious BIG, Tupac, Puff Daddy, Wu-Tang, Red Man, Method Man, Master P, Outkast, Mystikal, Eminem, Jay Z...Its amazing to look back on those years and realize how the rap game has evolved. Who would have ever thought Jay-Z would be part owner of Brooklyn Nets? Tupac would have college professors lecturing about his lyrics? And Snoop Dogg would go from being on trial for murder, to being on daytime talk shows like the View and Ellen?

I guess I love Hip Hop because it defines an attitude of rebellion. The rapper often time chronicles his times from poverty to fulfilling riches. He tells the listener that he doesn't care what you think of him. He doesn't want you to give him approval. He doesn't want your respect. Because by the time you finish listening to the entire tape/cd you were like damn...This guy is fighting to survive. He earned my respect because he's hussling to make his life better. Instead of robbing, stealing, and slanging dope often the rapper is using their talents to have a life of rhymes instead of a life of crime.  Biggie says it best in his song Juicy:

I love you hip hop because you gave my generation a voice. I'm not talking about this crap rap. I'm talking about real raps about the streets, about the struggles, about life, death...Thats hip hop. I think sometimes, I'm gonna outgrow hip hop. I'm lying to myself. What I've realized is that my hip hop will just be a new genre called mature hop. I love you hip hop because you looked in the mirror and said the poor will survive. I will be strong. I will dust the haters off and be a winner.

My hip hop ain't just raps, its reality.