The True Meaning of Hip Hop?

The reason I have such an extreme love for hip hop is because the message that lies in true hip hop. This message is that of equality. Not west coast versus east coast but the message before that. The message that it does not matter who you are or where you are from - everybody is equal, everyone was created equally and that is all that truly matters.

It is something which speaks to me, I am the kind of person who has big issues with unfair and unjust treatment of people. It is something which I absolutely can not stand and something that makes me truly angry and even upset. I personally can not understand that people would treat other people in such a way that they are denied their human rights. Denied the freedom. That they are denied everything that they believe in just because one person does not agree with the ideas.

That denial of personal beliefs and the pushing of someone else's ideas onto other people is disgusting. That is the only way that I can describe my emotions. I know that, in a way, I am doing exactly that which I have just describe by writing this, and yet - at the same time - I am also doing the opposite. It's a paradox.

Without those we would not be able to live our lives the way we do. I believe that there is beauty in the paradoxes of the world - they are things we should treasure. But that is for another day.

For me one of the songs which brings this message of true hip hop across is 'The Show Must Go On' by none other than Lupe Fiasco.

"So, no matter what you been through, no matter what you into, no matter what you see when you look outside your window. Brown grass or green grass, picket fence or barbed wire, never ever put them down you just lift your arms higher. Lift them 'til your arms tired, let 'em know you're here. Struggling, surviving. That you gon' persevere."

Not only does that quote from the lyrics point out the importance of equality but also shows the importance of fighting for what you believe for. Everybody should have that right, and if you don't get it you should do something about that. Live in the spirit of Hip Hop.
Equality above anything else, and if it doesn't exist for you - make it.

Death of Millions vs Death of One?

Every day a lot of people die in the world, but not often these are people that we know about. Sometimes they die of horrible diseases, other times merely of old age - but what do their deaths really mean for this world?
A lot of people criticise the current community for mourning over the death of individuals when daily millions of people die of easily resolved issues in the developing world. The most recent example of this is Whitney Houston.

Each time after one of these momentous deaths of a public figure there are memes everywhere commenting on how 1 person dies and million cry but when millions die no one cries.  Something which I think to a certain extent is quite disrespectful.

Now before you get into an angry fit of rage because of my comment, this is how I mean it:
The reason why people are more upset when a famous person dies is because they have been involved in that persons life, often for a long time, or have been massively touched by it. When the millions of people die in the developing world humanity isn't as touched by it because it is far away and they have no real personal bond with those who have passed away.

(No I'm not saying that I agree with that. Bear with me for a moment longer please!)

Moreover, we are constantly being bombarded by images of starving children on tv, in magazines, newspapers etc. What this has done, rather than make us more aware, is it has apparently made us more desensitised. People ignore the adverts or even get annoyed when they come on, they think 'whatever' when they see the images.
There are also people who have the belief of 'why would I care about those people when our own countries have so many living below the poverty line?!'

Additionally, a lot of celebrities have brough a lot of awareness to the world regarding various important issues such as sexuality, poverty, education, drugs etc.
And ultimately a celebrity is still a human being - one with a family, friends - who will be missed after their passing. To say they don't matter is what I find disrespectful.

What seems to be happening in today's western society is a conflict of interests. There are people in our own modern, developed, seemingly wealthy countries that do not have the ability to get themselves above the poverty line. There are those that are homeless, those that have no money for food and those who have terrible diseases that they'll never recover from because the cures have not been found.
And then there are the people who live thousands of miles away - millions without enough food, no homes, no money and dying of diseases that we have long eradicated in our societies.

So which side is more important?

The Right Here, Right Now Generation.

Because let's face it, that's what the current young generation has become.
In this day and age, what has become the norm is that everybody gets what they want instantly. They get it by winning a tv show, by winning the lottery or apparently, by rioting and looting.

What has happened in England was ridiculous, and we are now going to have to deal with the consequences. The society needs to remade; the houses that were destroyed need to be rebuilt, the shops that were broken into and burned to the ground need to repaired, and thousands of people who have lost their livelihoods now need to find a way to live. A lot of them more literally than they should have to, as often people live above their shops. As shops have been burned down, so have the flats above them.

It's moments like these that make me angry to be part of this generation, a generation that doesn't want to work hard, a generation that isn't prepared to put in the effort to reap the rewards. The reason why people were rioting is because they got angry. They got angry because they couldn't get everything when they wanted it. Really what happened is thousands of people had a temper tantrum, but instead of stomping their feet, screaming and dropping to the ground - as they're older, bigger and stronger now - they destroyed people's lives, possessions and the communities which are around them. Sensible? no, I didn't think it was either.

There is a lot which needs to happen in society, people need to be able to readjust their viewpoints and realise that life doesn't come as easily as they want it to. The society which we live in today has given birth to girls who want to be 'WAGS' when they grow up, girls who just want to have their own reality show, those who think that leaking a sex tape will get them the fame they want. Guys who want to become professional footballers, just so they can sleep around. And if the shit happens to threaten to hit the fan? Just get a superinjunction, it's fine.

But it's not, how is it that this is what people are aspiring to? Surely this is a step backwards from what all of the generations before us have been trying to achieve?! They pioneered the way to get people from every background equal recognition (and rights), people from every sex equal rights (and I'm talking about the Trans people too), and slowly they're starting to let those who have different sexual preferences be equal to the rest. Sure it has taken a long time and not a lot of it has been achieved 100% yet. People are still racist, some more than others (everybody is at least a little racist. It's just the way it is). And a lot of religions still have issues with those who are homo- or bi sexual, (Which for the record I think is bulshit, we're all equal. Just because you don't fancy someone of the same sex, doesn't mean that it's wrong for someone else too. Moreover, the texts that those who are religious quote from are thousands of years old, you need to put it back into context! At the time, it maybe wouldn't have been accepted. But it sure as can be should be now...!)

But anyways, why is it that these people who are supposed to be more liberal, and more open to change and other peoples needs destroying the communities around them? If you want them to improve, burning them down isn't going to do much. Look at the Bronx, burning the old buildings down did nothing for it in the 60s and 70s - why should those tactics work for us in 2010s?

I think it is now that people need to speak up, and I think that those who have influence need to start exerting it. Those who people listen to, which unfortunately are largely celebrities, need to condone the actions of the current youth. Because this is getting ridiculous.
If Eminem, 50cent, Kim Kardashian etc spoke out against all of the BS, then maybe something would happen, maybe something would change! We need to go back to the original HipHop mentality (and if you don't know what that is, I suggest you read Can't Stop, Won't Stop - A History of the Hip Hop Generation, by Jeff Chang and also Foundation, by Joseph Schloss)