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?