4 Bars- Scurred

So I was around a lot of inner city young black males the past three days at a basketball camp and I observed what I perceive as our “future” and had a few issues. Now I know you’re asking “Bars, the f does this have to do with Hip-Hop” and my response, as usual is: everything.

Hoops and Hip-Hop are intertwined forever; there is no way around it. This is mostly because the audience/creators/artists are interested/dominated/deeply invested in both of them. I constantly would hear the kids with heavy Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New York accents loudly and publicly rap lyrics of everybody from Wayne to Gucci Mane to Nas and I couldn’t help but think, what are they getting/learning from all this?

I know this is the same ish I’m always on, but a recent chat with my man D made me think about our “future” and what it will be made up of. Hip-Hop is commercially and monetarily driven and besides feeding the inner circles and families (distant and immediate) of the artists, what is the music actually building within the culture?

The emphasis on money and getting paid or whatever variation of this mantra is engrained in each popular rapper’s lyrics are disturbing not just because of their shallow nature, but because the kids aren’t being taught anything different. I’ve touched on this before but after seeing it reflected daily in the youth that will represent our culture in the future, I cringe. It parallels a site like PTM with sayyy Bossip. Now I’m not trying to compare these two because they are in COMPLETELY different lanes, but what I do notice is that the masses are much more concerned with a tabloid site about the latest dirt on black celebrities, mostly Hip-Hop entities, yet a site like PTM, where thought provoking questions are asked, there is minimal love. Now, I know there are a lot of other factors involved but this dynamic is similar to what the kids are getting from Hip-Hop.

It’s not what they are listening “to” it’s what they’re listening “for”. Hip-Hop once “taught” its listeners. Whether it be simple social commentary or the addressing of major issues in the hood (Brenda’s Got a Baby, 9-1-1 is a Joke, etc) Hip-Hop was more than just music, it was a positive representation of culture. And don’t get me wrong it’s still a representation, but now it represents a culture that says “I don’t give a f#$k, I’m trying to get paid” (more cringing).

With all that said, there is a still a persevering spirit that remains and is shown daily from the “nothing to something” stories we continue to get. This is why I will continue to listen to, be critical of, and hope for the best from Hip-Hop; I just hope it’s not in vain.