Making ATLANTA HIP HOP community stronger!

[quic]

My Brothers and sisters,

We as a community have alot of pressure on our backs.
There is a silent war between us and the media world.
The questions are what is right? What is wrong?
What is Hip Hop? What is not?
What is selling out? Is making money selling out?
Is Hip Hop really a Culture?
Before I give answers I want you to wite this down and answer it in your opinion.
Posting our opinion and or experiences in these topics will open a discussion which we can learn from each other.
Until later
Peace & Funk

[Camron Wiltshire]

I think we need to be realistic about what are goals are and what we hope to create through the art of hip hop.
To me the culture could be revitalized if we started addressing some central social issues through the art.

The emergence of the art was fostered by coping with the devastation wrought by the policies of the US Governement and the backlash from returning veterans who were suffering from untreated PTSD. They returned to the poor communities that they had left hoping for a better way through military service only to be left in the cold by the shifting economy (At that point manufacturing was beginning to be outsourced to poorer countries, this was intentional to destabalize the middle class)

So I think it would be dope to have the Hip Hop and Activist communities here work together to throw jams that are not only just a great time for everyone but an opportunity to voice our concerns and to organize our efforts to create a more just society.

Thank you to everyone on the site.

-Camron (Now)

[Angelina]

Peace and Much love to all,

As a member of an international Hiphop community and an advocate of the growth of our culture, obviously I know that Hiphop or Hip Hop is a culture. Hiphop is an undeniable form of expression that used in many ways (elements). Thanks to our forefathers and mothers of the culture, we are able to determine those elements that we so naturally express.
-What is selling out???
That's a question!!!!
Making money (depending how you do it) is not selling out. False and hateful intentions (such as murder, lying, robbery) is selling out. I still feel like whoever killed Biggie and Pac were sell outs. I feel like they were people within Hiphop who lost their way because of envy, hate and greed and destroyed those brotha's careers and sold out through murder.
Hiphop Appreciation Week is coming up soon, May 17-24th this year and the theme is cooperation, please join us by celebrating the culture in your special way. There will be a series of official events happening throughout the world, be sure to be in tuned with what is going on in your areas. I will post updates!


Peace,
Angie "Hiphop Angel" Griffin
Angel of Love Events, Temple of Hiphop

[Joe Kim]

What is right in Hip Hop? The celebration of a culture by means of peace, love and knowledge for fulfillment and enjoyment.
What is wrong in Hip Hop? The celebration of a culture by means of violence and wrongful media exposure.
What is Hip Hop? I believe there is no concrete definition of Hip Hop whereas to me Hip Hop is one's unique take on it that incorporate the ideas of peace, love and knowledge.
What is not Hip Hop? The way commercial media portrays Hip Hop. Somewhere along our history people felt it was okay to suggest Hip Hop can go hand-in-hand with criminal activity. Those people that are in question blame their criminal activity due to desperate struggle and Hip Hop. Why blame Hip Hop? Because society sees Hip Hop as an easy scapegoat where one can blame all things bad in the name of Hip Hop. What is not Hip Hop are outside influences that create this "illusion" of Hip Hop upholding a bad reputation.
What is selling out? Acrobats and gymnasts. I feel strongly effected by the widespread of "bboys" who can't seem to understand what bboying really is. A huge portion of the bboy community consists of gymnasts who belong in the Olympics and not on the dance floor. The word "foundation" and "roots" seem to have lost their meaning in the past decade.
Is making money selling out? I personally feel that making money will never sell out. As corrupted as it may sound, "money makes the world go 'round." The two extremes of life, "love" and "war", are both rooted deep within the concept of money. Love is found MOST COMMONLY through marriage, not all love is found through marriage but most. Marriage involves expensive clothing and diamonds. Being married involves raising a family in a nice environment. Since marriage has heavy influences on materialistic values such as a nice house for the family, clothing, engagement ring etc. Money owns a generous portion of "love". "War" is always, ALWAYS fought due to monetary conflicts. Even "The Cold War", a war that didn't involve any violence (technically), was fueled 100% by money.
Is Hip Hop really a Culture? In my opinion, yes! Culture has many different definitions all of which fit the essence of Hip Hop but one definition truly stands out to me. Culture is the "development or improvement of the mind by education or training." (According to www.dictionary.com) There are many other aspects of Hip Hop that can truly define it as being a Culture but I believe that instead of me explaining it one should research Hip Hop on their own to gain a better understanding.

Peace & Love to all of you,
Joeroc

[Adina]

I believe Hip hop culture is modern cultural movement that unites people by their passions, interests and common experiences rather than geographic locations or family ties like in the past. To me hip hop culture is what you get when you combine the collective energy and soul of indigenous cultures with the dynamics and realities of living in a western world.

Because Hip hop culture grew out of the need for oppressed people to express themselves, give voice to their experience and create a force for healing it is tied to both the good and bad of experiences of these people also. Hip hop in its truest form is a reflection of our conditions and how we cope with these conditions. Considering that hip hop culture was created to give power to the powerless, I think providing a way for folx involved in the culture to make money and be self-sustaining using their talents is in alignment with hip hop culture. I believe selling out happens when you are willing to sell a product that is in direct contradiction to your moral, values and principles and the morals values and principles of hip hop culture.

Also because the basic hip hop culture was created to give power to the powerless, those in power have an interest in controlling its image and distribution. So now we have three parallel cultures of hip hop: 1) hip hop culture as created by the originators 2) hip hop culture as defined and sold by corporate America and 3) something in between these two. So ultimately we have an interesting cultural battle going. It will be our children who decide the winner. Cultural knowledge is perpetuated by actively and authentically expressing the culture on a regular basis, educating those who practice and witness the culture and having some way to pass this information down to our children. If we want the version of hip hop culture to prevail that promotes, Multiculturalism, Community Activism, Self-Expression, Entrepreneurship, Collective Action, Gender Equity, Cultural Awareness and Pride, love, peace, etc. we have to be committed to creating systems that teach our youth the version of hip hop culture that incorporates all these values rather than leaving up to the media and society to dictate how hip hop culture should be perceived.


Peace and Blessings,
Adina