@IGGYAZALEA HipHop is an artistic and socio-political movement/culture that sprang from the disparate ghettos of NY in the early 70’s. Coming off the heels of the CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT and approaching the end of the Vietnam war it was a crossroads 4 America. Specially for blacks in the US our neighborhoods were PROLIFERATED w/a rush of HEROINE. Our school systems here in NY dungeon traps with light for learning. Blk men some of whom didn’t return from tours of duty n the ones who did came w/war baggage (agent orange, addiction, ect..). These men had families but due to these events and throw into the mix the public emasculation… They proved to be handicapped parents. The surrogate parents? The STREETS. The streets of gangs, crimes, and the hustlers coddled us and swept us up but! Being a spirited, rhythmic & expressive people music art dance outlined our existence. It proved a way for us to exhaust to scream to dance to laugh and find OUR VOICE. We weren’t at the time skilled musicians as kids. We had records, turntables, ideas and INGENUITY. Being natural chemist we took from whatever was availed to us and we created something mighty and special.
We cut breakbeats back n forth we took a hybrid of Jamaican toasting along w/ radio jock rap( hank Spann, Gary Byrd, ect.). We put our rap down.. It was a neighborhood thing really. Black and Latino Kids were carving out their space and it became infectious. Eventually Keith Cowboy coined the phrase Hip Hop . Yrs later the first rap record was recorded and now we r moving but during these strides this country still had the monster of racism and racial insensitivity breathing and ruling. Believe it or not young black n Latino lives specifically weren’t acknowledged in mainstream American culture unless Of course.. The convo was about gangs , being criminals or uneducated. And hey! Like I stated early our families were rushed our schools sucked and we were left to put devices to survive but HIP HOP showed that we had DEPTH, fire, and BRILLIANCE. The music was undeniable! It moved from NY N became national and even GLOBAL. Hip Hop now was FOR EVERYBODY!! All of those who could relate to the roots, the spirit, the history, the energy.. It reached YOU. It touched your spirit n took u up. We magnetized you! That’s what BRILLIANCE does. now u are fulfilling your dreams … BUT! You have to take into account the HISTORY as you move underneath the banner of hiphop. As I said before hiphop is fun it’s vile it’s dance it’s traditional it’s light hearted but 1 thing it can never detach itself from is being a SOCIO-Political movement. U may ask why …
Well once you are born black your existence I believe is joined with socio-political epitaph and philos based on the tangled and treacherous history SLAVERY alone this is the case. It never leaves our conversation… Ever. Wether in our universities our dinner tables our studios or jail cells. The effects still resononates with us. It hurts… We get emotional and angry and melancholy. Did u know president Clinton was the ONLY PRESIDENT to apologize for it? Fid u know that remnants of slavery exist today thru white privilege? When certain “niceties” r extended your way because of how u look? Isn’t that crazy? I say this 2 say u are a hiphop artist who has the right 2 express herself however she wishes this is not a chastisement this is not admonishment at ALL this is just one artist reaching to another hoping to spark insight into the field you r in. I say this in the spirit of a hopeful healthy dialogue that maybe one day we can continue. I’ve been on twitter a long time and this will probably be my last series of tweets pretty much but I’m Kool with it as long as I got to share this w u. Zzzzzzz’s up! Peace!
– Q-Tip
Iggy Azalea and Azealia Banks had another twitter war yesterday after her Hot 97 interview. Q-Tip decided to step in and enlighten Iggy about the socio-Political history of Hip Hop.
