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HIP-HOP: FROM THE UNDER BELLY TO AIRWAVES

© Grandmaster Jay

HIP-HOP: FROM THE UNDER BELLY TO AIRWAVES

It was once told to me that “Nobody is going to tell your story better than you.” That quote stuck with me as I began to come to the realization that The Hip-Hop Nation has collectively and falsely assumed that the true story of how this remarkable culture evolved would somehow be told by somebody other than themselves. This assumption has resulted in the mistelling, twisting, and outright lying about where, who, and how Hip-Hop came into creation. While there may be a few books in the local library written on the subject, none has even begun to delve in to the underground world that flourished. As debates rage between newcomers to the Hip Hop culture and those still true to its roots, the continuing growth of the musical aspect of Hip Hop makes it abundantly clear that the truth must be chronicled. This glaring reality smacks us all in the face daily as The Old School is pushed further in the obscure and the sources of the truth die off leaving the history of this still young phenomenon to be written by people who have no clue or experience within it.

Malcom X once said that you should never join and organization that you don’t know anything about. Yet I am amazed at how many young people today swear allegiance to Hip-Hop, yet are ignorant to its history, power, and potential. While it’s true that record labels are profiting on the pimping of the watered down interpretations of Hip Hop music called Rap, most simply fail to understand the common link that bound the original rappers, deejays, breakdancers, and graffiti artist together.

Hip-Hop was born in the underbelly of America’s Black North Eastern cities. Exploding from the boroughs of New York City it spread south as far as Richmond, VA. There it flourished and grew while the rest of the world slept. The rise of the little mentioned but still flourishing Go-Go Music scene of Washington, DC ,Maryland, and Virginia played a very prominent influence on Hip-Hop and can be easily identified in many of the Hip-Hop’s classic songs. The struggle of the streets, so falsely painted by recording artist who “rap” today, was not filled with just killing, robbing, pimping, and drug dealing as they would have you believe. There were many good times and the peoples of the street were as creative in ways to entertain themselves as they were at survival. Very rarely is this atmosphere painted in the telling of the evolution of the Hip-Hop culture. Without the readily available capital that White America enjoyed in the suburbs, the inner city folks created their own parties and clubs. Pride in your neighborhood was something to speak about, dance about, and represent but not to die for.

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