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Hip-Hop Validity as a Trivia Contest

© Steve Juon

Frankly, I'm getting a little sick of this idea that you get your hip-hop pass validated by "what you know": i.e. "if you don't know the lyrics to Rappers Delight, you don't know sh*t". Conversely, you would think that if you *DID* know the lyrics, perhaps you *WOULD* know sh*t -- but I can tell you for a fact I know a lot of (pardon my french) crackerheaded ass poor white trashy redneck Iowa motherf*ckers who watch MTV that could rap this song as well or better than any so-called "headz" who are "in the know".

Let's set the record straight on this debate: there are a lot of kids born and raised in the mid-80's or even the 90's; post-Sugarhill, who love hip-hop. They honestly feel the power of the culture with their heart and are down for whatever it takes for hip-hop to thrive and survive. Now just because they didn't grow up with a copy of Sugarhill Gang or because they didn't hear Rappers Delight enough times to memorize it don't mean they don't know sh*t; they know some DIFFERENT sh*t. The hip-hop of Jay-Z, Mos Def, and Aceyalone is in the very same tradition as Melle Mel and Busy Bee; and if you're too narrow minded to realize that then YOU don't know sh*t.

I refuse to play the "I know X Y and Z about old school validate my pass" game. You know why? Cause I know there are a LOT of motherf*ckers who *know* sh*t I don't. I couldn't win one of those battles. INSTEAD, I'd rather knowledge the wisdom that they have; and they could knowledge the wisdom that I have: that way, we both come away with some NEW sh*t. We all hold a piece of hip-hop truth; and no one person group or individual has a monopoly on what truth is. Truth is like an infinite crystal; you may see many facets of it as it turns but seeing them will never help you know ALL of it or THE WHOLE. What you will know is just a small portion of that truth.

That's why I got to big up heads on the rec.music.hip-hop newsgroup: people like Kari Orr, NiceStylez, Mike Burke, O-Dub, Charles Isbell, Mike D, Roman Solowski, and yes even Mr. Sh*ttalker -- because love em or hate em, they are the truth of hip-hop. So am I. We all are. You can take all the hip-hop trivia quizzes in the world and whether you pass or fail them is irrelevant: it's how you feel about hip-hop in your heart and what you do

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