Never has an industry been so clouded by the events that surround it. As is the extent of the situation, it would be possible to fill this fifteen-hundred word article solely with names of the victims that lost there life to the violence of this culture; the ones that, over the years, have died from gang, drug and race affiliated attacks in connection with the hip hop industry.

It is easy to use individual examples of hostility to generalise Hip Hop to this inaccurate stereotype; however it is important to understand that as an industry it is moving forward. The so called ‘Hip Hop’ culture is a self expanding one. Influences from other music are there in small amounts, but Hip Hop in general expands internally. Tomorrow it will be a completely different thing to what it is today. Meaning it is very inaccurate that it is labelled with this stereotype, the stereotype that’s been extended from a very violent era.

And yes; the era was violent, from the introduction of gangster rap through ‘Rakim Allah’ in the late eighties, right through to

Not always the giant it is today, Hip Hop’s humble beginnings took place in the late-seventies with individuals who are now considered the true pioneers, the people who did it for the love of the music even though it was illegal. Of these entertainers it was DJ Kool Herc who set it all off. These were the days when Hip Hop was all about moving the crowd; days where parks and recreation grounds were filled by the thousands with fans wanting to witness the new type of music that was being tagged on the streets as rap. These so called ‘concerts’ were not legal, they didn’t generate huge prophet, they were done out of pure love of the art form; and from those early years it has continually evolved, through eras of money, rock, gang-influence, shiny-suits and business and it continues to evolve into the philosophical state its in today and will further do so into the future.

I Bang from Belize to Tel Aviv in the Red Sea //

He is known for his ability to jump from conscious rap (“in ya lifetime aint’ too many things better / than watching ya first son put his sentences together”) to hardcore (“your set is faker than a bomb threat / by a nervous terrorist who's so scared that his palms sweat”) seamlessly.

Some topics in this essay:
Hip Hop, Talib Kweli, Heaven Ghetto, East Oakland, Ras Kass, George Bush, Daddy’ Combs, hip hop, Hip Hop’s, Carter Jay, Cent’ Banks, hip hop expands, hip hop industry, hop industry, moving forward, people hate, maybe people, form expression, maybe people hate, music hip, music hip hop, hop expands, i'm writing, talib kweli,