The heart beat of the city has become dirty and gritty
Its pulse has been soiled by violence and fear
The children there are smart, cool, and witty
They spit rhymes that dance along the ear
As they grow older sometimes their vision grows bolder
The Beamer, Benz, or Bently becomes a bull dozer
The see the masters of oppression and want to topple them over
Thus is the birth of a true hip hop flowwer
Unfortunately they are soon met with the contract
Creative control is stolen and gone is the bold
Brave interesting crazy inspired act
Forcing the artist to become corporate dusty and old
I figured I'd kick off the diary with a little poem. And I guess I'll continue with another.
While the art of rhyme put to beat is being discussed
Lets talk about a little issue of trust
The way words are spoken changes the message
In fact dialog carries with it a metric ton of baggage
In the depths of the city they have their own ghetto speak
So if you come with proper English that message might be weak
Or suspicious or worse, considered threatening
Educating in those words is worse than deafening
You see in the heart of the city there is a lot of pain
And the proper English speakers have brought the rain
Not all of ya but some of ya and so your not trusted
Proper English city education has failed and rusted
The community is still wounded and dealers still get busted
Opportunity is still scarce, and the people are poor
The city not only wants but desperately needs more
More food and adequate housing and political drive
Perhaps if the people fought for it then the city could thrive
But now we get back to the problem we have here
How oh how do we get the people to hear
To that I say, move the word to where its supposed to be. Public space should be the place where hip hop lives, shared ideas and community. Its time that society remembered what is public and not private. Our interests are public, and perhaps populist music that's for the populous conducted in public space could advance them. It's about time we find communal cultures within our culture that serve the public good.
It's time that we remember places like Union Square, town greens (up north we still have those :-P and perhaps still in other places. And with that memory we need to look forward and figure out how to bring them back to life. That's where hip hop comes in. Not just the rapping, not just the break dancing, not just the art, bring it all back. Its time to make public spaces productive for the public well being. Anyways its also time that the public streets become safe and a place where healthy people walk and communicate. In order to make these places healthy we need an educated population that has its own well being in mind.
And it's about DAMN time we teach people in a way they understand what ever that may be. I don't care if we have to speak red neck or ghetto or in spanish the people need to learn. I just feel UG hip hop is just one tool and one I'm familiar with. With that here's some more music.
Music inserted here :-P
The song above
Yo, in the land of the unseen hand, and hold trouble
Theorize your game it's difficult to roll a double
The struggle ain't right up in your face, it's more subtle
But it still comin' across like, the bridge and tunnel vision
I try to school these bucks, but they don't wanna listen
That's the reason the system makin' its paper from the prison
And that's the reason we livin' where they don't wanna visit
Where the dope slangin', keep swangin' like Sonny Liston
The money missin' and there's mouths to feed
Get the brain kickin', thinkin' of a thousand things
Remember back in the days, when the kitchen had eggs
And pancakes, chicken, and greens, and kool aid?
When the 'frigerator naked and the cupboard is bare
People got to strip naked, stick 'em up in the air
Was it lies when they told ya wasn't nuthin' to fear?
Somethin' don't feel right out here, nahmsayin'?
Check it out
(chorus)
(verse)
Look, my eyes open 'cause I'm really a watchman
And when inviting my thoughts out, really I'm boxin'
My main adversary in this silly concoction
Freeze your face like botulinum toxin
If you ain't tryin' to get popped, then give me an option
Helicopters choppin', from Philly to Compton
The Jones' the richest since dismissin' the Johnsons
If you ain't sayin' nuthin', you the system's accomplice
Does it play with your conscience-do away with the nonsense?
I'm overseeing anything within my circumference
This ain't a press junket-I ain't seekin' responses
I stand where the people got the heat in their pockets
They mesmerized by the calm nonchalantness
I spit a dart, rub on, some John Hitchcock shit
If you ain't speakin' your life, your rhyme's adopted
If it don't feel right, just stop it, yanahmsayin'?
(extended chorus)
It don't feel right
It don't feel right
I don't feel it
Don't feel it
Can't feel it no more
It don't feel right
It don't feel right
I don't feel it
Don't feel it
Can't feel it no more
Things don't feel right over here
Lately I ain't been seein' clear
It don't feel right
It don't feel right
I don't feel it
Don't feel it
Can't feel it no more
It don't feel right
It don't feel right
I don't feel it
Don't feel it
Can't feel it no more
Seems to me nowadays things have changed
I don't know if I feel the same
(verse)
Yo, children workin', weapon producin'
Natural disaster, got the planet in a panic
Y'all gots to make that livin'
Sex, drugs, murder, politics, and religion
Forms of hustlin', watch who you put all your trust in
Worldwide we coincide with who's sufferin'
Who never had shit and ain't got nuthin'?
But most strugglin', it make you wanna run up in the motherfuckin'...
With hots on for a piece of the cake back
I can't work for it, I can certainly take that
I'm fired up thinkin' 'bout the payback ASAP
You fuck around
Be an enemy of the state, Black
Ill, but that ill be too real for tv
It's crazy when you too real to be free
If you don't got no paper then steal this cd
Listen, man I'll letcha know how it feel to be me
It don't feel...
The hood could learn from this.
Another great one.
I'd like to thank Radical def for this one. He tipped me off to this group and I really like this song.
Man these songs really need to be heard and felt and explained. The people need to get up and feel it. Its about time this whole country started using what ever means people could find to educate. Please people be creative.
I'll keep the diaries coming. Hopefully I'll eventually hit that blend of artistic and informative I want to attain. My thoughts need to be organized I'm just not sure how I want to yet. I figure if I wait till I know how I want to say it nothing will be said at all. Good night peace and love.
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