Hip Hop: Then, Now and Who’s Behind It

BY SADDIQ PALMER

Humble salutation to all revolutionary elements who are consciously and strategically executing political activism to effectuate and three dimensionalize the political hypocrisy of this shit-tem that is attributed capitalist imperialism.

In the last two issues of 4strugglemag there have been extensive discussions on the state of hip hop and the direction it is heading. Me, myself is considered a component of this so-called hip hop generation. The question was posed and answered, what is hip hop? Brother Akili simply stated that hip hop is the peoples’ music, and rightfully so. Hip hop “was” the revolutionary vehicle employed to manifest the hellish conditions of the oppressed commune. It was an idea that was born from the womb of capitalist oppression.

Before I further indulge in this discussion of hip hop, let me pose a few more questions. What is hip hop doing today? And what is the future of hip hop? Who was behind hip hop when it was in its embryonic stage? And who is behind it now that it has blossomed into a worldwide phenomenon?

We can’t deny the fact that ninety-nine percent of hip hop music is composed of un-revolutionary elements that are subliminally liquidating the minds of this generation. There’s a saying that you are what you eat – mentally and physically. The masses are less conscious now than they were in the sixties, seventies and mid-eighties. Hip hop here and now has been taken over and is being directed by the capitalist corporations, principally to dumb down those who are considered to be “the generation few.” In every generation there are always a select few that are mentally acute in apprehending the system and its functions, not only in a domestic, but also on a global level.

The rapper Nas stated that hip hop is dead. I wouldn’t go so far as to say hip hop is utterly dead. Hip hop is “virtually” dead upliftment-wise. Some may put up the un-winnable argument that hip hop in its present state has helped brothers and sisters come up out of the quagmire of society. That’s true. A rich man who is not conscious of the world he’s living in is no different from the dumb bum who just won the lottery. If you are a conscious rapper ninety-nine percent of the time the masses won’t know who you are. Why? Because the message of revolution entails change and transformation. The big capitalist music corporations who are the enforcers of capitalist ideals have diverted the music from its natural course. The natural course of hip hop is to enlighten the people and that’s why Brother Akili stated that it is the peoples’ music.

Hip hop has made its quantitative step, but has yet to make its qualitative evolution. Music is a force that motivates the mind to think (make motion) negatively or positively. The capitalist music industry knows this, that’s why any music that Pellucidly explains and exposes this parasitic system of capitalism is made. The capitalist used every ounce of his energy to counteract this revolutionary message with a barrage of unconscious music. So, instead of fighting the power, the vast majority of hip hop is in the promotion of promiscuity, shaking your booty, alcoholism, and sightlessness. Some rappers rapped about drinking nothing but bubbly and Moet. Others rapped about all the jewels they got around their necks, but not the jewels you should put in your head. This is the strategic agenda of these capitalist corporations. They’re promoting blind causes and fantastic irrationality. We must not remain oblivious to this deception and chicanery. We must architecturalize a means by which we can get the rappers to ameliorate the music with the supreme objective of combating illiteracy and the astronomical Cain complex (rivalry, competition, aggression, or destructive impulses directed against a brother) image that is rampant in the oppressed milieu.

In conclusion, let me pose a few questions to all you 4strugglemag readers:

What are we doing to improve the conditions of this oppressive biosphere that we’re living in? How can we here and now be a valuable component of this so-called hip hop generation? What is a hip hop generation?

In the name and spirit of Jonathan Jackson!

Saddiq Palmer, #W62664
P.O. Box 100
South Walpole, MA 02071