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Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of De La Soul or "Don't tell me to B Real!" |
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Who am EYE? A second year Master's student in Physics. Usually in the lab wearing a T-shirt and khakis or cords. Living in the nice end of Halifax, Nova Scotia. From the west end of a suburb of Toronto called Mississauga. EYE've never carried a gun, or a knife, or even a razor between my teeth. What am EYE? A hip hop head.
Who am EYE? A computer systems' analyst working just off Bay. Usually in the office in a suit and tie. Living on the verge of Oakville (the west end's best). Work a nine to five, take the Go-Train every day and spending most of the day PRAYING that noone vandalises my parked Volvo while EYE'm gone. What am EYE? A hip hop head.
Through the proliferation of the carbon copy "gangsta rapper" and the marginalisation of the true lyrical artist, we -- being the hip hop community since WE can blame noone else -- have created an image of what a true hip hop fan should be that is dangerous, if not ridiculous. The ignorance and machismo of the average hip hop fan causes him (or her) to big themselves up by fronting this image of hardcore, ghetto dweller. They believe this makes them look harder, and that they're keeping it real... real to the roots of hip hop.
But let's look at the roots of hip hop again for a second. Yeah, there's the Ice Cube's, the MC Eiht's, the MC Ren's. Punks jumped up to get beat down. Everybody was yellin F!ck tha Police. And brothas knew that a b!tch was a b!tch. But what about the majority of hip hop artists in the early days. You got artists like Slick Rick and Doug E. Fresh, Public Enemy, Tribe Called Quest, X-Clan, LL Cool J (back in the day), the Beastie Boys, Kool Moe Dee, the Jungle Brothers ... the list goes on and on. Artists dropping consciousness wearing leather Africa pouches and wooden beads instead of gold chains and fake Rollies..
The perfect example ... De La Soul. Their first album was called 3 Feet High and Rising. Not one swear word from beginning to end. No talk of smoking blunts, banging b!tches, and robbing n!ggas for their Wallabes. Just positive lyrics and much love. A hip hop classic. This was real hip hop. Music with a powerful message presented eloquently by talented artists.
So when people tell me to "keep it real" EYE wonder what they mean. If they mean keep it "ghetto". Keep it misogynistic. Keep it ignorant of my own history. Keep it superficial. Keep it shallow. No dice. EYE'll keep it real to hip hop. Keep it intelligent. Keep it informed. Keep it positive. Keep it Of The Soul.
You can take the rented Beemer and the Lex. Take the Tommy gear and the boosted Polo sh!t. Give me my 40 acres and a mule, my Free Mumia t-shirt, my notepad, and my adidas sweats and step aside.
It's time EYE started keeping it real.
Peace and luv, Rec.