The Intelligence of Hip Hop: Why we must Preserve it
(Akiit.com) Before there even was a Biggie Smalls in existence, I remember another fat genius emcee from Brooklyn by the name of Chubb Rock. Not only was Chubb Rock a cerebral wordsmith, but he also knew how to make us rush to the dance floor with fanatical hits such as “Treat Me Right” & “Ya Bad Chubbs“. To take diversity a horizon further, he even saluted a smorgasbord of HipHop veterans in his astonishing “Regiments of the Steel“. This is the personification of a classic Hip Hop artist-one who has originality, dexterity, dance heavy tracks, & thought provoking subject matter. In other words, one who possesses a significant quantity of intelligence. The Chubbster was not only all of the above, but he was witty as all out doors! And this lyrical locomotive had a vocabulary that would surprise many an anti-rap critic.
This is what was going on in HipHop music in 1988: Microphone Celebrities (MCs) had substance in abundance, who also knew how to have fun with it without degradation of their own community. I must give astronomical love for being intellectuals on the mic to: Melle Mel, T La Rock, L.L. Cool J, KRS-1, Kool Moe D, Rakim, Chuck D & Ultra Magnetic MCs. These brothers were undeniable proto-types for what I call “HipHop Intelligence“. The highly potent vocabulary usage and versatility of topics by those artists let the world know that HipHop music wasn’t all about a bunch of partying fools who just spoke jibberish throughout their recording sessions. You also had King Asiatic Nobody’s Equal {better known as Big Daddy Kane} who displayed the rawness of rhyme-ability to maximum capacity. Even to this day, the charismatic icon still is able to create that outstandingly complex, yet in-your-face simplistic mystical very artistical emcee rhyme we can all enjoy listening to.
Things got seriously innovative when Ultra Magnetic MCs came at us with science-fiction rap, & Boogie Down Productions fascinated us with the philosophies of Malcolm X as well as street braniacism. Let’s be real, KRS ONE has one of, if not the mightiest acronyms in the music industry and in HipHop Kulture: Knowledge Reigns Supreme Over Nearly Everyone. This one soul has contributed such an overwhelming amount of intelligence to the preservation of the Kulture of HipHop, to not know who Kris is, would be an enormous slap in the face to HipHop, period. By the way, KRS One & Chuck D of Public Enemy give lectures in various universities, so all of you arrogant educators, professors, etc. debate these mental heavyweights at your own risk.
Back to the topic at hand, from the fierceness of the Kool Genius of Rap, to the righteous rhapsody of Wise Intelligent, to the unapologetic dynamics of the Intelligent Hoodlum, to the hidden wealth of jewels by the late, controversial-to-the-very-end Tupac Shakur, up to the last of the intellectually stimulating on radio today, NAS & Common, HipHop music has contained its own old wise men in young physical form for over 2 decades. And with all of the positive/educational/spiritual vibrations throughout most of this art(’82-’95) if it were studied in schools & practiced in day to day life, Hip Hop would literally change the world as we know it. For the better, of course. Besides, HipHop Kulture was born out of a desire for positive change, not to mention to be the ultimate challenge to the status quo.
By SSly Shalom
Email Address: godisblack3@yahoo.com