What is it about hip-hop that you connect with?

[thedreampolice]

Why do you love it?
What about hip-hop captured your imagination to the point that you want to make it?

Thoughts?

 

[UNORTHODOX]

Aww man I could write an essay on this... matter fact I should lol brb

 

[ansiaaa]

the beat, the flow, the way of life.

I started with graffiti art 17 years ago, but the music quickly became the most important part of my hiphop experience.
I guess the main thing must have been all that 70's new york feeling that there was into it. When I was a kid in the early 90's, the few hip hop artists we had here in Italy were heavily influenced by the old stuff so that was the sound I grew to love...

I remember all the hours making beats on the glorious Fast Tracker 2 on my old PC!

there also was a place in the nearest city where all the local hiphop crowd would gather: b-boys, mc's, guys like me who made the beats would take the newest creations to provide music for both of them for dancing and freestyling on the spot, graffiti artists with their books full of pictures and so on...

it was a great bunch of people. there was this guy really into the zulu nation that tried to keep the whole thing working at its best and from time to time we all gather around and speak about how experiences, hip hop itself, random stuff and basically get to know each other better.

people who knew how to do something were always available for you if you wanted to learn something about hip hop, b-boying, mc'ing, beat production, graffiti, ...

and everything went on in the open, at the side of a street where we used to gather. we called that place "the hall". every saturday, every week, with sun, rain or snow. it was a gallery in front of a bank, with the side facing the road open, so we didn't get wet from the rain, but let me tell you, it gets COLD in the winter around here!
it was nice to see random people to stop by and ask the mc's what they were singing, or what kind of music was that, or other people to stop and watch the b-boys dancing.

near the local train station we had a subterranean passage where we went to spray some graffitis. there were really talented people at that time.
the place where I live is between Milano and this other city I'm talking about (Varese) and we have this long local railway. my home was just in front of it and everyday I could see the new graffitis on the trains. I made some of my own and I can't describe the trill to see your piece on a random train without notice!
a graffiti artist who came from new york told us it looked like NY in 70's with all those bombed trains!

mmhh... I must have moved a bit OT lol. well I guess you get what it was like to me to be part of something like that in the good old days.

 

[DJ Excellence]

The first time I remember hearing a Hip Hop song, I was 8 years old, living in Sweden at the time. The song was "Fight the power" by Public Enemy. I was blown away, ...ahah Chuck D's booming voice and Flavor's craziness , never seen anything like this before and the music ! It was raw but complex at the same time ... this is the first image that conjures up in my mind whenever I think of dope Hip Hop music, .... and I'm sure subconsciously that motivated me to make my own.

 

[dacalion]

Im starting to wonder if a real connection is still present because of what hip hop has evolved to. My original connection with hip hop was its seperation from the norm, hip hop was a twist on "anything" just to make it personal to an individual. It was all about doing the best with what you had. We need to go back to what hip hop was.

 

[skidflow]

Im starting to wonder if a real connection is still present because of what hip hop has evolved to. My original connection with hip hop was its seperation from the norm, hip hop was a twist on "anything" just to make it personal to an individual. It was all about doing the best with what you had. We need to go back to what hip hop was.

Im feeling this statement because I dont feel connected as I used to be...maybe the music and culture doesnt connect with me anymore...everyone is envolved in the art and culture now which makes it boring at times. Hip Hop has been mixed with to many cultures and elements and has lost its mystique. Hip Hop has brought the world together...but at a price. I connected to it (hip hop) more when the world hated it.

 

[ansiaaa]

Im feeling this statement because I dont feel connected as I used to be...maybe the music and culture doesnt connect with me anymore...everyone is envolved in the art and culture now which makes it boring at times. Hip Hop has been mixed with to many cultures and elements and has lost its mystique. Hip Hop has brought the world together...but at a price. I connected to it (hip hop) more when the world hated it.

when I wrote my answer I was asking myself if I was still connected to HipHop the way I used to be, but I actually already know the answer...
the main problem to me is that it's not "family" anymore. if you read what I wrote, for me it was like being part of it because I felt it was the closest thing to how I felt my life should be, not because it was just some music I liked to hear to bang.

even if there were just a few guys back in the days, it was the hardcore bunch. If you liked HH, you LOVED it, you were LIVING it.
I don't see that happening anymore around me. even if I still feel like that, I can't share it with other people anymore, because even if someone listen to HH, it doesn't mean anymore that he wants to live HH.

thanks to the internet tho I'm still able to stay in contact with that feeling, being part of places like this forum, and some people in my country are starting again to look for the old school way of life that HH used to be.
so it's not all bad after all, there's still hope.

 

[thedreampolice]

Yea hip-hop years ago was about helping your brother and getting out of a bad situation in life. Then NWA came and it was great, they raised awareness of problems in the hood, gangs and drugs etc. Because the country really did not know or believe how bad it was. But then they found they could capitalizes on that image and being in a gang became cool. Then downhill from there. But for sure the sense of community is not there like it once was.

 

[shadeed]

It's the soundtrack to my culture, my early environment. It also challenged and shaped my views on religion, poverty, right vs. wrong,and many other subjects.

It started out simply as a means of communication between people from inner cities to this worldwide phenomenon. Through hip-hop, I learned about what was going on in Texas, Atlanta, California, New York City, Clevland, St. Louis and ultimately it made me want to visit these places.
Through hip-hop, I learned how to dress, about style, about life.

I see myself being connected to hip hop culture for the rest of my life.

 

[UNORTHODOX]

I dont expect yall to read everything, but its posted on my blog here: http://acethetime.blogspot.com/2010/04/what-is-it-about-hip-hop-that-you.html

excert:
Hip Hop Originally was a place where I could be entertained and push the boundaries of what I was told possible. The catalyst? Punchlines! I Loved them!! So much so Its what I started doin. I started out as a battle rapper, then moved to more general place, topic wise...

I started listening to everything that had a "Rebelious", Vivid, epic, Descriptive sound. If it sounded normal, I didnt mess with it (Pac, Nas, Jay etc). It had to sound crazy, "special", and take me somewhere I couldnt (Mentally) Go myself. I'm very cautious about what I "Digest", No stale anything for me!...

All these things took me away from the problems of real life. The fights, anger, school, responsibilty, the authority and hypocrisy within. It was a way out. Plus Its made me cool lol. I was always the cool kid that didnt like what came with being cool, the sheep that you're constantly being judged by. The "rules" you had to play by, it was Bs, So I did the opposite, I decided to be what ever I wanted...

Hip Hop was that underdog, And I connect(ed) with that...

I make music to give to others what Hip Hop gave me, Hope and at least a sense of belonging, salvation or just something to let them know that they arent alone...

 

[thedreampolice]

nice Thanks for the shoutout!

 

[Pug]

I liked the way it sounded, straight up.

 

[UNORTHODOX]

nice Thanks for the shoutout!

Yup, I'm trying to maximize others spotlight as well as my own
:bbq:​

 

[Ozmosis]

When I first saw beat Street and double K was making music in his room without the usual instruments. I was only 8 at the time so I thought you had to have actual insturments like drums, pianos, etc...to make music. And that was also the first movie we taped on our 1st brand new VHS VCR LOL...

But it was EPMD 'You gots to chill' is what really hooked me. I was a little older and understood it better.

 

[Ominous]

I liked the way it sounded, straight up.

Cosign.

I was too young to really understand what Kool Moe Dee, Ice T, 2 Live Crew, NWA, Das Efx was really talking about but the sound and energy of the music grabbed me.

 

[StressWon]

It was partly the music, but mostly the culture on a whole. the fact that in my neighborhood, my brother and I were 2 of only a few white kids. We would go to the park in my complex and watch kids breakin and shit. We were accepted because we were from around the way. This was the 80's. A time where if the roles were reversed, it would be different. i noticed this early on and realized that here's a culture/art form that accepts you for you. Not who u are or what color u are. Music is only a fraction. for me anyways.

 

[Sucio]

My love for hip-hop was it's connection to other genres of music (how a rock/r&b/jazz record became a hip-hop record). I was very intrigued how it actually bridged a gap between the other genres. My first encounter of hip-hop was when I saw my uncles breakin in the street to hip-hop....breaking to paul hardcastle n shit... I started breaking along with them....but to some run dmc...I became very much in love with the poetic nature of hip-hop and mixing it with a fast tempo... It was awesome....it still is....gives me chills when I hear an old big daddy kane joint...because it was so pure and natural back then, now it's corrupted by money and commercialism..

 

[LouBez]

I never heard anything like it before...commin outta miami was all this bass music... mix that with year round summer, thick cuban/puerto rican/brazil/columbian/vezeulan girls, daisy dukes, and cisco; it was hard NOT to be into hip hop. Down here the people are so diverse that before clear channel took over the radio played EVERYTHING. Dre song, then Wu Tang, luke, jt money, domino, bone...then do a straight house mix for an hour...shit was crazy.

Radio stayed playing locals like trick before they went national but most of the hip hop djs were NY transplants so what alotta yall call "real" hip hop STAYED in heavy rotation. Remeber when songs like "Rene" got you a plaque? Lol that beat was harder than anything that came out this year.

The point is the hip hop was everywhere down here, u didnt have to go lookin for it. It was litterally everywhere because of the bass scene. In the 90s you couldnt get pussy without ATLEAST 2 12''s in the trunk...EVERYBODY knew sound, how to perfectly tweak an eq, fix ur amp with soder etc...The car system was to the south as the boom box was to the east. You would just be chilln at the bus stop and hear that boom boom BOOOOOOOOM and be like " oh man he got that snoop tape, you got that tape? Dog lets smoke one and put t on when we get to the crib" So if you were outside you were vibin to hip hop. It is actually a part of my culture.

 

[UNORTHODOX]

I never heard anything like it before...commin outta miami was all this bass music... mix that with year round summer, thick cuban/puerto rican/brazil/columbian/vezeulan girls, daisy dukes, and cisco; it was hard NOT to be into hip hop. Down here the people are so diverse that before clear channel took over the radio played EVERYTHING. Dre song, then Wu Tang, luke, jt money, domino, bone...then do a straight house mix for an hour...shit was crazy.

Radio stayed playing locals like trick before they went national but most of the hip hop djs were NY transplants so what alotta yall call "real" hip hop STAYED in heavy rotation. Remeber when songs like "Rene" got you a plaque? Lol that beat was harder than anything that came out this year.

The point is the hip hop was everywhere down here, u didnt have to go lookin for it. It was litterally everywhere because of the bass scene. In the 90s you couldnt get pussy without ATLEAST 2 12''s in the trunk...EVERYBODY knew sound, how to perfectly tweak an eq, fix ur amp with soder etc...The car system was to the south as the boom box was to the east. You would just be chilln at the bus stop and hear that boom boom BOOOOOOOOM and be like " oh man he got that snoop tape, you got that tape? Dog lets smoke one and put t on when we get to the crib" So if you were outside you were vibin to hip hop. It is actually a part of my culture.

This picture...sounds sooo beautiful!..... R.I.P cultural Dopeness

 

[2GooD Productions]

In the 90s you couldnt get pussy without ATLEAST 2 12''s in the trunk...EVERYBODY knew sound, how to perfectly tweak an eq, fix ur amp with soder etc...

Haha, me and my mates used to go to the local summer spot and bang out hard beats.
Its satisfying when other mf's turn their shit off when you turn up.
Then everyone had to listen to some MOP, or some Redman, OC, Organized Konfusion, Ras Kass, Madskillz, Show n AG. Ah the good times.