Welcome everyone. This is my first official blog. I think every now and then, I would attempt
to start a blog a few years ago, but never stuck with it. However, this time it is a class requirement
and I’m hoping it’ll turn into something that I’ll stick with even after the
class ends.
I was told to blog about
something that I’m passionate about and the first thing that came to mind was
hip-hop. I remember in the movie Brown
Sugar, Sidney’s first question to interviewees was “When did you fall in love
with hip-hop?” My answer would’ve been
1990 when I was 13. Before then, I was
just in “like” mode with hip-hop. I
remember my older brother playing LL, Beastie Boys and Kool Moe Dee, but I
remember the first hip-hop tape I bought was Digital Underground’s Sex Packets
and after that I became obsessed with hip-hop.
As I’ve gotten older though,
my passion for hip-hop has remained, but it’s had its fair share of ups and
downs. When I was younger, I swore I
would always be into hip-hop and would stay on top of the new artists. I turned 37 recently though and I feel like
I’ve turned into some of the older people I used to criticize. The ones that always cry about the good ole
days of music. Sort of like Steve
Harvey’s crybaby rant in the Original Kings of Comedy when he talked about why
he couldn’t get into hip-hop because they didn’t talk about anything.
I cussed Steve Harvey out
for that rant and now I’m the one sitting around criticizing today’s hip-hop
artists, but I swear the music today isn’t as good as when I came of age in the
90s. I had Wu-Tang, Biggie, Pac, Tribe
Called Quest, Redman and the list goes on.
Now my nieces and nephews are stuck with Wacka Flocka, Gucci Mane and
Lil Wayne. Don’t get me wrong though,
there are some dope artists out there now like Kendrick Lamar and J. Cole, so
hip-hop’s not entirely dead like some people would believe.
Don’t worry though, not all
of my blogs are going to be about trashing the current state of hip-hop. Part of my purpose for this blog is take you
back to the 90s era of hip-hop as I reminisce on what it meant to me, but I also
want to give some shine to some of the artists that I think are carrying on the
tradition that I fell in love with. I
know we won’t agree on everything, but I hope this blog entertains you and
please feel free to contact me with any comments, criticisms, suggestions, etc.
One last thing, for those
that don’t know, the title of the blog was inspired by Common’s song from 1994
titled I Used To Love H.E.R. With H.E.R.
standing for “Hip-hop in its Essence and Real”.
Peep the video.
