HIP HOP SOUL

Do you remember when Rakim told us he had soul? When LL rocked the bells and Public Enemy said fight the power? Do you remember when Queen Latifah gave women of all races pride and strength to all women? I do!

I remember the days when Grandma and Grandpa could listen to the same hip hop music as their grand children. I remember sitting on the stoop listening to Grand Master Flash & The Furious Five, Kool Moe Dee, Dougie Fresh and all of my child hood friends & I would sing line for line the words of their song. We couldn't wait until Dougie Fresh came on the radio.

I remember when the movie KRUSH GROOVE came out there so much love & honor amoung hip hop artist there were no killings or gang violence in the rap game. Not to say that artist didnt have beef's but it ended with 1 or 2 artist getting arrested.

What happen? CORPORATE GREED is what happened. The powers that be saw the full potential of urban music and no longer could young ghetto children be silenced. I blame the media and even some of todays so called rappers for the decline of good music. Rakim never called our women hoes, bitches. Todays rappers seem to sell more records depicting our women as un-intelligent beings.

I remember the first time I heard the message and melly mels verse said it all:

(A child is born with no state of mind

Blind to the ways of mankind

God is smilin' on you

but he's frownin' too

Because only God knows what you'll go through

You'll grow in the ghetto livin' second-rate

And your eyes will sing a song called deep hate

The places you play and where you stay

Looks like one great big alleyway

You'll admire all the number-book takers

Thugs, pimps and pushers and the big money-makers

Drivin' big cars, spendin' twenties and tens

And you'll wanna grow up to be just like them, huh

Smugglers, scramblers, burglars, gamblers

Pickpocket peddlers, even panhandlers

You say I'm cool, huh, I'm no fool

But then you wind up droppin' outta high school

Now you're unemployed, all non-void

Walkin' round like you're Pretty Boy Floyd

Turned stick-up kid, but look what you done did

Got sent up for a eight-year bid

Now your manhood is took and you're a Maytag

Spend the next two years as a undercover fag

Bein' used and abused to serve like hell

'til one day, you was found hung dead in the cell

It was plain to see that your life was lost

You was cold and your body swung back and forth

But now your eyes sing the sad, sad song

Of how you lived so fast and died so young so)

Even though our generation is in a much better financial situation Hip Hop has lost its soul. I'm not one to talk another mans hustle but he has to be held acountable for what he says .

Thats the soul Im talking about thats the love Im talking about .