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The Hidden Art of Hip Hop By: Kiran Kothuri

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Page 1: Kiran_Kothuri

The Hidden Art of Hip Hop

By: Kiran Kothuri

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DedicationI dedicate this book to true Hip Hop and the universal

creation of good music

I.

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AcknowledgementI would like to thank a couple people for helping me create this book.

First, I would like to thank all of my Freestyle Academy teachers. Mr. Florendo, my WebAudio teacher, taught me how to record and edit my interviews. Mr. Greco, my

English teacher, helped me refine my topic, and clarify my thoughts to create a coherent argument. Ms. Parkinson, my Design teacher, taught me how to use Adobe InDesign

to create the design and graphic structure of my book.

I would also like to thank my incredibly talented interviewees, Bry-Sone, Darryl, and Diego, for lending me their time and sharing their interesting perspectives on Hip Hop.

Finally, I would like to thank the Mural, Music & Arts Project for generously host-ing me during their meetings so I could take pictures of their facilities and interview their

members.

II.

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Table of ContentsDedication . . . . . . . . . . . . . i.

Acknowledgement . . . . . . . . . . . ii.

Foreword . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Introduction - Welcome to the World of Hip Hop . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Chapter I - Hip Hop 101 . . . . . . . . . . 7

Chapter II - Hip Hop and Positivity in the Community . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Works Cited . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

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ForewordBy the age of eight I had barely experimented with popular music. The only genres of music

I had ever listened to were jazz, rock, and popular radio hits; frankly, I did not care much about music in general. Little did I know, within a few short months, my taste in music would change forever. This was when I was introduced to rap for the first time: My family friend played me “Candy Shop,” a brand new song off of 50 Cent’s The Massacre album. (12) I did not under-stand any of the lyrics, and was only able to follow a couple words of the chorus, but that did not matter. The sheer novelty of fast-paced music with a catchy feel and vibe excited me. I went on to listen to much more rap and eventually expanded my musical and artistic tastes to new artists and other genres.

Now, I am sixteen, with well over three years of Hip Hop producing experience under my belt. As I transitioned from being a mere consumer of rap music to becoming a rookie Hip Hop producer, I realized I really did not know anything at all about Hip Hop itself, and the qual-ity of my beginning productions reflected it. Sure, I knew a couple good rap songs, and could rap along with some of my favorite artists, but that was nowhere near enough musical and cul-tural knowledge I would need to improve my works. As I learned more and more, my eyes were opened to the vast world of Hip Hop. I realized almost everything I thought I knew about Hip Hop was false, and true Hip Hop was buried under all the propaganda the media and record companies spewed.

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I realize many people do not like Hip Hop, as they believe exactly what is portrayed by the media – gangs, drug abuse, sexism, materialism, and an unhealthy dose of narcissism. My own parents strongly disliked my affinity for Hip Hop for the same reasons. Though it would be ideal to sway the predefined opinions of all people who read this book to develop a deep love for Hip Hop, I highly doubt that I will be able to accomplish that feat. However, regardless of your disposition - whether it be amor, hatred, or even nonchalance - I invite all to dive in with an open mind. With the help of many hours of research and patient, talented interviewees, we will explore Hip Hop: First by defining Hip Hop itself, and then by viewing its effects on the East Palo Alto community. By the end of this book, I hope to, at the very least, foster respect and apprecia-tion for Hip Hop within all who read this book.

Various works of Graffiti art hanging in the MMAP House2

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Introduction:Welcome to the World Of Hip Hop

You are in your car, stuck in traffic. You have been languishing motionless on the highway for about 20 minutes now. There’s nothing you can do, so you turn on the radio in hopes of averting your mind from

the frustration of being at a complete standstill. Looking over the heavy concrete divider, you envy the care-free people coasting along on their merry way.

CLICK, It’s hard to look right, At you baaby, So here’s my number, So call me maybe! (13) Nope. Way too overplayed, next station.

He stopped loving her today. They placed a wreath upon his door. Soon they’ll carry him away. He stopped loving her today. (14) Too depressing currently, especially when you are already frustrated with the line of red taillights ahead, seeming to never end. Next station.

I’m gonna pop some tags, Only got $20 in my pocket, I-I-I’m huntin’ lookin’ for a dollar, This is f***ing awesome! (16) ‘Woah’ you think to yourself. Now this is something. Catchy beat, raunchy lyrics, bass so powerful it you feel it vibrate in your chest like a second heartbeat; this is something you could jam to. The song plays out, then the DJ comes on, talking before the next loop of ads is played. This is 102.4FM! Non-stop Hip Hop around the clock! Pause. The average person would take the DJ’s word for granted; after all, the guy is rapping obscene lyrics, over a catchy, up-tempo beat; it must be Hip Hop. False. A true Hip Hop Head would cringe after hearing the DJ claiming his station was Hip Hop.

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KRK Rokit 8 Monitor Speakers4

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Let’s begin by crossing off the incorrect answers. D) is completely false. If you chose this answer, I will hope for your sake that you chose it jokingly. If you legitimately thought D) was the correct answer, please do not actually attempt to jump, land on your hip and start spinning; you will probably just end up with a broken hip, a broken heart, and broken

dreams. Now, C) too is incorrect. Unfortunately, the lyrics of the most popular rap songs are indeed horri-bly obscene and disrespectful to women; however, Hip Hop itself is neither obscene nor disrespectful to women. Branding Hip Hop as obscene and disrespectful to women is just as ignorant as branding a particular group of people with a stereotype. For example, it is unfair and unjust to label all Muslims as terrorists because a few radical Islamic followers decide to raze a building using airplanes as missiles. The same principle applies to Hip Hop. Finally, the moment of truth: A) too is incorrect. WHAT! HOW IS HIP HOP NOT A MUSICAL GENRE? I understand and appreciate your confu-sion. No, I am not playing you; it is the truth. Rap is a musical genre, and a subdivision of Hip Hop, but Hip Hop itself is not a genre of music.

Using the process of elimination, that must mean that B) is the cor-rect answer, and indeed it is. Hip Hop is a lifestyle, a cultural movement. Now what exactly is the Hip Hop Cultural Movement? That question will be answered soon enough, but for now, let me introduce a specific group of Hip Hop Heads who have dedicated themselves to keeping the Hip Hop Movement alive and thriving in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Now, before we get ahead of ourselves wondering why the afore-mentioned station is not Hip Hop, attempt to answer the following question. Don’t worry, its only multiple choice. Are you ready? Here goes:

Hip Hop is:A) A musical genreB) A cultural movementC) Obscene and disrespectful of womenD) Profitable media controlled by the Illuminati

Graffiti Art

Graffiti Art 5

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In the city of East Palo Alto (EPA), a city within the Silicon Valley with high unemployment and crime rates, a small group of Hip Hop Heads gather - practicing, creat-ing and performing - to keep true Hip Hop Music alive. This specific program, History through Hip Hop (HHH), is just one part of the wide range of Hip Hop Culture the Mural Music & Arts Project (MMAP) teaches youth. MMAP (pro-nounced ‘map’) is a community enrichment program that not only channels the creative spirit of youth in the commu-nity into creating quality Hip Hop Music, but also by teach-es leadership and gives youth the tools they need to be-come positive voices in their communities. Participants love the program for a variety of different reasons; most agree with the goals for community improvement. Some, such as Bry-Sone (who we will revisit later), think of MMAP “like a getaway, a home away from home;” (2) while others, such as Diego (who we will also revisit later), love the individu-ality and self-empowerment the program sponsors: “Not everyone can say they make beats, I say I make beats. I’m confident in what I do, and it gives me some bragging rights - a zone to be conceited.” (7) So how is it possible to chan-nel the creative spirit and individuality of Hip Hop culture into positive energy for the community? It turns out that it is not very hard, as Hip Hop was originally a community culture, and no community would adopt a self-destructive culture. The notion that Hip Hop is all about gangs, drugs, violence, and obscenity sadly has become too much of a widespread belief that people accept without thinking twice nowadays. This widespread misconception has persisted because the most famous “Hip Hop Artists” claim that they are artists; in reality, they are more similar to businessmen, and are terrible role models for the youth to say the least. So, how is this EPA program able to ac-

complish the unthinkable? Before we can answer that question, we must first learn about the Hip Hop Movement itself.

Graffiti mural up the staircase of a MMAP house

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Chapter IHip Hop 101

What exactly does the Hip Hop Movement stand for? What is the significance of Hip Hop? Let’s begin by analyzing Hip Hop Music’s history. Are you ready? This section is about to get heavy...

Hip Hop Culture formed during the 1970s as block parties increased in popularity, especially among African-American youth residing in the Bronx. (8) DJs would primarily play popular genres at these parties, such as Funk, or Soul, and eventually started isolating the ‘drum breaks’ or drum solos. Soon after, MCs started rhyming over the drum breaks, performing either memorized or improvised lyrics. Before they knew it, Hip Hop Music was born. As the culture progressed into the 80s, Hip Hop Music evolved further and be-came more diverse. By then, producers started producing on early drum machines, creating tracks through sampling. This greatly expanded the musical aspect of Hip Hop, and many new artists were able to express themselves creatively over these new tracks. As time passed, samplers and drum machines with advanced capabilities became available, thus furthering Hip Hop production. (6) By the mid 80s - early 90s, Hip Hop was in its Golden Era, as creativity was blooming, as well as the improved quality, innovation and influence of Hip Hop music in general.

By the 90s, Hip Hop music had changed drastically, into ‘Gangsta Rap’ and the introduction of West-Coast Hip Hop Music. ‘Gangsta Rap’ shocked older, established Hip Hop acts, unseen previously in Hip Hop Music, Gangsta Rap lyrics featured violence and extreme profanity. (10) Originating in Los Angeles, California, Gangsta Rap became a major component of the West Coast Hip Hop scene; its birth started a rivalry with long-time Hip Hop capital, New York. This sparked the EastSide/WestSide rap rivalry, which cul-minated after the deaths of East Coast Hip Hop kingpin Christopher Wallace (Notorious B.I.G., a.k.a. ‘Biggie Smalls’, or just ‘Biggie’) and West Coast Hip Hop kingpin Tupac Shakur (2pac).

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Extensive vinyl record collection at MMAP

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The 90s were also a significant time period in rap’s history, as it finally went mainstream, meaning that, Hip Hop Music started becoming played very frequently on the radio. By going mainstream, re-cord companies were able to produce rap music for profit. This is where I will end the brief history of Hip Hop Music; I apologize for the incredibly dense material in this summary. (15) By now you may be thinking Okay, I understand the basics of Hip Hop Music’s history, but how does that justify classifying Hip Hop as a cultural movement instead of just another genre of music? Now that we have a basic understanding of the evolution of Hip Hop Music, let’s broaden our view into the culture of Hip Hop itself. I will start by asserting that there are 4 core elements of Hip Hop: Deejay-ing, Emceeing, Breaking, and Graffitiing. (4) The 5th core element is Knowledge, which is an amalga-mation of smaller Hip Hop elements such as Beatboxing, Sampling, Street Entrepreneurialism, Street Fashion, etc. However, I will not be covering this element as it is simply too broad, and there is too much information to touch on. If I did actually attempt to cover all the aspects of Hip Hop Culture and History, this short book would easily become a 500+ page tome, and I do not want to inundate you with information.

The first core element of Hip Hop is the DJ. Arguably, the most important aspect of Hip Hop Cul-ture, early DJs practically invented Hip Hop using their own creativity and positive crowd reception. The craft of the DJ is turntablism, sometimes referred to as scratching, or deejaying (a phonetic spelling of the initialism). Famous Hip Hop DJs such as DJ Kool Herc, Afrika Bambaataa, and Grandmaster Flash are often credited with their cutting edge developments of turntablism, and major contributions to Hip Hop. DJ Kool Herc is credited with the creation of Break-Beat Deejaying, which, if you were paying at-tention during the brief history of Hip Hop Music, is the isolation and looping of drum breaks, or solos on various vinyl records. These great DJs solidified the image of the DJ as Hip Hop’s first and foremost instrumentalist, setting up the foundation for an amazing musical genre for decades to come. (19)

The second core element of Hip Hop we will cover is the MC. The MC has always been an inte-gral part of Hip Hop. The term MC originally stood for Master of Ceremonies, and started by being an-nouncers at parties; however, eventually MCs started performing either pre-written, or ad-libbed verses, introducing the DJ they were working with, as well as entertaining the crowd. Other common terms for MCs are emcee (yet another phonetic spelling of the initialism), rappers, or lyricists. Rappers are the most commonly known part of Hip Hop Culture, but it is a grave mistake to brand them as the sole en-tity within Hip Hop. (9) 9

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The third core element of Hip Hop is the Breaker. No, a Breaker is not a caffein-ated, wide-eyed youth running around the house with a hammer smashing everything in sight. On the contrary, a Breaker is a ‘street’ dancer. Breakers are also commonly referred to as Breakdancers, or BBoys/BGirls. As street dancers danced to DJs em-ploying Break-Beat Turntablism, the dancers and dance itself became named after the style of music it was performed to, hence the terms “Breaking”, “Breaker” and “Break-dancer.” Within the element of Hip Hop that is Breaking, there are four major types of moves: Toprock, Downrock, Power Moves, and Suicides/Freezes. Toprock is clas-sified as any steps performed in a standing position. Downrock is classified as any movement done on the floor, where the dancer’s hands support him/her just as much as their feet. Power Moves are any acrobatic moves requiring endurance, strength, and control. Finally, Suicides and Freezes are used to accentuate parts of the beat. Suicides will give off the impression that the dancer has lost control, but quickly re-gains control at the last moment; Freezes show the firm preciseness and control of a dancer, as they freeze in a final position. (3)

The last core element of Hip Hop I will cover is the Graffiti Artist. As a com-munity culture, Hip Hop has always stressed political and civil injustices, as well as social issues people living in lower-income and poverty-stricken areas often faced. Graffiti art formed as a part of Hip Hop during the 60s and 70s as a form of expression by political activists, but was also used to mark gang territories. Later, Graffiti Artists started signing their names, often referred to as ‘tags’ to expand their fame. As time progressed, the artistic styles of Graffiti evolved as well, forming many well-known styles today, such as WildStyle, created in Brooklyn, and Bubble-Letters, created in the Bronx. (17) So how is the defacement of public and private property considered an essential part of Hip Hop? The simple answer is that many Graffiti Artists actively participated and believed in many other aspects of Hip Hop Culture - eventually they were absorbed and they became an integral part of Hip Hop. (1)

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An Instructor teaching youth spray painting technique

Graffiti supplies next to a mural

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To sum up the four core elements of Hip Hop, think about them in this way: Hip Hop is an idea, a lifestyle, a cultural movement. Emceeing and Deejaying form Hip Hop Music, also referred to as Rap Music, and is the auditory expression of Hip Hop Culture. Breaking is the physical expression of Hip Hop Culture, and Graffiti is the visual expression of Hip Hop Culture. Along with the other ele-ments, these individual components of Hip Hop amalgamate to form the Hip Hop lifestyle. So back to the introduction: Why was the radio station described not Hip Hop? The simple answer is that it con-tained no elements of hip hop. The song played was a pop/rap song; indeed it did have a rapper, but the song played was made with the sole intent of profit. True Hip Hop Music is crafted out of the love and respect of the culture of Hip Hop itself, furthering the movement and lifestyle as an audible artis-tic expression. Now that we understand what the Hip Hop Movement is, and what it is not, let us shift our focus to the group of youth propagating true Hip Hop Culture in blatant defiance of the media’s portrayal of ‘Hip Hop’ as idolizing gang activity, materialism, sexism, and criminal actions.

Mural next to the front door at MMAP

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Chapter IIHip Hop and Positivity in the

CommunityI step out of the passenger seat of my good friend Diego’s Toyota. We are in the heart of East Palo

Alto, just a couple streets away from University Ave. It is just past dusk, and it is getting dark out-side. I glance at my watch, displaying a dim 7:42. Damn, were like an hour late, he says. I grab my camera and my recorder and jog to catch up to him. As we walk by a couple houses, I hear a deep, repetitive bassline in the distance; it is obviously the bassline of some unknown rap song. It seems as if everyone here in EPA understands and accepts rap music. We walk up to the MMAP building, a community center fashioned from two houses. Even in the dim light outside, I notice the giant murals hugging the outer walls of the houses. As we step inside through the front door, I am astonished. The first thing I see is a full-sized wall mural extending onto the adjacent wall, and creeping up onto the ceiling, with figures of many different races and a banner floating through the center with the acronym MMAP. Diego immediately greets the people sitting at the table in the front of the house, all who look under the age of 25. Then, I am cheerfully greeted by these happy folks, and I introduce myself and my purpose of writing a book based on their organization.

I follow Diego through the first house, through the back door, where I see a group of youths, standing around a wall about six feet tall, with a giant piece of paper draped over it. A man, probably only a couple years older than the youths seem to be the Instructor, teaching various spray paint techniques and ideas. I watch them while avidly taking photos of the crates of spray paint and paint-ing in action. I stand for a couple minutes - watching the paper transform from a blank page to an impressive bubble-letter banner. 13

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Mural outside one of theMMap houses14

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Once I am satisfied with the pictures and questions I ask them, I follow Diego into the sec-ond house (also covered with murals) and up the stairs. I see a room with two big monitor speak-ers, KRK Rokit 8’s to be specific. A group of youths is sitting in a wide circle, freestyling in a cypher. For those of you who are unfamiliar with group Hip Hop activities, freestyling is the performance of impromptu verses, and a cypher is the non-stop rapping of a group of people; As soon as one per-son finishes their verse, the next person in the circle starts. Intrigued by the skill of these teens and young adults, I stay to take many pictures, and sit in and listen. When the cypher finishes and the group switches to individual writing time where each person writes down verses to a beat playing, I pull out a couple people and politely ask to interview them.

The first is Darryl, an eighteen year-old lyricist. When asked to comment on why HHH is so special to him, he replied, “It gives you the opportunity just to be free, completely free.” (5) Dar-ryl had been rapping for over a year, and had been in MMAP for over three years. He explained to me how as a lyricist at HHH, he writes raps, and performs on stage, at any of the numerous events MMAP performs at. I was impressed by his sheer determination and love of Hip Hop, as he ex-plained how he was a “product of Hip Hop;” (5) having been raised and grown up around the strong influence of Hip Hop not only at home, but all over his community.

Darryl, on the left, freestyling in a cypher

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Next, I interviewed Bry-Sone, a twenty-one year-old lyricist. I asked him to explain why he is a part of HHH, to which he replied, “It’s like one of the only positive things that’s happening in the community, … and it’s music, and I love music; and all they do is rap and learn, and thats all I want to do.” (2) Bry-Sone had been rapping since he was nine years old, putting well over twelve years of experience under his belt. He continued by describing how he was taking a bigger role this year, acting as a mentor to the younger, less experienced lyricists, as well as being the engineer in the studio, helping set up and mix down any tracks any member wanted to record. When I asked him why he rapped, he responded: “I rap because I love do-ing it, and I feel like … well it changed, you know. … Before, I felt like this like my main thing - this is what I know how to do - this is what I’m the best at; but now I rap because I want to make people realize and un-derstand what’s going on in the world.” (2) These lyricists were part of the enlightened youth; they refused to uphold to the false image of Hip Hop portrayed by the media that has fooled so many today. They truly believed in harnessing the power of the true Hip Hop Movement, to spread awareness of civil, social, and political issues, all while choosing to be good role models, and positive voices in the community. Furthermore, MMAP taught the youth in the Graffiti program strictly to use their artistic skills only in areas that allowed them to use their art, or to use it only when given explicit permission by an authority figure. Satisfied with my findings for the night, I returned home, ready to document my experience.

Multitrack sound mixing module

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The next week, I tagged along with Diego to the EPA Community Center, where MMAP had collabo-rated with Stanford students to create three EPA community empowerment music - documentary videos. Many members of HHH recorded influential rap songs on various topics, the first video protesting housing developments that killed the natural beauty of the land. The second urged local residents to grow their own food, and support local-grown foods for the overall health of the residents of EPA. The last video focused on a student-led grassroots organization called Youth United for Community Action, which was able to success-fully shut down Romic, a toxic waste processing facility that posed serious health threats to the residents of EPA. Through this collaboration, MMAP was able to achieve its goal of teaching leadership and youth to be positive voices in their community, literally, with the tracks they produced.

With these events, I was able to experience firsthand how this EPA program was harnessing the cul-ture of Hip Hop and using it to teach youth to become positive influences in the community. So now that we see that it is possible to use Hip Hop effectively to deliver a positive signal to youth, that leaves us with the question: How did Hip Hop’s reputation become tarnished so badly in the first place? Darryl thinks “Hip Hop lyricists became businessmen”(5) and true enough, with Hip Hop going mainstream in the 90s, rap music got exploited for a profit, and the artistic and cultural aspects of Hip Hop got bumped to the back seat.

Alesis RA-100 stereo power amplifier

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Bry-Sone freestyling in a cypher

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What I find appealing about Hip Hop is it's informative, it lets you know; it tells you something about what's going on in the world ... and it's not just rap, it's not just about the rapper ... they tell you something, it's a ... story, it's a message.

”- Bry-Sone, Lyricist19

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Conclusion

So what is Hip Hop? It is a lifestyle, a cultural movement. We have

covered the history of Hip Hop Music, the core elements essential to Hip Hop Culture, and discovered a small group of Hip Hop Heads utilizing the Hip Hop Movement to make a positive change in their community. We have shattered the stereotype of Hip Hop as an obscene genre of music idolizing gang activity, sexism, materialism, and criminal ac-tions. However, there is still one ques-tion left: Is Hip Hop a United States-only phenomenon, or is it worldwide?

Members of MMAP writing raps

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Graffiti Art 21

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Hip Hop has spread globally, extending to virtually every country on the planet. National Geographic acknowledged Hip Hop as “the world’s favorite youth culture” stating “just about every country on the planet seems to have developed its own local rap scene.” (11) Hip Hop has spread so far, The Hip Hop Declaration of Peace, a document created and signed by Hip Hop pioneers, activists, and organizations, was presented to the U.N.: “The HipHop Declaration of Peace was presented to the United Nations Organization on May 16th 2001. It was signatured by various organizations such as: Temple Of Hip Hop, Ribbons International, UNESCO and also by 300 Hip-Hop activists, pioneers and UN delegates. In the first place this document recognises Hip-Hop as an international culture of peace and prosperity. It is also a set of principles which advise all Hip-Hoppers on how to sustain the peaceful character of Hip Hop Kulture and to form worldwide peace. Additionally this declaration is meant to show Hip-Hop as a positive phenomenon which has nothing in common with the negative image of Hip Hop as something that corrupts young people and encourages them to break the law.” (18)

Hip Hop is a complex movement, propagating a lifestyle dedicated to freedom, prosperity, and fun. The commercialization of rap music unfortunately slandered Hip Hop’s name, brainwashing many into be-lieving Hip Hop was a sinful genre of music. The truth is that Hip Hop is not a genre of music, but is an idea, amalgamated from several components forming the entire Hip Hop movement. Furthermore, Hip Hop is able to be harnessed to benefit communities, as we have seen in East Palo Alto. All in all, Hip Hop is a life-style, and a force to be reckoned with. The next time you are stuck in a traffic jam, listening to the radio, un-derstand the music playing on popular stations is not real Hip Hop. True Hip Hop is a cultural gem, its music carries a message, and moves the soul. True Hip Hop may be hard to see, but it definitely is a diamond in the rough.

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KRK Rokit 8 monitor speakers

Mural directly behind the front door of the MMAP house

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Works Cited(1) “A History of Graffiti in Its Own Words”. New York Magazine. unknown. Web. 26 Mar. 2013.

(2) “Bry-Sone.” Personal interview. 14 Mar. 2013.

(3) Chang, Jeff (2006). Total Chaos: The Art and Aesthetics of Hip-Hop. New York City: BasicCivitas. p. 20. ISBN 0-465-00909-3. Web. 26 Mar. 2013.

(4) Chang, Jeff; DJ Kool Herc (2005). Can’t Stop Won’t Stop: A History of the Hip-Hop Generation. Macmillan. ISBN 0-312-30143-X. Web. 26 Mar. 2013.

(5) “Darryl.” Personal interview. 14 Mar. 2013.

(6) David Toop, Rap Attack, 3rd ed., London: Serpent’s Tail, 2000. Web. 26 Mar. 2013.

(7) “Diego.” Personal interview. 14 Mar. 2013.

(8) Dyson, Michael Eric, 2007, Know What I Mean? : Reflections on Hip-Hop, Basic CivitasBooks, p. 6. Web. 26 Mar. 2013.

(9) Edwards, Paul, 2009, How to Rap: The Art & Science of the Hip-Hop MC, Chicago Review Press, p. xii. Web. 26 Mar. 2013.

(10) “Gangsta Rap – What Is Gangsta Rap”. Rap.about.com. 2009-10-31. Web. 26 Mar. 2013.

(11) “Hip Hop Music.” WorldMusic.NationalGeographic.com. National Geographic, n.d. Web. 23 Mar. 2013. <http://worldmusic.nationalgeographic.com/view/page.basic/genre/content.gen e/hip_hop730>.24

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(12) Jackson, Curtis, and OLIVIA. Candy Shop. 50 Cent. Scott Storch, 2005. MP3.

(13) Jepsen, Carly Rae. Call Me Maybe. School Boy, 2012. CD.

(14) Jones, George. He Stopped Loving Her Today. Direct Source Special Products Inc., 2007. MP3.

(15) Kenner, Rob. “Dancehall,” In The Vibe History of Hip-hop, ed. Alan Light, 350-7. New York: Three Rivers Press, 1999. Web. 26 Mar. 2013.

(16) Macklemore, Ryan Lewis, Ray Dalton, Wanz, Mary Lambert, Allen Stone, Teaching, Q. ScHoolboy, Hollis, Ab-Soul, Evan Roman, Fly Eighty4, and Ben Bridwell. “Thrift Shop.” The Heist. Macklemore. Macklemore & Ryan Lewis LLC, 2012. MP3.

(17) Shapiro 2007. Web. 26 Mar. 2013.

(18) “The HipHop Declaration of Peace.” The HipHop Declaration Of Peace. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Mar. 2013.

(19) Hansen, Kjetil Falkenberg (2000). , Turntable Music. Norway: NTNU and Sweden: KTH, p. 4. Web. 26 Mar. 2013.

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