Rap is Poetry... Hip Hop - A Way of Life!

The other day, I was inspired by a SPECial little sister to write this post:

She tweeted “Rap is poetry… Hip Hop is artistry. Please let me know if your feeling is otherwise. I’m curious”. I boldly retweeted letting her know that my feelings ARE otherwise. Between us two, there’s never a dull moment when we discuss music. There was no way I could let my fellow music consumers not be involved in our rich dialogue.

Poetry is defined as the art of rhythmical composition, written or spoken, for exciting pleasure by beautiful, imaginative or elevated thoughts. There is no doubt that rap is poetry. Whether you like it or not, you can’t discount the fact that artists around the globe put words & beats together, telling a story that we all “bop our heads” to. So yes, rap is poetry; poetry that has told stories relating to the masses.

But I do not agree with the statement that Hip Hop is artistry. Hip Hop is so much more than that. Hip Hop is an entire culture with various subdivisions (including rap) that allows our community to come together. I could not allow my little sister to limit Hip Hop to just artistry. Hip Hop is language, style, fashion, music. Hip Hop, whether some believe it or not, is a way of life.

So I blog: Rap is poetry… Hip Hop is a way of life. Please let me know if your opinion is otherwise. I’m curious