Living The Message

Often the greatest triumph comes from humbling beginnings. Take me for example. I'm the only one of my maternal grandmother's grandsons who has never seen the inside of a jail cell, but I still experienced plenty of hardships: troubled family upbringing, homeless at 19. It wasn't easy and, contrary to what you may expect to hear, I'm not better because of it. I'm strong regardless. That's why I make it through. That's the lesson.

Human beings on planet Earth consume considerably more Hip-Hop/Rap and its derivatives (trap, drill, crunk-music) than any other genre known. But the vast majority (over 93%) of hip-hop media is owned and operated by only three companies and the two investors (Vanguard and Blackrock) that finance and control both the music and the prison industry. Their deliberate financial seizure of the platform and messaging of hip-hop culture are the latest and possibly most successful examples of blackface minstrelsy and cultural appropriation in American history.

For almost three consecutive generations the current, corporate commissioned, culturally degrading clown act commonly known as mainstream Rap has been used in American political discourse to claim the necessity for the harsh treatment and social neglect of Black people. If you believe scientific analysis of peer-reviewed data published by the American Psychological Association, then it stands to reason that this new Blackface 2.0 has conditioned the average person to think the inequities and state sanction violence that persist against Black people are justified. 

When Entertainment companies masquerading as news normalize intentional misuse (read: co-opting) of terms like 'DEI' and 'woke' as code for Black then our community gets denied pain medicine, credit, housing, employment, and due process of law. 

It's almost like Jim Crow never stopped. A sometimes racist (but most of the time ignorant and fearful) populace continues to vote for self-harming initiatives designed by think tanks who rake in profit off policy that "addresses" their fears and concerns about those 'woke DEI thugs'. 

Thus the cycle continues, all based on media (read: propaganda refined with 200 years of practice) commissioned by the same people who financially benefit from it's intended negative consequences.

I'm subverting them with intellect and action, combining the concepts that give hip-hop it's name. Success in my work requires that I consistently embody traits most often ignored but also most central to true Hip-Hop and Black culture. Determination, passion, knowledge, courage, joy; a consistent focus on these qualities in oneself can overcome impossible circumstances. They fuel the underdog story of Black America.

 I live to the adage 'be the change you wish to see'. As an activist and an artist I use my gifts to expose and subvert the archaic systems holding liberty hostage. Everything we do, think, and feel creates ripple effects through our environment, so when others value my message it amplifies the fundamental qualities that make Black America so resilient .

Feel enlightened? Galvanized? Eager to support?

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