I used to love hip-hop.<\/span> I used to love hip-hop.I don\u2019t remember the day I fell out of love, but one day it suddenly didn\u2019t matter that I knew who DJ Kool Herc was, or that like some hip-hop griot I could explain how sampling was born, or expound on the anger and angst that fueled a graffiti artist\u2019s civic […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2251,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2513","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
<\/span>I don\u2019t remember the day I fell out of love, but one day it suddenly didn\u2019t matter that I knew who DJ Kool Herc was, or that like some hip-hop griot I could explain how sampling was born, or expound on the anger and angst that fueled a graffiti artist\u2019s civic rebellion. One day I woke up (Spike Lee style) and didn\u2019t care what mix tape was about to drop, which album leaked or who the Source awarded 5 mics to.<\/span>
<\/span>I do, however, remember fighting for hip-hop. I remember trying to justify its contradictions, and like many women I tried to stay in love with its \u201cpotential\u201d despite its flagrantly abusive qualities. But at the end of the day, our love affair ended. (I\u2019ve learned that it\u2019s hard to save something or someone that doesn\u2019t want to be saved).<\/span>
<\/span>After much reflection I realized that I was in love with hip-hop before I knew what \u201cBig Pimpin'\u201d really meant. I was in love with hip-hop before I accepted that when rappers were addressing women as \u201cbitches and hos\u201d they were actually talking to me (and my sisters). I loved hip-hop before the vulgarity of Lil\u2019 Kim\u2019s Hardcore<\/em> album cover was ascribed as having feminist power. Before the unrealistic photo-shopped and saline injected bodies adorned covers of hip-hop magazines. I was in love before I read Their Eyes Were Watching God<\/em>, Delores Williams and Alice Walker. I loved all of hip-hop before my seminary classes with Dr. Carpenter, Dr. Bellis, Dr. Sanders and Dr. Wiley.<\/span>
<\/span>In short, I was in love with hip-hop before I recognized my female self to be a reflection of the Divine.<\/span>
<\/span>Read more here <\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"