The MyPTSMail featured blog of the week 11/13/2008

[Admin]

The MyPTSMail Blog of the week is SpeaKs’ Spot: hip hop lyrics, articles and trivia. The thoughts of a modern Hip Hop emcee.

Do you want your own wordpress blog with technical support by phone or email? How about video support through Skype?

Sign up for your blog today? Get a blog, filtered email, full access to these forums and more.

For more information or tech support by phone call 410-838-5100 or email us at myptsmail@myptsmail.com

[denise]

I am not a fan of hip hop, but I do like the layout of your blog.

[Travis]

Thank you!  I understand that Hip Hop is not enjoyed by everyone and to be quite honest, I don't blame those people.  Today Hip Hop has strayed so far from the initial purpose and use of the music that it has almost completely lost it's identity.  Now a days the terms "Hip Hop" and "Rap" are used interchangeably.  They are not interchangeable.  Hip Hop began like most music genres, as a way to uplift listeners and spread positive messages.  Hip Hop was started by a Jamaican named Clive Campbell (a.k.a. Cool Herc) who came to the Bronx, NY in the 70's.  In 1972 Cool Herc began using only the portion of songs known as "the break".  He would switch from one break to another.  I'm not going to completely explain it all on here, but i put a good bit of the history of Hip Hop in my blog.  Basically after the positive portion of Hip Hop popped up and became commercially successful, like other genres it quickly became a vehicle used to inform people.  In this case it was telling what was going on in black neighborhoods and projects.  After that, lots of Hip Hop groups felt they could say what was happening better, and so the "dark side of the hood" entered Hip Hop.  Gangster Rap followed soon after and the positive began falling into the backdrop and underground.  Rap is what you are hearing on the radio, which is typically where all the garbage is.  Hip Hop is very much alive but underground.  There are a few mainstream that are still considered Hip Hop mcee's:  Wyclef Jean, Talib Qweli, Mos Def, The Roots, Cee-lo, Kanye West, Outkast and more.

Thanks again. 

[hotdog256]

Great explaination of the genre.