I Am Hip Hop Too

I remember when KRS One first boldy made the statement "I Am Hip Hop" and there was a little bit of backlash (particularly from The Source) because certain folks didn't understand what he meant. He went on to explain that he, along with many others, embody what Hip Hop is, therefore he is Hip Hop. KRS One has a clear understanding of "I Am", whereas most people didn't. But we aren't here to discuss that. Maybe that will be another blog post.....



I Am Hip Hop Too is the tentative title of the CD that I am in the process of making. This CD is for children and young adults, but it isn't going to be one of those generic hip hop cd's with a chorus of happy kids. I Am Hip Hop Too is about empowerment and inclusion. Just like when KRS One made hi bold statement, this CD is a bold statement also.



The concept of the CD was born from one summer back in '03 or '04 when I was caring for my nephew Jamil who was about 8 years old at the time. As most parents can attest, when you have a child around you quickly become aware of the influences that are in our society, particularly music that is played on the radio. Prior to Jamil staying with me I had already become somewhat disgusted with the quality of music that was being played on mainstream radio, but when he was with me I became aware of just how, let's say, "un-kid friendly" the music was. And this was stuff that was being played at regular intervals throughout the daytime. It was very common for me to have to turn the radio off while driving with him.



At the same time I was in the process of recording a couple of CDs with some artists I was producing (Ms. Nyema and SinSational - check them out on http://www.cdbaby.com/). One evening while in the studio I jokingly said that I was going to make a CD for kids and call it the Hip Hop Bears. Although I was joking, I did some quick and dirty research and found out that there wasn't anything available for kids in the hip hop genre. Every now and again you have your kid acts (i.e. - Kriss Kross), but they were definitely few and far between. So without putting too much additional thought into it, I filed it away as something I may do later.



Fast foward a couple of years later and lo and behold I see a show on TV called Hip Hop Harry, a rapping bear! At that point I knew I needed to begin working the project that I had been thinking about. I tossed around some concepts in my head and some songs began to come to me. Then I got married and had my son, and the album was put on hold. After a little bit of time to get back into the groove, I once again began working on the CD. And now in 2010 I have a "finished" product that I am in the process of recording.



Earlier I stated that the CD is "bold", and I beleive it is, let me explain. First, the CD is for kids and by kids (and kids in this instance is young adults). It is particularly about empowering young ladies. In Hip Hop women get demeaned, degraded, and devalued, yet women love Hip Hop just as much as the fellas do. (This is a topic that I will most definitely discuss in future blogs, but for now let me move on.) This CD gives young woman a chance to say "Hey, I love hip hop and I don't have to be disrespected, or disrespect myself in the process". This is young women saying "I Am Hip Hop Too!"



So I made a video showing part of the recording process that I am going through to get the CD done. It is a lot of work because I am working with young ladies who although very talented, are not "rappers". Finding kids who are rappers in the DC area was hard enough, but finding young ladies who are rappers was even harder. So I had to make the decision to use people who had a passion to do the work as opposed to seeking people who "fit the bill" so to speak. If I was in NY,NJ, or Philly I probably would had kids (or their parents) beating down my door, but the DC area was different. So anyhow, check out the video (Making Of A CD-Jan 2), and know that there is much more to come. (if the video seems a bit fuzzy or pixelated, you may want to view it directly from YouTube, where it will be much clearer) Until next time....Peace!