“It forced you to be your best self”
I have learned to appreciate the competitive vibe of hip hop. The fact that there is a community filled support, but also it pushed each person to work harder to get on top.
Members of the Wu Tang Clan, a group that originated in Staten Island, were the main focus of this episode. I appreciate that they were the topic of this episode because it further proves why people participated in hip hop. “Staten Island did hip hop too”, they felt left out and wanted to prove that they were going through it too. Members felt that Staten Island was constantly left out because they were literally in their own island apart from the other boroughs, causing their problems to be overlooked. I think this episode for me proved that hip hop was really and still is a way to escape and be heard. A reason that Wu Tang Clan was created was not only for the love of music, but to be heard and to be seen. It was a place to prove yourself, in my opinion it still is.
It is incredible to me that ALL of these artists discussed, Wu Tang Clan, Nas, Biggie, Lil Kim, etc. came from nothing and are so well known now. I think what is the best part of their fame is they did not make music to become famous, they made music to be heard by their community- to share their struggles. The best part, they were heard further than i am sure they ever imagined.
Going back to the competitive aspect of hip hop, while unity was the main point it made, those who participated in hip hop also wanted to be the best and would literally encourage themselves through the competition of others. I think it is important to connect that to hip hop now… I do not feel that unity. I feel like everyone just wants to be famous and have money. It is so rare to come across an artist that is making music for their community nowadays. It makes me question, whats the point? While I do love hip hop and there are plenty of artists that I can enjoy, I definitely feel the shift of hip hop culture go from unity to pure competition. I hope there will be a shift like the culture of the late 70’s/ early 80’s soon.
