In Kuttner and Hammond’s “(Re)building the cypher: Fulfilling the promise of hip hop for liberation” the importance of creating and maintaining a supportive cypher is heavily emphasized. With hip hop being such an important outlet for youth self-express through the creation of art, it’s crucial to keep this space safe. 

Having access to such a space invites opportunities for social change within the community. This individualized and communal expression works as a catalyst to aid in the cultural growth process and in order to rebuild you must reconnect. I think this speaks for most things, you must acknowledge what is currently going on before you can restructure it, mold into something new or better. Without proper support, there really isn’t anything to properly build off of.

“The Get Down” always seems to circle back to the idea of individualized success and its close connection to group success. In Kuttner and Hammond’s readings, the rebuilding of the cypher can only be done through collective support. The action of unity, a community within a culture that equally puts forth the effort to make a change. The characters in the show each strive for their own individual success, but they rely on their surrounding relationships to help them reach those accomplishments, whether it be friends and or family. If we look at the main protagonist in the show Zeke, as part of his character development we watch him chase after his hip hop dreams of changing the world (a world outside of his own) through music. Zeke’s performance of self-expression depicts the realities of his own life, his surrounding neighborhoods and the circumstances that come about on a daily basis. Zeke relies on his friends to help him to work for his dream and we continuously see this throughout the show.