FOR ALL OF YOU SLOW MUH' fukkAS... THIS IS WHAT LORD JAMAR IS SAYING:
Mexicans take ownership of Mariachi and Tejano music.
Cubans and Puerto Ricans take ownership of Salsa music.
Brazilians take ownership of Samba music and the martial art known as Capoeira.
The Japanese take ownership for Karate, Judo, Jiu-Jitsu, kitana swordsmanship (kenjutsu) and kabuki theater.
The Spaniards (FROM SPAIN) take credit for flamenco being a SPANISH ARTFORM despite its roots within Gitano (Romani) and Moorish culture.
YET THERE IS SOME FORM OF DEBATE FOR A MAN STATING THAT HIP HOP AS A CULTURE ORIGINATED WITH BLACK AMERICANS!?
People of all races, nationalities, creeds and cultures practice the artforms listed above. When we practice such artforms listed above, WE ALSO PRACTICE THE VARIOUS CULTURAL TRADITIONS OF THE CULTURES AFFILIATED WITH ITS CREATIONS.
When you take a flamenco, salsa, or mariachi class... I BET YA'LL START LEARNING SPANISH. Before stepping into the dojo of a Japanese training hall, YOU TAKE OFF YOUR SHOES BEFORE ENTERING THE TRAINING HALL. YOU BOW TOWARDS YOUR SENSEI AS A SIGN OF RESPECT TO YOUR ELDERS. YOU SPEAK JAPANESE WHEN YOU PRACTICE YOUR KATA. THIS IS IMMERSING YOURSELF IN VARIOUS ASPECTS OF JAPANESE CULTURE. AND NO GAIJIN (or kokujin for the sake of being P.C.) IS GONNA CHANGE shyt ABOUT IT. Even The RZA from the Wu Tang Clan stated that when he studied Chinese philosophy under his sifu (teacher) he had to SWALLOW HIS PRIDE AS A BLACK AMERICAN, AND REFER TO HIS SIFU AS MASTER. CALLING SOMEONE "MASTER" IS fukkING HARD AS A BLACK AMERICAN DUE TO OUR BRUTAL HISTORY IN CHATTEL AMERICAN SLAVERY. Yet The RZA HUMBLED HIMSELF in another culture that had its own traditions and stories outside of his own to learn more about it!
THIS IS WHY nikkaS DON'T OWN shyt. WE'RE AFRAID TO TAKE OWNERSHIP OF OUR OWN CREATIONS!
Hip Hop didn't start as a fukking kumbaya get together with poor black and Latino children on the streets of New York City... IT STARTED OFF AS AN ALTERNATIVE FORM OF EXPRESSION THAT PREVENTED PEOPLE FROM PHYSICALLY GETTING THEIR ASSES KICKED. They fought with words written and spoken (graffiti and Mcing)... They fought with dance (B-boying)... DJ's battled... Then WE (WE being BLACK PEOPLE OF PREDOMINATE AFRICAN DESCENT. And yes... The Puerto Ricans and Cubans living in NYC during this time count as well. Their culture is probably more culturally African than the Black Americans themselves) gathered up all of this and called it HIP HOP!!
And since SOOO many people are worried about Lord Jamar calling Caucasians "guests in Hip Hop" remember this... There was a time that while Hip Hop was "taking off", mainstream WHITE America wanted NOTHING to do with this new form of "JUNGLE MUSIC." There was a time when MTV wouldn't play ANY SONGS FROM HIP HIP AND BLACK ARTISTS FOR THE LONGEST! THE MTV AUDIENCE WANTED NOTHING TO DO WITH HIP HOP! Guess what this is a reflection of...? THE MARGINALIZATION THAT BLACK AMERICANS ENDURED FOR DECADES SINCE THE DAYS OF SEGREGATION!!!
Michael Jackson's INFLUENCE pressed that network to change their views on OUR MUSIC (thus giving birth to "MTV Raps!"). Yes, there were the Beastie Boys rockin it, but if you listen carefully, THEY DID IT UNDER THE GUISE OF A ROCK GROUP THAT RAPPED!! When you hear the song "Fight for your right to party" YOU'RE HEARING A ROCK SONG! THEY JUST HAPPENED TO RAP ON IT!
When you have some Negroes claiming that "Hip Hop isn't Black" nonsense, remember this... When your ancestors were being loaded up into boats being prepared to be shipped off into the new world, they were told that they weren't culturally: IGBO, FULANI, HAUSA, ASHANTI, MANDINKA, SONGHAI, AKAN, MENDE, GA, and or YORUBA... YA'LL SHOULD KNOW BY NOW WHAT THEY CALLED OUR ANCESTORS WHILE STRIPPING THEM OF THEIR NAMES AND HOMELANDS... And the sad part about it is that some nikkaS fell for the okey-doke! Some nikkaS fell for the bamboozlement! Some nikkaS blushed over the hoodwink! SOME nikkaS BELIEVED IT WHEN YOUR CAPTORS REFEREED TO YOU AS A NIGG(ER)!! THAT'S THE TRAGEDY! LET THAT MARINATE...
If I'm sounding too heated about this right now, then fukk IT. THIS IS THE WORK OF MY ANCESTORS. THIS IS THE WORK OF MY FOREFATHERS. THEIR SACRIFICES WILL NOT BE IN VAIN!
God damn... DJ Vlad is MILKING THIS shyt TO DEATH. STOP IT. I love everyone of every race, creed, religion, and culture; but if you think that this love is a sign of weakness in forgetting MY HISTORY AND MY STORY... THINK AGAIN.
FORGIVE. NEVER FORGET.
