Why is hip hop so focused on location?

[Dont@Me]

it's embedded in the culture to rep you hood/city/state or w/e and instead of unifying hip hop, it has seemed to divide us and even cause beef/deaths (think east/west coast). Then i see people talking about NY taking an L because of Bobby Shmurda......NY isn't the only one taking an L, it is HIP HOP IN GENERAL. PERIOD. Do you think that when people bump bobby they're like "ew, NY sucks..." or are they more inclined to say "rap/hip hop sucks"?

It just seems so irrelevant and people put way too much energy and focus into it when really it doesn't matter. If you can spit, you can spit. IDGAF if u from alaska. Are you really gonna be bumpin their location? no, you'll be bumpin the music.

that being said, I understand that there are hot beds of talent and your environment can influence you....but I'm from NY and have been influenced not only by NY artists, but mid west (Bone Thugs) and all over. In this day and age, technology makes different parts of the world accessible, so I'm from NY, but does that really mean a damn thing at the end of the day in regards to if u liked my music or not?

 

[bigmac]

Just the way it is breh

 

[Dont@Me]

Just the way it is breh

why were blacks denied basic rights and segregated?

"just the way it is breh"

 

[Ike omad]

Just the way it is breh

 

[Mr. Negative]

tribe/turf mentality.

We been taught to put ourselves into easily manageable boxes, is all.

 

[CHILLL]

cuz when shyt go down thats where u gon get dat ass beat

 

[Awesome Wells]

Because we haven't learned to stop being so divisive with each other. Cats have been taught to look out for self, so uniting isn't a natural inclination. It's sad, but dudes are more comfortable with being separated from their own, rather than building with them to strengthen the culture. This problem extends way beyond Hip Hop too.

 

[Bugsmoran]

It's in our blood to be tribal...

African American

 

[Sugar]

Regionalism has been a part of poetry, literature, shyt, culture in general for centuries

It's just a human thing to do. People are inspired by what they know, and where they're from falls into that. It's not just hip hop that does this

 

[Juneya]

it's embedded in the culture to rep you hood/city/state or w/e and instead of unifying hip hop, it has seemed to divide us and even cause beef/deaths (think east/west coast). Then i see people talking about NY taking an L because of Bobby Shmurda......NY isn't the only one taking an L, it is HIP HOP IN GENERAL. PERIOD. Do you think that when people bump bobby they're like "ew, NY sucks..." or are they more inclined to say "rap/hip hop sucks"?

It just seems so irrelevant and people put way too much energy and focus into it when really it doesn't matter. If you can spit, you can spit. IDGAF if u from alaska. Are you really gonna be bumpin their location? no, you'll be bumpin the music.

that being said, I understand that there are hot beds of talent and your environment can influence you....but I'm from NY and have been influenced not only by NY artists, but mid west (Bone Thugs) and all over. In this day and age, technology makes different parts of the world accessible, so I'm from NY, but does that really mean a damn thing at the end of the day in regards to if u liked my music or not?

Since the beginning of this rap shyt, slaves would travel from port to port passing stories/news from the port they were from to say cuba or haiti. Even further back, Africans were a musical people. They didn't write books, and passed knowledge and history of their tribe through song.

That to say, the location based rap is probably just it taking its natural form. How it should be. Reporting live from your hood. It is evolving though.

 

[Dont@Me]

Regionalism has been a part of poetry, literature, shyt, culture in general for centuries

It's just a human thing to do. People are inspired by what they know, and where they're from falls into that. It's not just hip hop that does this

Then why don't you see this same regional shyt in any other genre besides hip hop? Is it because it is a genre that is predominately black?

 

[BrothaZay]

shut up

 

[The Ruler 09]

Tried to rep but already repped you recently. Real talk. "rep your hood but recognize that it's all good" - Pac, "it ain't where ya from it's where ya at" - Rakim.

 

[The Ruler 09]

I don't care where someone's from. If someone's wack and a dikkhead and is my next door neighbour so the fukk what? Lol. Likewise if there on the other side of the world and dope and real I'm supposed to be bias against them? All that shyt is for stupid motherfukkers.

An element of pride and repping where your from is natural, but being hateful and discriminatory due to it is ignorant and backwards. Most people don't even own the land they wanna be on some dumb shyt for.

 

[The Ruler 09]

If everyone unified more regardless everything would be better.