Hey Hip Hop, how have you been, friend? It’s been a while! Over the last 50 years, I have watched you significantly impact the African-American community and across the globe. The way you have expanded thus far has been excellent to experience. Seeing all the different subgenres, such as mumble rap, trap, gangsta rap, drill, bounce, and chill hop, leaves me with no doubt that you will continue to captivate the world.
I am so thankful that I was born into such a community where Hip Hop is heavily influenced upon us. You have created a space for people to share their stories and experiences so that everyone can relate to them. You made West Coast artists who spoke on police brutality and unjust behaviors towards the African-American community. On the East Coast, you created artists who shared their experiences, lifestyles, and even heartfelt messages in their songs. Seeing how you created an environment for an entire community to unite and bond over music, memories, periods, and so much more has been genuinely remarkable. You have also considerably influenced fashion in current times as everyone expresses themselves through clothing articles. What first started to be “ghetto” or “unprofessional clothing” has now created people to dress freely and express themselves in whatever way they want; in fact, it’s almost like people are starting to see who can dress the weirdest. Taking a more personal route, I’m so grateful you have evolved because you introduced me to some of my favorite artists. NBA Youngboy, Lil Baby, Future, Lil Dirk, and many other great artists have had an enormous impact on the Gen Z generation, making Hip Hop still enjoyable.
As I stated previously, you have continued to evolve and take over the world, but there are a couple of things that people are starting to say that I wanted to inform you about. It’s been discussed that Hip-Hop is no longer “real rap.” The older generations feel as if our Hip-Hop has no real message and that our music has turned into a competition as to who has the most money, drugs, sexual partners, and who is the most ‘’gangster” and unfortunately friend, they have a point. It’s infrequent that we see artists nowadays with real messages to the people instead of everything being a “flexing” competition. Artists like Nipsey Hussle, J. Cole, and Kendrick Lamar have instilled that there still can be a message in Hip Hop music. They make music about finding yourself, heartbreak, getting back up in troubling times, and many more real-life scenarios, which I can admit we need more. I still see you continuing to evolve and spread your influence on many more cultures. Still, I’m afraid that you will start to lose your originality as people are losing focus on what hip-hop originally was about. Although these are my worries, I trust that you will continue to create artists who want to rap about real situations and problems that everyday people can relate to and that this stereotype won’t be long-lived.
In the future, I will continue to see you prospering and cultivating the many more generations to come. Although I know you may be different from what I know you to be, I trust you will have the same impact you have had in so many communities thus far. I pray that you continue to keep the roots of Hip Hop alive as you continue to influence so many others. I know you will continue controlling fashion, narrative, and so much more. I’m so excited to see what you have in store for the world.
Stay well,
D’Airra Wyatt
