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KOOL HANZ COMMENTARY
featured in The Pulse |
Deuce Cities Styles - DJ Kool Hanz Commentary
Do you know your hip-hop history?
A commentary on Twin Cities Hip Hop Culture by DJ Kool Hanz of Duece City Styles
(as featured in The Pulse of the Twin Cities)
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Hip-Hop in Mpls./St.P. .... where’s it been? Where’s it at? Where’s it going? Well, the answer to all three of those questions is the traditional, “Right here!”
But just what does Hip-Hop mean in the Duece Cities?Just what does Hip-Hop mean to you? The answer to both those questions is the same, so, only you can answer that for yourself on a personal level. I know what Hip-Hop means to me, and, I try to personify that at all times, in every action and reaction of mine. And, I don’t want to speak for anybody, but I’m sure the same goes for just about anybody (show-offs and egomaniacs not included) that’s made a name for themselves in the Twin Cities Hip-Hop scene, and, in that, we are very fortunate.
Now, I’ve traveled a lot more than some and a lot less than others, and I’ve seen places with a hell of a lot worse scene than ours—I’ve also seen a lot better. One thing I haven’t seen in this country is a scene as decent as ours that has the potential to get better and better like ours does. If a lot of the more positive people on the scene keep it up, and if others that feel they have it in them keep stepping up and doing their thing, there won’t be any stopping the Mpls./St.P. Hip-Hop bumrush!
That brings us to the next question for those newer names motivated to step up (and to some of them show-offs and egomaniacs): What motivated you to play your part in Hip-Hop? Regardless of whether you’re a DJ, MC, B-boy, promoter, videographer, graff. artist... whatever... what made you want to do that? Or, to be more specific, do you know your Hip-Hop history? The reason I ask that is because no matter what your specific reason or motivation is, no matter if you’ve been listening to Hip-Hop for twenty years (like me) or two years (like the majority of the kids going to the well-attended shows), the Hip-Hop you’ve been exposed to is what inspired you to take whatever part you’re taking in Hip-Hop Culture. And, whether the Hip-Hop you’ve been exposed to is some commercial-assed bulls**t, or the real thing, it was originally inspired by traditional Hip-Hop Culture. So, the more you know about the foundation of Hip-Hop Culture, the more foundation you have for yourself as a productive member of the local Hip-Hop community.
So then let me ask (or maybe you should ask yourself): What is your role in the local Hip-Hop Culture founded upon? Do you want to be a big time shot callin’ hustla with all the hoes and coke, or, are you smart enough to realize that is all a fake-ass image designed to destroy true Hip-Hop Culture? Do you realy think your s**t is ever gonna go platinum? The chances are very much against you, and that should never be the motivation behind the creation of Hip-Hop music. The Hip-Hop I grew to love in the early ’80s was made by and for poor people like me. That’s not to say a rich kid can’t learn true Hip-Hop Culture if they’re exposed to it. My point is that the social, political, and economic situation that origAnally inspired people to start Hip-Hop Culture was one of oppression and desperation. When Hip-Hop first started it was practicaly illegal. Obviously, grafitti was (and still is) illegal. And they’d let B-boys dance on the street for spare change (which they still do); but all the parties would get broken up if the cops found out about it. (Damn, maybe things haven’t changed as much as I thought, at least on the undergound level!) But no one had made any money off of any aspect of Hip-Hop Culture yet. At the time, it looked like no one ever would, so, Hip-Hop hadn’t been sold out yet. Who Knew that was when Hip-Hop was in it’s prime?
It really makes me wonder how people could sell out to the extreme they are today and still try to pretend they’re Hip-Hop when they personify everything Hip-Hop originally stood against.
I don’t know exactly what I’m getting at here, I just had an urge to sit down and write this for the Pulse after sitting back and taking a good people-watching session at the last couple shows I went to. I’ve been seeing a lot of fresh faces, and I’m looking forward to seeing some of those fresh faces turn into some of the oldschool heads. I’ve seen a lot of old traditions come back (like breakers actualy attending shows—thank God!) and new traditions start (staged battles are f**kin’ whack!). But, regardless, it’s been good to see some of that untapped passion and energy that only a newschool head can bring to the table that is this scene. I just hope they all put that energy in a direction that is progressive for Minnesota Hip-Hop Culture, because I’ve seen some negative energy in some of those fresh faces too, and, just about every time, it’s when some insecure little punk is trying to live up to some fake image that they don’t fully understand. All I can say is, if you be yourself, then yourself is the only person you have to prove that to, and, that’s gonna leave you a lot more room to be progressive rather than regressive on the scene.
I’ve looked down on commercialism in Hip-Hop ever since “Parents just don’t understand.” I’ve watched artists I originally respected slowly lose that respect ‘til it’s completely drained away, and felt betrayed every time. At one time I thought I knew what Hip-Hop meant to them, because I think at one time it meant the same thing to me—and it still does. But I’ve seen Hip-Hop get stabbed in the back ‘til it’s dead to those that betray it. Yet, to those that never betray Hip-Hop’s original aesthetics, Hip-Hop will always live. For I now realize that Hip-Hop exists on an individual basis in every locality because it is up to each person to decide just what Hip-Hop Culture means to them. I just hope someone out there is feelin’ me.
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