You Need New Heroes

You Need New Heroes:

A Commentary on Hip Hop and Black Culture "Leaders" in Light of Recent Violence

Marvel's Black Panther and Storm

Street thugs turned rappers turned porn stars. Girls who pretend to be women, who sing to girls, convincing them to do the same. Males who preach money over everything and women who agree by a shake of the hips, not a nod of the head. Women who campaign for money the way thirsty people campaign for water. Millionaires who scoff at the poor and market to them in the same breath. Men who live off murder, greed, decadence, debauchery, theft,  harlotry, and general ignorance. Women who have elevated prostitution, deceit, seduction, envy, pride, and narcissism to a fine dark art.

You need new heroes.

Recently, two rappers and their respective entourages, got into a shoving match that escalated into a gunfight at a hip-hop awards show.

Big Surprise, I know.

Of course the two are arguing about who has the best wordplay, the most original delivery, the better beat selection, who has added more to the Hip-Hop community, and who is the best EMCEE...... Right?

Well, not exactly.

This fight, from what I can gather from bravado filled interviews, poorly crafted diss records, and a handful of Hip-Hop flame fanner sites, is that they are arguing over either who is most real (read "who lies about their street life the best") or who is the bigger snitch.

Let me add a disclaimer here. I am an active part of the Hip-Hop community, contributing  to the culture as a listener, emcee, budding producer, and aspiring historian.  I think Rick Ross is an excellent wordsmith and entertainer, who has worked hard for years underground, penning countless hits and party records before adopting his current "Supa Gangsta" persona. Young Jeezy has taken a street style further than any other non lyric driven rapper ever has, and has offered his own brand of "motivation" and "never give up" style to popular rap.

That, however, is where my praise stops.

Both of these men spout self glorifying lyrics that crap on fans and casual listeners alike. These men aren't singing about you. They aren't trying to motivate you. They are in it for self. There is not one lyric meant to inspire you to do anything other then buy their music and hate yourself just a little more.

But to be fair,it's not just them. It's about 90% of the mainstream artist out today.  Artist who , with a straight face, tell your children, and you, to buck all consequences, live like their is no tomorrow, and above all else, look out for you and you alone.

These are your heroes, your icons, your idols.

I repeat, you need new heroes.

Call me a Hip-Hop purist, call me an old soul, call me out of touch, call me a Hip-Hop romantic-better yet, call me an educated black man aware of the history and roots of the art form who is disgusted by the blaxploitation of the rap art form by popular music wrongly classified under the genre of Hip Hop. Yeah call me that.

Do you mean to tell me that Chief Keef and Nas belong to the same class of music? That SODMG and De La Soul come from the same roots? That Young Money holds a candle to the original Def Jam lineup?  There are more Gucci Mane records sold than Rakim records? Wu-Tang is a Dave Chapelle skit and Public Enemy is a Johnny Depp movie?

I didn't agree with Nas when he pronounced Hip-Hop dead. I'm starting to rethink my position.

Flash forward to this weeks BET Awards taping, and you see two artist replay a an infamous scenario on a much smaller, much more irrelevant scale. Two artists fighting for a self proclaimed title that only they care about that has no actual weight or credibility, especially in light of both artist questionable law enforcement involvement.

So in a time when this country is on the brink of economic collapse or foreign dependency, educational malfunction or with-holding, civil rights reform or restriction, emerging agendas and reformation and splitting of major political parties and their ideologies, the emergence of a global community, monetary system, government, and a convergence of world religion...you are googling who is the best at putting you down and profiting from your ignorance and poverty. Right.....

You need new heroes.

I'm often criticized for not offering solutions, only highlighting problems, so let me offer you some suggestions.

Fred Hampton- A Chicago slum resident, who through rigorous study and community organization became a prolific speaker and leader appointed to the head of national organization at only 20. While heading the Chicago chapter, Hampton instituted a free breakfast program feeding nearly 4000 kids daily, opened a free health clinic for poor Chicago residents, orchestrated a treaty between Chicago's two largest gangs and led them in positive direction towards community rebuilding, all while teaching a black history and civil law class free of charge at 6am every morning.

Now that's BAWSE.

Tousaint L'Overture-Born a slave on a Hatian plantation, and given no formal or military training, led an army of escaped and liberated slaves, defeating Napolean, who is held as one the foremost military strategists of all time, on NUMEROUS occasions to liberate Haiti from slavery and establish it as a the first free country in the Western Hemisphere for Blacks. As a direct result of France's defeat in Haiti, Napolean was forced to offload their American land holdings, known as the Louisiana Purchase, doubling the land mass holdings of a young United States.

THAT'S RIIIGHT!

These are just two of the many people you could choose to look for Motivation, or how to be a boss. There are so many other modern examples that would have you reading for millennia.

The Black School teacher who insures his students learn the value of reading.

The Black Father who DOESN'T LEAVE his children to the hands of the streets, radios, or televisions and raises his children.

The Black Mother who teaches her daughters respect for themselves, love for others, and a overwhelming sense of womanhood over harlotry.

The young educated minds who take the time to read. Anything.

You.

That's right, YOU.

Be your own hero. Set a goal, accomplish it, inspire yourself if you have no one else to look to.

And if all else fails, or if everything succeeds, look to God Almighty.

But one thing is definitely sure....

You need new heroes.