Respected rapper spreads Hip hop unity

By JASON GATEWOOD

Everyone in attendance at the Satellite Student Union learned something about Hip hop from rapper KRS-One.

“Hip hop is all about peace, love, unity and having fun!”

The kingpin of the Boogie Down Productions and one of the founding fathers of Hip hop—“Always spelled with a capital H,” KRS-One said—spoke Wednesday to remind and dispel the myths of Hip hop and let people know that Hip hop is a culture, not just corporate music.

“Culture is, every time I appear I’m going to appear as a b-boy, emcee, graffiti artist and deejay. Every time I say I’m doing Hip hop, I’m coming with all the elements, not just one. I’m keeping in mind that children are listening to me. When anybody was allowed to do rap, all that changed.”

This change from culture to corporate, which KRS-One called a split, happened in 1980 as he covered the timeline of this 30-year culture. Hip hop had some emcees visioning and uplifting the culture while others chose the route of using Hip hop to make money. Today we are living in a time where anyone can come out and claim Hip Hop, KRS said, but enough people know the history.

While peace, love, unity and having fun were the main points the emcee wanted to stress, KRS-One, aka Lawrence Krisna Parker, also promoted self-creation. He said Hip hop lets you define who you are.

“By saying ‘I’m Hip hop’ I’m saying that I am somebody. Do you have the courage to be you?”

Knowledge Reigns Supreme One (KRS-One) has been doing lectures series for more than a decade. He uses the lectures in hopes that people will understand this culture that generates $4 billion annually and celebrates a weeklong Hip hop appreciation week. He has founded The Temple Of Hip hop that has members loyal to the preservation and further development of Hip hop, used for international peace and prosperity and has written many books, along with putting out albums.