We have moved so far backwards in action and state of mind that it saddens me to ask this. The goal of slavery was to keep the body strong and the mind weak. The goal of Hip-Hop (now) is to keep your body moving and mind oppressed. The artist is not the only one to blame because it is the record label executives and A&R’s who make the final say on the music that is being released to the public. These business/money minded people in charge are allowing these artists to not only embrace psychological enslavement, but also promote it to the youth. I recently asked if slavery was the new slave master and I received an overwhelming yes. The fact that so many people have said yes and the music continues to come at an alarming rate shows how we have not moved passed self-oppression and self-hatred. The lyrical failures that are demonstrated in song after song sadly represents black culture. Now I am not advocating this, but society attaches Hip-Hop Culture to black culture. That is a fact, whether one chooses to embrace it or not. The days when Public Enemy talked about fighting the power, or Tupac poetically talked about keeping your head up during harsh times is now replaced with “Pop that” and “Niggas holding you back,” as Rick Ross put it in his poverty glorifying video. I just want to make it clear that Rick Ross is not from that neighborhood. Hip-Hop has created something I like to call Cultural Relapse. It has prevented a generation from moving past the ideology of wanting to be free and equal, to regress back to 1619 when blacks were seen as ignorant, freighting, inarticulate individuals by a Racist power structure. Not thinking free or equal in our actions or thoughts. The question I ask today is, Has Hip-Hop created a Cultural Relapse?

There is no doubt that music impacts the culture. When the L.A. riots happened look at the music that came about during that time. It was frustration built up in America and people and musicians reacted. Now you have artists who talk about the deaths in Chicago and atrocities that have taken the lives of far too many individuals over the last 10 years. These same artists will turn around and promote drug dealing, aggression and killing ones own. How have we taken such a huge step backwards to the point that we look at slavery as outdated? I recently had a talk with a kid about stereotypes and slavery and how it has affected his life today and he simply said, “The only thing I learned about slavery was that Niggas let white people hold em’ back.” The sad part is not that this kid is uneducated on slavery, but instead that he argues his point by quoting Rick Ross. Racism is far too powerful for us to ignore it and allow it to continue. If this is what Hip-Hop has become then we have to hold the Labels accountable for allowing this music to be on the radio. The rappers have demonstrated that they are going to say whatever they need to in order to promote a fantasy life of wealth because they are not as wealthy as they want you to believe. They do not control their image, voice or music. They are just the faces of oppression we see on television thanks to B.E.T.

This version of Hip-Hop is not what I envisioned listening to when I was younger. The direction music was headed in gave me hope for the future of music and for myself. This version is a problem because of the lyrical misguiding transcribed in a sixteen bar struggle. It has taught kids how to glorify street culture like Sesame Street taught me how to count to 3. The direction it’s heading is down hill, fast and turning intelligence into future statistics. The Trayvon Martin story was embraced by hundreds of thousands of people when it was popular, for a few short weeks, but now people would rather talk and tweet about fights at the B.E.T Hip-Hop awards.

A relapse can be defined as this:  to fall or slip back into a former state, practice.  Now if we look at the culture Hip-Hop has created we can see that we are in a relapse state, but it is up to you to recognize it and make some changes. Buy into the lyrics of today and “Pop a molly smoke a blunt/That mean I’m a high roller” or move away from the ignorance and start helping these individuals get sober from the deadly drug of oppression. You tell me, Has Hip-Hop created a Cultural Relapse?