The Hip-Hop Icon Explains Why Hip Hop Is Living And Walking This Way.
While some consider Hip Hop’s 50th year to be solely the year 2023, it’s more culturally accurate to recognize Hip Hop’s 50th year as spanning from August 11, 2023 to August 11, 2024. As we approach the conclusion of this monumental year, we are reminded of how far we have come and how far we still have to go.
From Hip-Hop’s humble beginnings at 1520 Sedgwick Avenue in the Bronx to our artistic organization through the Universal Zulu Nation, from DJ innovations and park jams to mixtapes, vinyl records, radio shows, and music television programming; from legendary breakers and artistically genius graffiti writers to globally respected emcees voicing the concerns of urban communities, Hip Hop has “come a long way” in a short period. This development should not be carelessly overlooked or culturally demeaned.
We’ve made it! And no one needs to tell us that we’ve made it, that we’ve survived, and that we’ve overcome great odds and obstacles. We must declare this for ourselves and for our children. This is what the close of Hip Hop’s 50th year means. It signifies victory, maturity, and the establishment of our cultural existence in the world.
For those born into Hip Hop or who simply enjoy “Rap” music, the cultural development of Hip Hop over 50 years might not mean much. But for those of us who remember the birth of original Hip Hop and the struggles we had to overcome to even reach this milestone; for those of us who remain loyal to the original Hip Hop cultural principles of peace, love, unity, and safely having fun as the fundamental reasons for practicing Breakin, Emceein, Graffiti Art, and Deejayin; the close of Hip Hop’s 50th year is far more significant than its beginning. Hip Hop’s 50th year evidences our victory over the streets.
It is now, at the close of Hip Hop’s 50th year, that our real preservation work begins. We re-enact the cultural migration of Hip Hop to ritualize our history and further establish Hip Hop’s heritage. This is why we are starting our “march” at 8:00 PM with a private ceremony at 1520 Sedgwick Avenue, passing 1600 Sedgwick Avenue, moving on to Cedar Park, then through the Bronx, arriving at Crotona Park around 12:00 PM. From there, we proceed to Newark, New Jersey, for our closing festival at the Temple of Hip Hop.
This route re-enacts Hip Hop’s cultural migration from its birthplace through its park jams to its commercial success out of New Jersey with the Sugar Hill Gang, and it concludes at Hip Hop’s new global cultural center, the Temple of Hip Hop, in Newark, New Jersey.
With a healthy respect for our victorious past and an eye toward our glorious future, it is clear that only we have taken care of us, only we can take care of us, and only we will take care of us! Peace, love, unity, and safely having fun amongst ourselves; these are the practices we need for our next 50 years to be even more victorious than the last. We owe this to our future.
Remember, we are not just doing Hip Hop; we are Hip Hop! Rap is something we do; Hip Hop is something we live! See you next year.
[Editor’s note, KRS-One does not use a dash in Hip-Hop, as typically represented in AllHipHop’s styleguide. Nevertheless, we live this thing of ours.]
