Hip Hop Anonymous

Hola amigos…..I have a new found love…hip hop. That’s right, in the last few days I have undergone a musical transfiguration. As of late, whenever someone steps into the 4 walls with a door that I call my office or the Sexterra, the sweet jams of Mos Def, Kayne West, or Talib Kweli (currently my favorite hip hop artist) can be heard from the speakers.

In reality, I should have gotten into hip hop years ago. ). Since my recent musical overhaul I have found remarkable parallels between jam bands and hip hop leading me to believe that I would have loved hip hop in high school. (note: I currently have accepted hip hop, but have yet to accept rap music. This is an important distinction to make since I view hip hop as smooth, socially conscious beats and rap music as loud, obnoxious jams written for pure entertainment value i.e. Souljah Boy or the Hot Boyz)

Take a look at jam bands. The draw to the jam variety of music (bands like String Cheese, Widespread Panic, The Grateful Dead, etc.) are awesome live perfomances, good instrumentals, insane lyrics (listen to Phish sometime if you want to experience this draw), music with a greater purpose, the openness to collaboration and, in hindsight, good music to listen too while “under the influence”. As I delve into hip hop, I see the same attributes surfacing. For example the good instrumentals of jam bands were perfect for stimulating thoughts on long car drives. A good beat in a hip hop song does the same thing for me. In both cases, one can essentially turn off the lyrics and let the jam flow through the mind. Too trippy you say, well take a good listen to the lyrics of a hip song for you lyrical junkies, the number of artists featured on someone’s album for those who appreciate a good collaboration, or the socially conscious themes that crop up in the music of hip hop atrists which appeal very nicely to the those of you who thrive in the fight for social justice and empowerment of the impoverished.

Bottom line is that I have finally found a musical genre which compliments my love of jam music, opening new doors, breathing life into what was once a stagnant musical journey that could have led to myself wearing white shades with Cheebs across the lenses cranking the Souljah Boy.

Peace and keep it fresh
Juan Pablo