50 years ago in the Bronx, New York, a young Jamaican immigrant by the name of Clive Campbell agreed to DJ a back-to-school party organized by his sister under the moniker of DJ Kool Herc. Inspired by the sound clashes of Jamaica in his childhood where dancehall and reggae reigned supreme, Herc certainly knew what it takes to host a good party. This particular party was special though, for it would change the world as we know it by being the official birth of a brand new genre of music that flipped old funk and soul records into something completely new called hip-hop.
Since that fateful night on August 11th, 1973, hip-hop has become a global force to be reckoned with, and an undeniable influence on our lives. In order to help put these last 50 years into perspective, we spoke with hip-hop artists Mother Nature, a Chicago-based rap duo comprised of Klevah Knox and TRUTH known for their spiritually conscious bars and work as educators, and Wic Whitney, a Queer southern rapper who blends hip-hop with folk music and soul, on how the genre has impacted them and the world:
Sofar: Can you recall the exact moment you were introduced to hip-hop?
Klevah: It was 1993 for me. My pops made music in the house, that’s just how he got down. That was his hobby, and he used to just feed me music. He would feed me lyrics and I [recorded] them, so we have a lot of archives of that relationship between me and him. And he also just put me on stuff you know, like early Tribe Called Quest, early KRS-One, Erykah Badu, Eric B &Rakim, these are all things I was like real familiar listening to a youngster. I liked other music, but hip-hop was rooted in me.
TRUTH: I remember a moment that I was in the car with my mom and she was playing an OutKast record. And I was just like, ‘what’s this?’ and I see the cassette and it was a vibration that was coming from it that just was like no other type of music that I heard or played. So from there, I just started just doing my own digging on my own now just getting more and more into the sounds of what hip-hop actually was. So really, it sprang from the crib.
Wic Whitney: I know that I first fell in love with Biggie. I remember riding around with my friend, Austin, who was a few years older than me, and he was playing, Ready to Die in his car, and I was like, “What is this?! Who’s this guy?” He’s like, “Oh, this is Biggie, the Notorious BIG” and I didn’t know who that was at the time, I guess I was like 13. I got really heavy into Biggie, Mos Def and it was a toss up between like OutKast , Wu-Tang, 2pac, you know, and whoever was most accessible. Then I grew up listening to a lot of soul. So there’s a lot of that in samples and is just intertwined within hip-hop in general.
What do you think is Hip-hop’s place in society after 50 years of existence?
T: Leadership! Hip-hop is more vast than ever before because this is the culture that moves. Everything that’s outside of hip-hop uses hip-hop to promote itself or to present its products and ideas.. There’s so much necessity in what we doing (as artists) on a day to day I feel like hip-hop has a way to mold what we got going on in a real way in terms of consciousness and a sense of community building. And then just in the sense of like, how we are motivating ourselves as individuals. So it’s like if we know that hip hop began just on the block with a couple boom-boxes, it’s understanding that you don’t need much to get where you’re trying to go.
K: In 50 years, hip-hop went from being a seed to a global revolution. It’s a beautiful thing to see the growth and seeing everybody just being more immersed in the community and using hip-hop in different ways. Combining hip-hop with agriculture [and] education, it’s just a beautiful thing and we proud.
T: We still pushing and still elevating, so you know it ain’t ever gonna stop.
Wic: I think it is by far the most progressive genre when it wants to be. It’s like punk for the Civil Rights was how I kinda viewed it when it started. It was like, listen, people have things to say, disenfranchised folks and oppressed people figured out a way to make poetry into music. Just like they figured out ways to make different genres of music throughout history. But hip-hop is different because it was so explosive and so poetic and in-your-face and unrelenting and unapologetic. I think in that way it took the world by storm as being the New World genre. I remember when I was growing up, hip-hop was so like, “it’s for these type of people” and it was based in a lot of racism. It was based in a lot of ignorance. I grew up in the South, and it was very much looked at that way. But it is now one of the most popular genres, if not the most popular genre in the world. And that’s due to its relentless force of incredible artistry, rhythm, and its nuance on how to talk about things that are going on in the world. I think it’s one of the most prolific genres of our time and certainly it’s the best genre for getting your opinion across.
What do you hope to see in the next 50 years of hip-hop?
K: Just in a sense of education, I see hip-hop being like standard, you know what I’m saying? It needs to be a standard language in a sense. Whether we talking about grade school or colleges, I just feel like you’ll see a lot more hip-hop education. You already see it in certain colleges where students are having to study Illmatic or students are having to go and study this other lyricist because there’s so much packed in it. So I see in the educational realm, honestly, I see hip-hop being very integral and helping students connect things and see through the proper lens.
W: I just want hip-hop to keep pushing the envelope. I’m trying to mix folk and hip-hop and have more live instrumentation and push the idea of what can be called hip-hop. You know, something that I find frustrating right now within the genre is the amount of similarities between artists. Everybody’s starting to sound the same, a little bit too much. Unless you’re a generational talent. I think just like any genre, after it gets comfortable, it starts to get a little stagnant. I feel like that’s where we’re at. And I hope it doesn’t stay that way because there’s so much more that can be done within hip-hop and I hope that we don’t lose the lyricism and the fucking amazing artists that’re underground who I wish would be more celebrated before their death. But I mean, you know, it’s out of our control. I hope people keep exploring. It’s not up to me, you know, like, there’ll be an entirely different generation of people running things. And, you know, if I can influence that in a positive way, or what I think is a positive way, great. If not, you know, I’ll be happy to see where the world takes it… It’s just going to get more varied, and niche just like every genre, just like jazz, just like R&B. So it’s just gonna get more spread out. I’m excited to see where people take it because obviously it’s already exploding in more ways than I’ve listened to by far.
In what specific ways do you view hip-hop as an educational tool?
T: We use it in a sense of hip-hop being a vehicle for us in regards to how we created our own pathway for ourselves. It’s really understanding that maybe what you want to do in life isn’t like a standard way of living instead of being a lawyer, doctor, something like that. You might want to be something that ain’t even on a map yet. So I feel like understanding what hip-hop is and a sense of how it came to be, we really use that understanding of culture to influence our kids in knowing their own genius? So I think hip-hop and how we use it allows kids [to] really tap in and know “I can make this happen,” through the same ways hip-hop has been able to grow over the years.
W: I think hip-hop should be studied in every English class. I think hip-hop should be studied in every history class, and if you’re not breaking down certain artists’ lyrics like you are breaking down Maya Angelou’s poems, then I don’t think you’re doing it the right way. Hip-hop is poetry. And it is songwriting at its highest level. And I think it should be used to its fullest extent, in every classroom, especially when it comes to knowing how to manipulate language and use it to its power. And also the history behind how long it took to get here where it came from, who brought it to the table, and how it mirrors the plight of Black people in America. And how it’s always putting a mirror up to society, like any good art does, and shows us what we’re doing right and what we’re doing wrong even if it’s not doing that on purpose… just like any art it can be used for good, it can be used for bad, but mostly they’re just trying to tell their own story. And who’s to say whether that’s right or wrong, but it is education. It’s all education.
Ready to celebrate hip-hop’s influence in person? Browse these special shows.
Interview by Alejandro Hernandez
Photo credit: Mother Nature, photo by Jeff Paxton
