Lyrics or Interviews?

If you would have asked me what type of music I liked at age 17, I would have told you that I loved it all.  Jazz, hip-hop, a little R&B, blues, classical, baroque, some rock...everything.  However, lately I find it difficult to say that I "love" hip-hop.  I do enjoy listening to it for the 1 to 1.5 hours I allow it to saturate my auditory world on a weekly basis, but because much of the music within this genre is filled with counterproductive messages, which contrast my own messages to the world, it is challenging for me to say that I still love it. 

What I enjoy the most about hip-hop is sitting in the man-cave listening to and dissecting the interviews of rappers I like; HOV, Kendrick Lamar, Jeezy, Drake, Rick Ross, DMX, 50 Cent, Nas, Joe Buddens, Jadakiss, J. Cole, and a multitude of other erudite lyricists.  The difference between me and an avid listener is that when I listen to the music, I assume the things rappers say are not "true"; even if there is some credibility to it.  I assume that I am listening to an audio movie.  This allows me to listen objectively and it gives me a conduit and desire to learn more about the artist.  For the past five or six years, I have watched more interviews than music videos.  As a matter of fact, I really can't tell you the last music video I have watched because I haven't had cable in about five or six years (television isn't a hobby of mine).  When I listen to the linguistic intelligence and mind power that these rappers use and I hear the types of books they read or activities they are involved in outside of hip-hop, I see a more complete person, not just an MC.  Jay-Z said it best in one of his songs when he rhymed:

“For those that think Hov' fingers bling bling'n/
Either haven't heard the album or they don't know English/
They only know what the single is, and singled that out/
to be the meaning of what he is about/
And bein' I'm about my business, not minglin' much/
[or] runnin' my mouth, that [stuff] kept lingerin'/
But no dummy, that's the [stuff] I'm sprinkling/
The album width to keep the registers ringin'/
In real life, I'm much more distinguished/” 

Did you catch that?  He's telling you that hip-hop is one side of him. There's another side to Jay-Z...there is Sean Carter, the businessman, father, son, brother, friend, uncle, etc..  As I continue to study these rappers (the same way I do an Oprah, Wu Yajun, Aliko Dangote, Carlos Slim, or Bill Gates), I see highly intellectual and thinking beings.  If I only listened to their singles on the radio I would not be able to write to you as I am right now.  Hip-hop is a home for some of the brightest minds known to man/woman.  To be able to connect with a person, cover different topics, and give the listener an emotional connection and priceless memory, all within three minutes, takes a lot of skill, creativity, and intelligence. 

In my own life, during conversation with people, they usually inquire about my age as if I should not be an author, therapist, and speaker until I am in my 40's and 50's.  My first (and former) favorite rapper Jadakiss once said in one of his songs, "[You] got the nerve to ask [me] how I'm such a young [brotha] that seem to know so much."  Then he responds to the inquiry and says, "While you was running around...I was listening," ...and I like to listen.

The music has a lot of negativity...I get that.  The world we live in has a lot of negativity as well.  The question should not be is hip-hop good or bad?  The question you should be asking yourself is what am I listening to more of; the rappers lyrics in their songs or their words in their interviews about life?...or both??

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