More Complete Audio from Stanford, Via Davey D

After hearing all of the audio, I think you all are completely missing the point. Do you hear some of the shit KRS is kickin. Still number One, and I feel the panel disrespected him. KRS was definately electrifying and on point.

Well.. we disagree. :) But I will give KRS credit for calming down a bit at the end and stepping back from some of his earlier statements, as the reactions from others seemed to sink in at least a little. Other than that I don't even want to dwell on the issue any further cuz I feel like it's a disservice to the event as a whole, which had much more to it than this.

Man, it always tears at me to see the total leadership vacuum at an event like this. Due to this vacuum, the focus defaults to the loudest, most aggressive ego in the house... in this case, KRS. KRS sets the agenda, which is neatly summed up in his "I am hip hop... no more questions" philosophy. I'm sorry, but KRS simply wants everyone to do what he tells them. Basically he is saying: I have all the answers, no need to ask anyone else.

There were definitely some nuggets in the discussion, but I couldn't help but feel like people on the panel were all looking for answers to questions that weren't explicity states, such as "How do we use hip hop to actually HELP black people." And, with all due respect, I can't believe we are still going back to KRS for the answers. Because, for all his asinanities, he's still the only one at least attempting to answer the question that seems to be on everyone's mind.

Lesson: Only invite KRS to a discussion where he is the leader and the subject is "How to help KRS lead the movement."

Here's a few choice quotes.

"I'm here to help. But when I'm really on the front lines.. really... really, for real... I'm not talking about hip hop. I got the FBI behind me. I got the CIA calling me. I got real... the Justice Department and so on. I don't have time to discuss this shit." - KRS-One

"Let's be respectful to one another. I am not an artist or a theorist. I am the living embodiment of what you are discussing. Now, if you would like to know what you are discussing, then you can ask me questions and I will answer them." - KRS-One

"I'm here to help. But when I'm really on the front lines.. really... really, for real... I'm not talking about hip hop. I got the FBI behind me. I got the CIA calling me. I got real... the Justice Department and so on. I don't have time to discuss this shit." - KRS-One

"Let's be respectful to one another. I am not an artist or a theorist. I am the living embodiment of what you are discussing. Now, if you would like to know what you are discussing, then you can ask me questions and I will answer them." - KRS-One
Yeah ... and? Sounds reasonable to me.

I only listened to the first half, so I can't comment on the second part, BUT most of the people on the panel weren't very articulate to begin with and didn't seem to address the questions directly.

As far as the KRS segment, I'm sure it's frustrating to listen to others define Hip Hop when you were actually there at an early stage and helped shape the entity. Especially if they have something you don't - a college education and the luxury of a job in academia where you can devote your time to theories etc.

History is being written by these people (academics and so called "Hip Hop" journalists,) AND NOT by the originators or others who were there. It's frustrating - especially because academics like to tie grand theories together and their opinions are often shaped or tainted by the Zeitgeist.

(This is why books like "Yes Yes Y'All" are so important and superior to other books that have P.C. sensibilities tainting them that shy away from telling it like it was.)

I remember watching Crazy Legs, (I think it was on one of those old 88HipHop broadcasts,) disagree with another guest on the show who was arguing the birth of Hip Hop as a direct result of Reaganomics etc. The problem with these far reaching theories is that they completely discount the role of individuals. AND it was individuals who made Hip Hop what it was.

As an African-American studies major at a famous university, I can tell you what a joke it all is. I once went to a discussion about Hip Hop and on the panel were a bunch of misfits who didn't know anything about Hip Hop history or what real Hip Hop is. They began by talking all about bling. Huh? I questioned them and they began attacking me because I didn't buy into their "can we all just get along" views that don't represent the truth about Hip Hop. My voice didn't collude with the liberal academic campus views of the time.

There is a danger in this REVISIONIST writing of Hip Hop history and culture. Many Hip Hop journalists (who are indoctrinated into this style of thinking at their university where such thinking is the social norm) leave college trained to think of the world in this flawed way. They are often guilty of bringing this same bias into their writing about Hip Hop.

Many of the books coming out now are simply preaching to the choir, and make a good read for others with the same view, but don't reflect the truth or tell things like it was.

I think what is missing here is actually getting into specifics. Be specific.

What are the SPECIFIC "histories" that people don't like? And what is YOUR "history" of hip hop.

I personally am not nearly as concerned with histories, or who gets credit, or what the consensus on the term "hip hop" is (I feel that is my own personal responsibility to find out).

For me, the priority for the collective is how do we use discussions like these to empower people and "move forward not backward" (as we hear in the panel itself). Why obsess about the past? Why use the past to define the present? Every generation wants to be unique... let's support that!!

As was said on the panel by, I think, Davey D... the kids are out there right now, reinventing the wheel and putting their mark on things. Why were no contemporary artists on the panel (except Dead Prez)? We need to tap into what's happening now and bridge the gap.

Peace God, Nat.
Worve 'em up. This is exactly what's goin' on. Let it get discussed by The Greats.

But they already agree. It's only these new little dudes.

Great piece, Nat.

-Black People

"I am not an artist or a theorist. I am the living embodiment of what you are discussing. Now, if you would like to know what you are discussing, then you can ask me questions and I will answer them." - KRS-One.

The funny part is that the small mind will see this as an arrogant statement. The conscious mind will FULLY overstand and appreciate what is actually being said.

Those with eyes will see and those with ears will hear.

"small mind"

^^You see, this is the perfect example of how KRS' philosophy and campaigning serve to divide us. Simply because I don't agree with ONE PERSON, people then act like I disagree with all of hip hop. You see the dislogic?

I would argue that it is actually KRS who is using divide and conquer tactics, not the FBI or the industry. KRS is the one who goes on and on about "hip hop vs rap".

I say let people identify themselves and their music however they want to. Call yourself and your art whatever you want, and don't let that prevent from being part of the larger movement and discussing what is important (uplifting people, making dope music, understanding the industry, etc).

Blah blah blah. Same old rhetorical hip hop bullshit posturing since 1988.

KRS is a blatant hypocrite. He talks about progressing the artform of hip hop, and then goes on to say that you can't be hip hop if you've gone to college. What the fuck is that shit? So if Chuck D went to college he would no longer be hip hop? He's playing both sides of a fence -- he wants to put hip hop in a tiny little box that says 'b-boys, breakdancers, grafitti artists' etc. but at the same time he presents an attitude of progress. These ideologies are in conflict with one another. You can't progress and artform by limiting it.

What is the difference between "hip hop" and "rap" anyway? KRS talks a lot about this but no one has ever produced a single coherrent definition. Rap is commercially successful hip hop. That's the ONLY difference. If it's 'underground' and your shit doesn't get on MTV or you have had your hey-day and no one cares about you any more, you are HIP HOP. If you have lots of money and everyone knows your name, you are RAP. The only difference is the marketing and who is paying the bills. Mr Lif is hip hop; Shadow Huntaz is hip hop; Rakim is hip hop; but 50 Cent is rap, and so is Jay-Z, and so is Eminem. It has NOTHING to do with 'culture' because some successful rapper have come out of that culture (see Jay-Z as part of The Jaz in the 1990s); it's purely an issue of distribution and anyone who criticizes "rap" is basically criticizing the distribution network.

I had BDP records in 1988 when I was in high school; KRS has been an inspiration to me. But it's been 15 fucking years since he did anything relavent and these days all he is doing is feeding off of his own egomaniacal feedback. There is no hip hop "movement" because there is no such thing as movement in hip hop! Hip hop doesn't want to PROGRESS; it's happy to stay EXACTLY where it is, and KRS is the pinnacle of that curmudgeonliness. He wants to live in a very small box where he can recapture his glory years because, when you get down to it, he's afraid of what lies outside that box.

KRS wasn't saying that you can't be Hiphop if you've gone to college, he was saying that going to college can't be the reason you're Hiphop. He illustrated the point in the next sentence by saying that being Hiphop means perfecting one of its elements. You totally misunderstood what he was saying.

As for "rap vs. Hiphop," its been made clear by many people including KRS that Hihop is a culture which is embodied by the ELEMENTS which include MCing and DJing. That's pretty simple. Thus, one can be a rapper with no knowledge of the rest of Hiphop culture.

Maybe the problem isn't with KRS-One, maybe its with ignorant people who jump to conclusions because they don't like his new records. I don't really like his beat selections lately either, but c'mon! This is the Teacha! He is definately capable of an artistic comeback and his philosophy is always on point if you care to study it.

I only heard the segment and from it overstood Kris felt slandered and aired it out.Now Hip hop Is Street first.For it is and was always an out let for the street.Journalists in this colonialist rat race forget that very fact.And try to sit perched far enough away from the culture to critique it.Krs is the last of a dying breed heed to what this brother says, not blindly but with your own mind.If you were an artist that has done so much for our ,music and some intellectual cat who critiques, instead of does ,has been talking shit, then why not go back to the original form of the art ?He was in fact bringing it back.BDP is keepin it real.Yes yes yes indeed yes indeed.BashtonmakeuCtheUnseen.