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Hip-Hop History by Damini Awoyiga




Rappers and poets 

Cut from the same slab of concrete

The one with graffiti art and history on it 

Spitting rhymes and verses

Crossing curses between sick beats

Beats of Drill, trap, right on drum beat

808 beats, Boom bap, 

built-in with reggaeton and afrobeat

Starting between the coast of Africa

On talking drums and djembes 

Destined To cross seas and be born again 

On turn tables 

At lit Block parties 

Where DJ Kool Herc the father of hip hop

Gave the gift and Completed the ultimate feat 


Gbe mi travae 

Make you no dey shalaye… 

Burna Boy


Make you no dey shalaye 

The sound of this hip-hop beat 

that travels through me

From my head to the tips of my feet 

I a turntable of artistic soulful beat 

50 years turnin' still on repeat 

NY City lives and breaths art 

Records and ancestries  


Concrete jungle where dreams are made of

There's nothin' you can't do

Now you're in New York

These streets will make you feel brand-new

Big lights will inspire you

Hear it for New York, New York, New York

Alicia keys 

Rappers, I monkey flip 'em with the funky rhythm

I be kickin',

Nas


Suited up in street clothes,

Bandanas, rings and jewelry 

Baggy pants -oversized shirts

And ghetto hoops 

we fought to survive 

On Hip hop 



Why am I trying to see, when there ain't nothing in sight?

Why am I trying to give, when no one gives me a try?

Why am I dying to live, if I'm just living to die?

Tupac


This is our heritage 

Rap and Hip-hop inside our DNA


I got loyalty and royalty inside my DNA

Kendrick Lamar


Born this way

roam the streets of rap this way

music and beats resound our DNA 

Poetry and rap go in the same flow

The words of inspiration come and go


Rapping on dark corners 

Lips moving fast in the crunchy cold

Heads popping to the beat

filtering down to the grounds


Need you for the old me

Need you for my sanity

Need you to remind me where I come from

Can you remind me of my gravity?

Ground me when I'm tumbling, spiraling, plummeting down to Earth

You bring me down to earth

SZA


Through funk and soul

Through Break-dancers 

B- girls and b-boys

They created  the bridge 

Between

The sounds of drum beat machines 

born on “new school hip-hop.”

And the party rhymes and funk

Founded on old school hip hop 


From Jay Z

To Tupac, to Drake

To Nas, Nicki,

 and Dr. Dre

Kendrick, J. Cole 

Fugees and Mary. J 

Cardi, 21 Savage, Future

Dave, and Cench

They carved paths of  strong, rhythmic beats:

Bringing Cultural movements to life


Girls you know you better watch out

Some guys, some guys are only about

That thing, that thing, that thing

That thing, that thing, that thing

Lauryn Hill


That thing 

that small thing that grew out 

Bronx neighbourhoods 

That crossed landlines and boundaries 

That settled in hearts and influenced cultures

Hip hop in our state of mind

We, an entire generation

Influenced by Hip hop culture 

The rhythm flowed through every verse,

Fifty years have passed since the birth,

A movement that set souls alight.

Voices arose, bold and complete,

Through words, they painted realities untold,

Voices of the marginalized became bold,

Hip-hop became a bridge of connection,

The rap songs that have been written and composed

Will live on in our movements, history and souls 


I see no changes, all I see is racist faces

Misplaced hate makes disgrace to races

We under, I wonder what it takes to make this

One better place, let's erase the wasted


That’s just the way it is 


That's just the way it is

Things will never be the same

That's just the way it is

Aww, yeah


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