Dear Hip Hop:

By the time that you read this letter, hopefully all will have been repaired within the U.S. government.  As we stand in the final months of the year 2006, the majority of the world hates us, we have a huge trade deficit, and our President, George Bush, is disliked by not only the international community, but an overwhelming amount of the people that voted him into office two consecutive terms. We are not speaking of the George Bush that succeeded Ronald Reagan, but rather Bush Baby. Not the Hip Hop group the Bush Babies, but George Bush’s son.

Right before you fell into your coma, the country was ridin’ high. The Olympics had put Atlanta on the international map, the U.S. economy was experiencing the largest economic boon in the country’s history, everyone seemed to have jobs and disposable income, and that computer thing called the Internet made lots of people filthy rich. Our boy, President Bill Clinton, was loved by most Americans and respected by much of the international community.

Well, around this same time, Bush Baby was elected the governor of Texas, and commenced to execute death row inmates at a speed faster than it takes to pull the electric chair switch. He was also bosom buddies with the head of a Texas energy company who was sentenced to twenty-plus years in prison for a slew of white-collar crimes, and caused his company to file the largest corporate bankruptcy in U.S. history.  Bush Baby and his cohorts cleverly convinced the majority of southerners, evangelicals, homophobics, and racists to elect him President.  Just like that Papa Bush, Bush Baby lead a war against Iraq, but for circumstantial, and what evidence shows were outright false pretenses. Worse yet, the last six years have been a period of corruption, lawlessness, and all out immoral actions.

Recently, the American people voted to change the countries leadership and move in another direction. This change in direction was more a testament of the Administration’s utter incompetence rather than a shakeup caused by Democrats or outspoken liberals. Most disheartening is the Hip Hop community’s lack of interest in politics and social ills that pervade urban communities.

Remember back in the early eighties when your vision spread across the country, urban America was in dire straits. The unemployment rate was astronomical, crime was high in nearly every major city, teenage pregnancy was epidemic, and mothers waited in long lines for a hard block of government issued cheese. Worse yet, both crack and AIDS hit urban communities like wild fire. Your music caused many members of our cities’ gangs like the Black Spades, Vice Lords, Gangster Disciples, Bloods, and Crips to put down the knives and guns, and instead pick up a microphone. Not only were we supposed to dance and have fun with you, but also use you as a vehicle to vent and affect change.

When your early disciples like Grandmaster Melle Mel and Run-DMC had the platform, they produced songs like “The Message,” “White Lines,” “Hard Times,” and “It’s Like That,” which set the stage for MCs to go beyond solely moving the crowd at parties to stimulating thought and conversation.  In the late 80’s that baton was passed on to a new group of MCs who were more vocal and socially-conscious than their predecessors. Public Enemy called out everyone from the U.S. government and the 911 response system, to the state of Arizona and Hollywood studios. Remember when N.W.A. let the world know about police brutality in Los Angeles, and KRS ONE took it a step further by calling out “Black Cops?” How about when Ice-T and 2 Live Crew fought tooth and nail for their constitutional right to free speech?  We would be remiss if we didn’t mention     X-Clan, Paris, YZ, Sistah Souljah, and the Poor Righteous Teachers.

Presently, the rappers who claim to be the closest to the street are, in actuality, the furthest removed. The rappers with the most exposure stray far away from not only social and political issues, but also anything of substance. The same issues that inspired Chuck D, Ice Cube, and others to question authority are prevalent today, but the New School artists prefer to rap about their bling-bling, Bentleys, and Cristal; items that the vast majority of their fans will never own. Maybe new school rappers are scared of the ramifications for criticizing the present administration. After all, an all-American country group called the Dixie Chicks was nearly banished from the music industry for questioning this administration. Most likely, the new school simply doesn’t care. It’s unfortunate considering that Rap has a platform double the size Hip Hop had in the 80’s and early 90’s. Hip Hop artists did more for their fans and communities with less resources than their new school brethren.

We are constantly encouraging your original audience to rebuild their Hip Hop collections and to add socially-conscious artist like Public Enemy, KRS-ONE, Ice Cube, X-Clan, and others. Ideally, we would like for our generation to play Old School Hip Hop around our children, nieces, and nephews so that they know that Real Hip Hop addresses more than just jewelry, cars, the club, and girls. By the time you read this letter we hope to have inspired a new generation of future MCs to really take Hip Hop back to the streets.

Hip Hop has been in an induced coma since 1996.  This is our open diary to Hip Hop; hoping that one day he will awaken and can catch up on all that he has missed.