hip hop

One thing I notice from people that I know that I would consider "hip hop heads" is that they have many similar traits. One of my favorite traits about them is a better consciousness about many aspects of life. I'm pretty sure this can be attributed to some levels of hip hop that can definitely be labeled as "conscious hip hop." This is one of the many great things that come from listening to hip hop. However, I see a couple of things that go awry with a few of my hip hop head peers.

One thing that i see that goes wrong is when hip hop heads follow their artists' beliefs, word for word. The conscious lyrics in some hip hop artists' songs have some great meanings in them, but are definitely not always right. This allows for some people to follow some pretty bad trains of thought.

Don't get me wrong, I love to follow some of the words that my artists say, but I make sure I run those thoughts against my personal bullshit filter. Most of it makes it through fine, but I never allow for anyone's beliefs to soak into my belief system without properly running it through my bullshit filter.

I learn a lot about how I feel about matters by comparing my beliefs with others, including artists that I look up to. I'm sure you do too. Just make sure you don't follow everything word for word; compare their beliefs to yours, and pick and choose where you want to change up your beliefs. I'm all for following the same beliefs that your idols have. Just make sure that your bullshit filter is working in tip top shape though.