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Hip Hop Story
"As days and months passed by in the garden, I started to get better and had my first battle."
By Justin Park
Hip hop, the main event: America’s playmaker. Hip hop has changed so much over the years and is still living strong in the hearts and souls of millions of people. What many of those millions don’t know is the true form of hip hop. It’s not what’s on MTV or rap music videos. As mainstream music has topped the charts, hip hop has transformed into a flashy collaboration of pointless lyrics and idolism. This is not Hip Hop.
True hip hop consists of the four main elements: break dancing, graffiti, emceeing, and deejaying. When I was in seventh grade, I was exposed to hip hop. After seeing break dancers both in school and in videos, the smooth movement and unique techniques that were used captivated me.
I always admired breaking, but never imagined doing it. I decided that I would learn and experience hip hop for myself. A few friends at school taught me moves from time to time, but being original and learning more was up to me. Halfway through eighth grade I learned how to Top Rock, Six Step, Windmill, and other simple moves. I showed my moves to the crowds at parties, but never matched the talent and skill that experienced breakers had.
Art has always been a talent of mine. The only bad thing was that I never liked fine art. I wanted to use my talents and graffiti was another element of hip hop I had always found amazing. It’s a creative design of simple words put on walls in vibrant and vivid colors. As I walked through cities, I started to stop and just stare at wall tags and examine how others did it.
I entered high school and was exposed to more and more graffiti, and started to improve my own style and technique. I never got serious enough to spray paint in public places, but I still do graffiti in my spare time. It will be a part of my journey through hip hop forever.
The last and most influential element of hip hop that I experienced was emceeing. I always loved hip hop music and the way that MC’s flowed on tracks. A close friend of mine named Rasikh was a freestyler and one of the first friends I made in high school. He would flow daily and show off his skills to people and friends.
I felt like doing something special for my girlfriend on Valentine’s Day, so I wrote her a poem. When I got home, I was listening to music and looked at my computer mic. I decided to take the mushy poem and turn it into a short song. I recorded it and enjoyed the entire process.
A few days later, Rasikh asked me to come cyfer with his friends because he saw that I had a passion for rap. We met up with two of his friends, Starr and Oliver. We all went over to the school garden to flow because it was kind of quiet and an empty area. We took turns freestyling lines and I was very nervous and flowed rickety lines while nobody took me seriously.
As days and months passed by in the garden, I started to get better and had my first battle. It ended in a tie with a bit of criticism, but I was excited and satisfied. I have been freestyling, battling, and writing lyrics ever since and I am now recording tracks in a studio with my friend Rasihk. I have a mission to spread a message rather than show off my money and jewelry. I feel that my passion for rap and hip hop will never die.
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