-- record scratch -- Let's go back in time 😀
Back in the day in the 70s, cocaine was that recreative fun and go-to drug, that was mainly consumed during parties. The disco era with its overpacked dancefloors, filled with energized acrobatic and fashionable dancers not leaving until dawn, and with its sparkly roller rinks with a glitter ball suspended to the roof, with music blasting at hundreds of decibels, was actually visually and symbolically how coke was used at the time. In the 70s, using cocaine was acceptable and COOL. That image got fastly tainted a few years later, when coke was linked with negative connotations and when it drastically decimated whole communities.
Crack cocaine is a free base form of cocaine mixed with baking soda. Contrarily of coke, that drug is smoked through a pot and not sniffed through the nostrils. Its free base property brings to its user THAT indescribable and instantaneous pleasure. The crack cocaine downside is evidently the addiction fastness that occured IMMEDIATELY after the first inhalation. It literally only takes one use to become an addict for the rest of your life. The era when using coke was cool was ancient history as soon as crack cocaine took over and hit the american streets. That new drug BULLDOZED the society on a high scale.
What also differentiate the coke with crack cocaine is the target customer: coke is mainly used by the elites, the yuppies, the beautiful fashion models, the show business world. On the other hands, crack is mainly used by the poorest communities, the most vulnerabe ones, as its price is very affordable. Hence, the underprivileged portion of the American society, was sadly the first one hit by the "crack epidemy" and its cataclysmic and irreparable repercussions that it has ensued. The devastating crack addiction consequences had forced the President Reagan to intervene and launched a political offensive against that new plague. Yet, his "war on drugs" had not met the population’s expectations, and the drug plague had worsened as none of his measures were adequate enough to contain it. His politics worsened the phenomenon because instead of providing an appropriate care system and assistance infrasctructures to rehabilitate the drug addicts, his politics purposely antagonized, demonized and criminalized a whole social group.
The demographic that the Reagan administration had in aim, you have perfectly guessed was the Black community (BC). The crack epidemy PLUS on top of that the anti-drug war launched by the government, scourged from near and far the community in its entirety. Families were either decimated with overdose deaths, extremely severe and unjust drug-related jail sentences or gang-related & drug-trafficking assassinations.
Thousands of children lost relatives and parents due to that plague. Some of these new orphans have been placed by the Child Protective Services (CPS) to selectively picked families (foster care) until they hit the age majority. That system ended up been a huge failure as a consequence of major federal funding cuts and rigid systemic racism, that had for mission to purposefully neglect specific communities. The child welfare system firstly initiated on the sole purpose to protect these newly placed kids, was sadly conducted more violence to them. Physical and sexual abuses inflicted to foster kids, were frequently reported to the authorities, that ignore them at the time, by not even conducting further investigations.. These orphan children who have already seen horrors and unspeakable tragedies throughout their early lives, had to endure furthermore abuse from their new caretakers, with questionable motives, who at the end, have surely signed up to collect their federal cheques.
After they hit the majority, these kids were then thrown out off that failed system without any social safety net nor a proper reinsertion structure. Most of them have not even finished high school, hence not having the possibility to access a higher education system to get a valuable degree that would safely equip them to face the society's challenges and secure a good future. Sadly, many of them ended up homeless in the streets and had to survive with one way or another. Some ended up affiliated to street gangs to create a sense of belongingness (my fingers sprained while writting that ugly world). Some of them developed severe post-traumatic stress disorders and other mental traumas developed due to years of abuse and violence. Without having any financial ressources nor strong support, the only way to deal with mental issues was by coping with drug and alcohol that unavoidably and sadly led them to destructive addictions. Tragically, some of them ended up in jail, passed away with either one of the reasons precedingly mentioned above.
The social system is complicit of perpetuating a cycle of endless poverty and violence in the BC. No real and effective solutions were discussed in the Congress to stop the "crack epidemy", and genuinely help the mourning families and the neglected youth. Way on contrary, the political institutions voluntarily instantiated a foster care to jail/homelessness pipeline, in the sole purpose to maintain a substantial portion of the BC in a cage. By achieving that systemic harassment, the Reagan administration had the ammunitions needed to violate them forever. instead of strengthening the government institutions to protect them from any corruption attempts and obvious self-serving agendas, instead of helping the youth living in these vulnerable areas directly exposed to violence, poverty, drug trafficking by funding educational public services aimed to facilitate them to access to higher education systems. Instead of going at the drug problem's source itself which is obviously poverty, by creating effective ressources to reduce the income inequalities, the US government purposely ignored the real sources of the issue and picked instead a repressive strategy to attack the crack epidemy, by funding billions of dollars on law enforcements and extremely punitive legal measures that led to MASS & DISPROPORTIONATE INCARCERATIONS policies.
The political agenda held by the Reagan administration and its Republican minions at the Congress, was ONLY to stay in power nothing more. The drug problem was factually not discriminating, the addiction epidemy has demolished families and communities across the whole country, most particularly the poorest part of America, no matter the skin colour. Indeed, the Native Americans, Latino demographics, White communities living in low-income rural areas were also devastated by the crack plague. The Government's agenda was clear: target only one social group that was historically owned as property, treated as such (even after recieving Rights) for centuries, the one that is ever since the most hated and the most resented for demanding to be free, respected and considered as equals. The Government's agenda was simple: targeting the BC by amplifying the voters emotions and reactions through media propaganda so they can rally up and quickly vote for the political party that is self-proclaimed as "tough on crimes" that will create "effective" legislations to "fix" the issue. The Government's agenda was effective: targeting the BC through the media, press, radio, TV ads , with dog whistle messages filled with buzzwords such as "criminal rates", "urban overpopulated cities","crack babies" cognitively intensified into the population, already ingrained negative stereotypes against Black people. The Reagan administration got then all the ammunitions needed to bully, harass the BC with brutal law enforcement, while the drug problem was firstly a national issue.
All of the factual elements above are the political context where the Hip Hop Rap culture has popped up. These DISMAL circumstances give you a pretty graphic relief and a better understanding on how one of the most impactful artistic movement ever created was formed. Hip-hop popped up in the 70s in the Bronx a rough area in New-York. As punk rock, hip-hop was born through an artistic coping mechanism from political violence. As punk rock, hip-hop emerged through strong emotions and out of reaction: anger, resentment and through the immense need of justice and equality. Indeed, rap music is artistically evoking every difficult themes the BC is facing on the daily basis. Philadelphia, NY, Baltimore, the West Coast, and the Southern part of the US, felt an immediate connection with that new art and created later on as well on their sides, their own hip-hop divisions .
The hip-hop culture rapidly became a global trend, an expressive alternative to deal with gang violence, police brutality, the crack plague devastating families, unfair & unbalanced justice system that bullies poor and/or Afro-Americans citizens. All the suffering was put into rhyming speeches, going with an unique melody mixed with 70s sampled music tracks and purposefully scrapped sounds made by DJs on turntables.
Hip-Hop music is also about the art of freestyling: spewing rhyming words as a form of poetry right out of your mouth. Words that just come right out of your mind without any rehearsals or previous writings. AND on top of that, these freshly spewed rhyming words have to follow a specific & flowing cadence like... WHATTTTT 🤯 that is TRUE and RAW talent right there. Freestyling can be practiced solo with a mic or with two/multiple contenders battling each other with incisive punchlines, in front of a frenzied audience: rap battles. The East Coast vs West Coast war in the 90s led by the two legendary nemesis Biggie versus Tupac, gave us the MOST provocative, brutal, and insightful freestyles EVER . At that time the two coasts rap war felt like a cultural earthquake 🤯.
Hip-Hop is soooooooooooooooooo vast culturally speaking, that it even possesses a subculture (that I will sadly go through partly otherwise that post will never see the light of the day as there's sooo much to cover): beatboxing, break dancing, graffiti art in street walls, rap slang/AAVE languages, fashion styles.
African-American Vernacular English (AAVE) is an American dialect used by the BC. It has been created and used by the Slaves that worked in cotton, tabacco and sugar plantations, to resist against cultural assimilations and maintain their distinct cultural identities. AAVE is still in use by the BC today it is characterized with a mix of Caribbean creole languages, a mix of purposely altered vocabulary/grammar/conjugation, purposeful word-switch in sentences (“where you AT?”), and a recognizable accent and syllable intonations. AAVE is so influential that the biggest advertisement companies get to use them to launch their multi-million dollars global marketing campaigns. AAVE even had its own website where each term is explained and put into context (used mostly by adults to stay trendy 😂). “Salty”, “woke”, “bae”, “shook”, “crib”, "cool” come all from AAVE. Hip hop artists are also using that dialect on the daily basis. As they are writers and creators themselves, it became natural for them to invent and implement brand new words and new meanings into the AAVE language: “goon”, “beef”, “snitch”, “chill”, “crew”, “fresh”, “vibe”, “feds”, “don’t get it twisted”, “let’s break it down”.
The hip-hop culture massively influenced the fashion world as we know it today. Firstly viewed as violent gang members, criminals and murderers, hip-hop artists are finally recognized by their other creative peers. They are even collaborating with each others: Run DMC, a 80s rap group from Queens NYC, was the first hiphop group to sign a deal with a clothing brand. Their song "My Adidas", has influenced a whole generation. That song incentivized its audience to instantly buy Adidas sneakers so everytime that song plays at their live concerts, the public removes their brand new Adidas sneakers wave them in the air as they rap along with the mythical hiphop group. The cultural impact was so huge, that the Adidas brand saw a marketing opportunity to partner with the legendary band with a 1 million dollar contract deal. Louis Vuitton a historical french haute-couture house, has partnered with Kanye West in 2009. They jointly launched a pair of sneakers named the "Jasper". Fashion is a huge component in the rap culture: saggy pants, durags, cap worn upside down, bucket hat, velvet tracksuit ensemble and of course SNEAKERS. Sneakers that were at first exclusively worn by basketball players before the 70s, were then during 70s-80s era, started to be worn in the streets. The sneakers trend paralelly shifted with the hiphop movement's emergence: the “Chucks”, the Adidas superstars, the Nike Cortez, were all worn by rappers like Run DMC (of course), LL Cool J and famously worn by passionate street break dancers. Fashion in hiphop is also defined by accessories, and particularly with jewelleries: diamond necklaces, ear piercings, rings, golden, silver or diamond grills. Jewels are fashion accessories such that are as important as the outfit itself. As the Hiphop aesthetic is highlighted by wealth, by the art of "showing off", wearing the most extravagant and ostentatious piece of jewels, is very symbolic to be respected. The richer the artist is, the more thousands of carats of diamond necklaces, diamond rings, golden, silver, diamond grillz he will wear. 💸💸BLING BLINGGGGG💸💸
Hiphop is an artistic movement that I have proudly grown up with. A culture that demonstrated my younger self, that unexpected and phenomenal gems can blossom out off adversity, off pain, off sorrow, off grief. Ever since the anti-drug war in the 70s, the already fragile BC that had freshly received their Civil Rights legal shield in the 60s, that were progressively emancipating from slavery ever since 1865, had to face newer challenges purposely thrown by power structures. The Reaganism DESTROYED the BC to its core: the family structure. The repercussions from these political actions commited 50 years ago, are ABYSMAL and can still be perceived until today. The generational wealth gap between White people and Black people in the United-Stated, is just mindblowing.
When the core of a community has been disparaged for years and years, how to move forward? How to move forward when a whole community is suffering as a whole entity from untreated, undiagnosed and unhealed trauma caused by decades and decades of systemic mistreatments unavoidably leading to harmful coping mechanisms? How to move forward when the strong and present father figure, the "Chief Cornerstone", who is supposed to lead, who is supposed to inspire, who is supposed to guide the next generations had been taken away from their children, from his community by a brutal and extremely punitive system that eventually throw him later on, damaged and broken ? How to move forward when a "social system" purposely maintains a whole community into poverty, hence => unavoidably leads them to crime, violence, drugs, jail, deaths? How many yearrssss will it take to break that disastrous cycle and the generational trauma that power structures voluntarily instancied? How long will it take to finally heal, start (re)build the BC strong foundations and move on from its despicable past?
Art though.. Art is and has been thee tool that Black people all over the world always used to move Forward, always used to go Through, always used to Power through, to Fight, to Resist, to Heal, to Ascend.✨
Art has managed to build UP what was voluntarily torn DOWN by power structures and systemic racism. Art made the BC's life more tolerable for centuries: The Blues music Mother of Rock music, was created by the Slaves in the plantations when they were singing while picking cottons and been mistreated by their cruel masters all day long under humid and extreme hot weather. Blues was born in the Mississipi plantations during the 1800s, through Pain and unspeakable Violence. Hiphop in the same essence, was created by young Black men who could not grow up with a proper family support, nor a functional family, without having a strong father figure, nor a male mentor. Hiphop was created by young Black men who mainly came from unloved and abusive foster cares, who had seen family members, friends been taken away by drugs, police or gang violence.
Art is the way through.. ❤️