I don’t think enough people are promoting hip hop in a positive nature. It is easy to focus on the negatives but there is a lot more that hip hop has to offer. Last week, I wrote about a reality show that taught about hip hop culture in a respectful and true way. As a teacher I see students everyday in my school that don’t know anything about the culture they are trying to represent. It makes me sad to see that they don’t know the history of this great art form.
I want to teach them about it but some people don’t believe hip hop should be in the schools at all. One person who disagrees with this is Ice-T. He hosted another hip hop reality show called Ice-T’s Rap School. It was a great program where he went to a private school and taught a group of kids everything about hip hop culture. He cultivated a group of kids who had never been exposed to hip hop and formed them into a group who were able to perform and enjoy the culture. It was a great show and I liked the way he handled it.
This is what hip hop needs. It needs teachers because it doesn’t seem to be going in a good direction right now. The youth need to be taught to respect and value this culture before it slips away and gets stolen from us. It could happen. Hip hop was always more than just the music. It has a rich history and should be celebrated.