Lyrically Driven
At it's inception "Lyrically Driven" was be a photo-essay meant to take the viewer on a journey that would bring to light for them exactly what it was that I felt emcees were trying to say within the lyrics of Rap music. In the time that has passed since the initial conception of the idea, the vision has grown, but the main theme has remained. It is the Supreme LOVE of Hip Hop Culture, and my own passion for the elemental art form of 'emceeing'. Upon deciding to create the Lyrically Driven Blog, I wanted to ensure that proper respect and homage was paid to the culture of Hip Hop, the art of emceeing, and the prolific poets that pour their souls by the pound into every word and verse not only for their own cathartic release, but also for our own personal enjoyment. That being said, I will submit to you the introduction to my vision. It has been purposefully prepared, Divinely inspired, and most importantly Lyrically Driven.
Lyrically Driven is a visual portrayal of the Urban Experience as it is expressed through the lyrics of Rap music. It seeks to illuminate through clarity and understanding the darkness of confusion. Rap music is poor people’s poetry. It is the voice of those who have no listeners. It’s accounts of everyday life are interweaving threads of emotion and experience, articulated through simile and metaphor syncopation, punctuated with vivid colors of rhythm and beats that create a perfectly imperfect tapestry of narratives by the impoverished. They are vivid descriptions of the joys, sorrows, triumphs, and defeats relative to the urban experience. It is a unique perspective of a grossly underrepresented population whose chosen means of self-expression has been crucified for its offensiveness and hostility and in the same breath exploited, mimicked, and marketed because of its cross-cultural mass appeal. The anger, aggression, and violence of the music are indicative of the lives of the voiceless Generation X. Many are quick to discredit Rap’s outcries through violent and sometimes gory depictions by chastising emcees for glorifying criminal lifestyles. Rap music however; tells the tails of hunger and misery that tarnish the image of equality, opportunity, and prosperity that America seeks to maintain. The truth though, is that it is the expression of growing discontentment among the poorest of people with their situations. It is testimony and confession the “have-nots” to their ingenuity and determination to persevere at any costs, against all odds, by any means necessary.
"A flower that grows in the ghetto knows more about survival than the ones from fresh meadows."
~Talib Kweli~
