My Hip Hop Excerpt from "The Music in Me"

Of hip hop I am not a religious fan, per say, but I certainly appreciate the sweet sounds of Biggy, "To all the ladies in the house with style and grace… 'Cause I see some ladies tonight that should be havin' my baby, Baby." And Nas, "Jesus died at age 33, that's 33 shots… 6 went into you." Not to mention Jay & Eminem, "Never afraid to say what's on my mind at any given time or day 'cause I'm a … " well you know the rest. The melodies of the likes of Erykah Badu being called upon by The Roots for a touch of soul in a world that is typically hard and heavy. Or Slum Village simply encouraging us to dream big, "For breakfast in the morning we can fly out to Paris, France for the French toast." All such "classic" sounds to the modern day 80s babies. The odd Maybach Music song reaching for soulful voices such as the amazing Chrisette Michele. Common stepping out into the acting scene drawing inspiration from his very own album Be. DMX makin' promises to "Make it back in one Piece" to our long lost Babygirl - RIP Aaliyah, we sure do miss you.

What ever happened to Bone Thugs 'N Harmony after shedding some light on Ecstasy and their infamous Crossroads? Or Mystikal after shaking it a lil' too fast perhaps - something about that may have landed him in jail? Our hip hop broads Da Brat and Rah Diggah seemed to have taken a note or two from the queen B herself, only to pave way for the Fetish-designing acting diva E.V.E. who gots whatever you need. Missy Elliot hit the ground running with crazy stupid fresh beatz from the likes of the main man Swizzy himself, while singing great melodies on some entertaining tunes. Today Nicki Minaj is everywhere you turn your head, topping the charts from Indonesia to Lesotho and everywhere in between. Did Foxxy Brown have ear surgery at some point along the way? I'm pretty sure Salt 'N Pepper came out with a reality show. So too did Snoop Dogg, Ice T, and one too many hip hop artists and celebrities! That's all the hip hop I have room for in my world of music. Thank you Brown Sugar for using our darkie superstar Taye Diggs and a hip hop icon Mos Def to showcase the love affair one can have with this genre. 

-Fueled by my love for music