detailed: playin catch-up

i used to love h.e.r / common /1994 / first listen 1999

thats when i noticed that i not only had a love for hip hop, but an innate intrest. a concern. now i knoe all you olheads out there r shaking your head saying "bgirl thats not old school..". and true mayb, but forreal thats my old school. damn, when this hit i was 5 years old. fresh. on the clock, wet behind the ears still smellin like simalac. young. 

retrospect for life / common / 1997/ first listen 1999

retrospect for life. i realized that hip hop was not just something that young black boys and girls could bopp thier heads to but word, this shit was for and from the heart. its like therapy. everytime i hear this song i still get teary eyed, and i straight up know people who let this change thier life. a song . a song. a song. now in what world could a song change (yea, CHANGE) someones life. 

ive always been a fan of common. id like to say from the beggining but seein that his first album can i borrow a dollar? dropped in 92' and i was only 3..... haha but that would b funny if you saw a little baby in pampers waddling to your closest record store just to copp the new common shit. hahah, anyways. i feel like ive been playin catch-up with hip-hop. i envy my mom and her generation who clearly remember wen hits like  oodles of o's, and looking for the perfect beat was casually being playin on the radio...no throback afternoon bs, just chillin. oooorrr ooohhhhh what it feel like to be at a party in BK when beastie boys no sleep till brooklyn blared out the speakers. live. hip hop. 

the wierd part is that my generation is not only playin catch-up, but they're tryin to imitate these greats. do you know the other day i was walking in soho and as i approached the corner of prince and lafayette i saw a scene almost made my eyes bleed.  this boy wearing lime green and pink leggings [yes ya'll this boy had on leggings], a white tank top, black sunglasses with splattered paint and with a big ass radio sittin on his shoulder playin soulja boy! see wtf is that about? but hear me, its not the fit that bothered me. i mean do you. its the confusion. back in the day 'bboys and bgirls' rocked what was funky (aahahaha as my mom puts it), but you see they understood the culture. they were either emceein', burnin', breakin', or straight up ryhmin'. now a days i see the look, but no culture to back it up. hip-hop has become a fashion statement to our young and the shit is sad. its like we have no skillz. and the funny part is the ones that do dont worry about all that extra stuff. its all immitation.