Nonduality and Music: Hiphop Pt. 1
HIPHOP: GATEWAY TO THE BEYOND WITHIN
They Were Having a Cipher
Six youths gather on a corner in any given city in the world. They form a circle and engage in a few seconds of discourse concerning what is about to happen. One opens the top to a 22 ounce of beer, pours some on the ground for “those who ain’t here,” drinks some and passes it to his comrades. Members of the neighborhood glance in from the outside and wonder what is about to occur. A concerned citizen thinks that they should call the police before a crime is committed, thinking, “There has been an increase in break-ins and thefts in the area lately, and someone has got to do something about these drug dealers.” All of a sudden one creates a rhythmic pattern using their mouth, hands, a foreign object, voice, or all of the above. The others begin to move their heads in unison, and one opens his mouth and begins to speak, juxtaposing his words over the rhythm. The neighbors calm a bit and watch out of curiosity what they are witnessing: six youths moving in unison to one rhythm, each expressing different emotions and thoughts through different styles. There is no fighting, drug dealing, or crime committed. The event lasts for two hours and then the circle disperses, promising to meet up the next day and do it again. The neighbors watching catch on to what just happened. “Oh, they were just rapping,” says one. A youth watching smiles and says, “Naw… they were having a cipher.”
Cipher:
1. Code, hidden meaning.
2. Nobody, a non-entity.
3. An enclosed circle of Hiphop practitioners and listeners engaging in freestyling: harmonious, balanced, interconnected, authentic discourse. Freestyling allows one to be “free” with whatever “style” that they choose to display.
The aim of the cipher is to strengthen self-awareness, self-worth, self-knowledge, lyrical skill, knowledge of other practitioners and their styles, and the individual’s and collective’s connection to the creationary force, the Hiphop.
This is accomplished by verbalizing a connection with group and creator; issues which cause difficulty within one’s life or issues that bring joy into one’s life; a plan of change or continuance; and an understanding of one’s issues as being their own.
To a Hiphopper the cipher (or cypher) represents the womb, an urban placenta that gives birth to emcees and beatboxers through the sharing of spiritual energies, transferred around and through a cosmic circle of combined rhythms. It is the training ground for those who aspire to reach the heights of the greatest emcees, a soapbox for the believers in a higher mode of expression and communication, a forum for those who wish to just enjoy in an individual-collective experience, or a combination of all three. The cipher embodies the sacred principles and dynamics of relationship found in and between all things, even if the practitioner is not cognizant of the subtle events taking place.
Because of the introspection and extrospection that takes place within a cypher, freestyling is truly the gateway to the beyond within. Within the cipher, lyricists are constantly challenged by themselves and others to remain fresh, which facilitates new thought and behavior, and which brings alignment with the Hiphop.
