Because Hiphop emerged primarily from the African experience in America, Hiphop consciousness is understood from an ethnocentric perspective; ones expression of, association with, or knowledge of ones ethnic identity and community needs. The more cogent you are of how to know ones self from an ethnic perspective and express the greatness or shortcomings of Black people, the more conscious you are, and the better off we and the Black community will be. This definition of consciousness was the basis for Hiphop’s first ethnocentric time period 1986-1993, which also laid the foundation for the neo-soul and pro-black activism movements that we witness today.

For Black people, focusing on ethnic consciousness gives us a sense of hope for our race in a country that is looked at as uprooting the African, thus destroying our sense of space, family, language and identity. It is also the viewpoint of many that America tends to commodify and sell culture to voyeurists, who then in turn form the consensus on how that culture is to be viewed, evaluated and redefined through their eyes. It then becomes apparent why Africans in America find it important to know ones self. Expressing that need through literary, artistic and musical means, make our concerns alive and subjectively amplified to ourselves and any who listen.

“Conscious Hiphop” has the effect of opening the ears and minds of Hiphop listeners that would ordinarily would be subjected to “mainstream” Hiphop. Conscious music usually inspires one to be better than they were yesterday or is a call to action to mobilize, educate and organize themselves from an ethnocentric perspective. This call to action is necessary and by no means should be viewed as unimportant; in fact it is an essential part of Black people’s re-translation of themselves to themselves. What is left out is the human and Hiphop worldcentric perspective of consciousness that is expressed by the world’s prophets, sages, seers, and integrally minded Hiphop artists of all elements. The danger of maintaining an ethnocentric only perspective of the world is trying to be as Black as one can be and forgetting the entire human we are. Knowledge of who one is based on where one comes from, family lineage, historical greatness or cultural diffusion is all good, but without placing limits on my view of ethnic consciousness I may become physically, mentally and spiritually trapped in believing that it is all about my people and all can be solved from an Africentric perspective. Being super Black can have the same effects as being super White. Even if much of my people’s history is lost, being as Black as I can be at best will help me understand who I am as a Black person, but not who I am as a spiritual being. Limiting ethnic consciousness actually means freeing it by giving it boundaries, thus increasing ones awareness of how it can and cannot benefit self growth. I think the question is that although ethnicity seems to be beneficial for translation, can ethnicity alone benefit transformation? I believe that transformation can be facilitated using ethnicity as a background for familiarity, but only if higher or deeper levels of existence unfold along side a widening perspective of who I am as a human in relation to other humans, nature and spirit. Rites of Passage groups, NTU psychotherapy, Kwanzaa rituals, spoken word open mic nights, lectures by prominent Black thinkers, “holistic” medicine, astrology, Black literary publications, and the messages conveyed by contemporary Hiphop and R&B artists use an Africentric perspective to bring about change in the lives of others, but if the transformative capabilities are elevated, reduced or unrecognized in any of those areas, the ability for these modalities to do it’s job well can be stymied or all together prove fruitless. For example, it has been my experience that for many Blacks (and other races as well, hell I check my horoscope sometimes, don’t tell anyone though) astrology is a tool used to provide ones day or life with direction and guidance from celestial bodies which when in certain modes of alignment could produce favorable or unfavorable results. The 12 houses are symbolic of human archetypes that we all can experience, but we tend to act from a center; from one general direction. As the 12 houses are archetypes they give us a means of exploring and navigating sub personalities, some of which operate interchangeably or at the same time. It gives us a way to see ourselves differently. It is a horizontal way of looking at ourselves. But those archetypes are experienced as we grow from pre-rational to rational to transrational cogency, from archaic all the way to causal worldviews, from child, young adult, adult, to elder. We can understand what a Sagittarius whose moon is in Aquarius may experience in a given time period, but how does that help them develop spiritually? It may provide a glimmer of hope and help to dismiss fear about life, but it is not an injunction; it does not illuminate a path. It only helps to understand who it is that needs to start looking for one.

Hiphop culture and its ability to act as a change agent has been overlooked (reduced) in my opinion, being viewed as it is portrayed by popular culture (Hip pop) violent, misogynistic, and material focused. Only now is Hiphop being recognized not only for its ability to reach the masses commercially, but also its ability to help young people work through identity issues, decision making and life skills. Although Hiphop is the backdrop for teaching other skills, it nonetheless is a tool that goes overlooked by many because it is not given the attention that it deserves. The thought is that if Hiphop is inherently violent then what good is it to me, why would this even be considered an option when working with young people and adults? The focus is on the individuals that typify behaviors that support the masses current understanding of the culture, not the culture itself or its developmental structure that shows that what we have seen of Hiphop is not all that is or could be. Viewing Hiphop from an integral perspective would also help the music industry, authority figures from parents to agents of social control, and purveyors and adherents of Hiphop culture to fully realize and experience all that the culture has to offer humanity.

It then becomes important to explore and redefine Hiphop from a perspective that views the culture as a emerging series of values from archaic to causal, that looks at its value to self, community and the world as it emerges from egocentric to ethnocentric to worldcentric consciousness.

Posted by J-Who? on Tuesday, August 1st, 2006 and is filed under SICKWIDIT, EDITORIALS, MINDSPRAY.