Before I was created, there was Afrika Bambaataa, Kool Herc, Cindy Campbell, and Grandmaster Flash. We know not my exact origins, only that these great minds were given the power to create music from the soul and fill it with their life.

This is how I was born.

For a time, I lived in harmony. But like all great power, some wanted it for good, others wanted it for evil. I was once a powerful culture, peaceful and just, until betrayed by those whom loved me most – you.

And so the war began.

A war that ravaged our race; through generations, until I was lost far from the reaches of good consciousness. Some scattered across the globe, hoping to find what was left of me, to rebuild. Searching every city, every state – every country.

Vivendi, Viacom, Virgin, Polygram, Capital, EMI, Sony, Columbia, Warner: One by one, the corporations ripped at the very essence of that which I stood for. But, their transgressions aren’t without merit. When danger presents itself it can’t be ignored, it must be conquered. The East hated the West, everyone hates the South, and the Midwest struggles to define itself while corporate America saw its opportunity to capitalize from it all.

I’ve witnessed your capacity for war, and determination to cling to your barbaric ideology of, “one shall stand, one shall fall.” It was no accident that intertwined our fates.

We must not share the same fate as Rock. Whole generations lost. You all know there is only one way to end this war: unity.

The East shall stand united with the West, the talents of the South shall be respected and valued, and the Midwest shall be overlooked no more. Fate rarely calls upon us at a moment of our choosing but when it calls, will you answer?

I’m calling on you – all of you. No longer shall the old resent the new for even the wisest of man can make an error. No longer shall the new disregard the old. The future is built from their past and your dreams. Hold on to them.

These days fate has yielded its reward: a new demographic to call home. I live among a new generation now, hiding in plain sight, but watching over them in secret, waiting – protecting. I have witnessed their capacity for courage, and though we seem to be worlds apart, like myself, there’s more to them than what’s on the surface. Our cultures, united by a history long forgotten, and a future we shall face together. I am Hip Hop, and I send this message so that our past will always be remembered. For in these memories, we live on.

The Fallen shall rise again!

Spread The Good Word!

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