I said-a hip, hop, the hippie, the hippie
To the hip hip hop-a you don’t stop the rock
It to the bang-bang boogie, say up jump the boogie
To the rhythm of the boogie, the beat
In 1978 I was invited to speak at my elementary school’s sixth grade graduation. In my speech I wrote about my extracurricular activites which included sports, music and writing poetry. My teacher (who was an excellent well-respected black male teacher) “encouraged” me to exclude my interest in poetry because it was “unusual” for black boys.
In the Fall of 1979 as a seventh grader on my way to junior high school I heard the above lyrics jump out of the school bus speakers. AT THAT VERY MOMENT I KNEW THAT MUSIC HAD CHANGED! I listened to this song literally a thousand times. Transcribed the lyrics and sold copies to my classmates. Wrote an English paper on how rap music would be the new jazz or new rock and roll. People laughed……
All these years later and I still love poetry. Funny how all those other black boys liked poetry too…..
Yea. Written poetry. Spoken word. Hip hop. Share the gift of artistry this Christmas.
The Real Life Corner 