It's Bigger Than Hip Hop

Echo Park. That's probably asked like our version of Williamsburg in Brooklyn, where it's like it's been so freakishly gentrified that if I were to tell you about the Echo Park Echo Park I grew up in, it was like, oh now this is this is cholo Ville. You ain't win't kick it over there? Um or you only know as the Ricky Martin song She's Living the be By look, which is like if he was from the he was like, man,

I just make it so much anyway. Uh Now again listen, nobody says that that's not a phrase people use, you know, um, but I use something that's like always resonated with me, which is from a song by a group called Dead Press. Uh and it's it's it's it's bigger than hip hop, so it goes it's bigger in hip hop, hip hop hip which don't sound as dope if you're not hearing the track. But uh, it's one of the hardest, Like,

it's one of the hardest songs this dead Press. They landed a song that will go down in like wrapped specifically like backpacker history. You know, it's not specifically gangs. It's not West Coast. I mean it's gangster in the sense of like it's street, but it's not. It's a

hip hop anthem, you know. Um. And the point it's trying to make is a point that I think in whatever like sub genre, subculture you in, there's a point to where you buy into the the myth making part of it, the the the the spirit, the soul of what something is, and then it becomes bigger than uh, the person or the persons that got you into it.

You're following me, it's bigger than that, right, Like, it's the idea of the concept is bigger than theger than the And when something become bigger than that, then it's like can nobody tell you no different? And for that to fall apart in some way, has something has to be catastrophic to undo that. You know what I'm saying, I want to talk about two years later, the big lie hood politics, y'all? How so little right now? Little politics y'all sood all right, Send your best anthropologists to

any inner city. But the one I understand more is again Los Angeles created Los Angeles Area black and Latino gangs like send us, send your best anthropologists and someone can explain to you why someone would buy into something called gang banget I. And it's a thing that like, no matter how many times somebody tries to explain it to you, no matter how many books somebody right on it, Unless you was here, I don't think you could really appreciate it and really understand what was going on in

our hearts and minds, you know, and calculations young men and young women made um as they were unknowingly signing themselves up to something that probably started off as these were just my friends, or this is my big brother, this is this, but you're signing up to something that is bigger than you. Right, there's a truth that you believe right that cascades infinitely into implications of how you

carry your life. I'm not gonna talk about that. I'm talking about something that is very personal to me, which is hip hop. You know I it is. I say this when I always say I tell people, like to my d NA, like I'm brought in. I am this is what I am. Caras One had this thing about like he was trying to get hip hop to be a recognized ethnicity in the u N Like where you could put it on your birth certificate that like what is your child? My child as hip hop? You know.

So there's some of y'all may think that's sounds stupid or hip hop is it's just wrapped like it's a style of music, and it's like, no, you're not brought in. There's there's more to that, Like depending on the age group you in or or or in you kind of like signed up. You understand that there is an entire culture around this. Now, the backpackers of the world, you know, they're gonna tell you this four elements or five elements.

You know, you got Djaye, breakdancing, m seeing you know what I'm saying, graffiti, and then you have like the philosophies or beatbox or whatever, like these are like, oh, heads would tell you all this stuff, right if you really believe in this, but think about like all that comes with it fashion, sports, right, Uh, you know, think about what a I was like ais and Allen Iverson. Allen Iverson truthfully is the one that merged hip hop

with basketball. You know, Rappers were wearing Jordan's you know, wearing the starter jackets like foods. Like hip hop was like always carried like jerseys and stuff like that, but Jordan they love hip hop like dang, oh this hell. You know what I'm saying, Like he was not he was not ahead. You feel me? Alan Iverson yo, that he was one of us. You know, Mike vicken In of course he's problematic, but like think about what he

did for Atlanta. You know what I'm saying with the throw with the you know, the the tall teas, you know what I'm saying, and the throwback jerseys like that's you know you feel me like what Nelly and like, uh you know the st lunatics like this merging of sports fashion, um, you know, and then what happened with l A with gangster life and street life. You know what I'm saying, jay Z with the hustler like it it's this, there's an entire universe as a culture that's

that rap is just one tiny small part of it. Right. So the person that taught you how to wrap, the first person to play for you, you know, a Biggie Small's tape, you know what I'm saying, or whatever the case may be. However you got in. If you love hip hop, it becomes so much more, so much bigger, right. And it's hard for me to really picture this because I'm not from that generation. But my manager, you know, shout at J King. I don't know if he's still

listened to the show, but my manager is. He's a little older than me. You know, his partner is a little bit older than me. You know. They come from a generation where there was a time that like hip hop was never on the radio, and people were saying it wouldn't last, that it wasn't like a a viable I can't picture that, but that it wasn't a viable. So like rappers were all talking about like hip hop will never die, you know what I'm saying. It's like

I'm like, yeah, I know, it's a international. The biggest stars in the world are like Drake is hip hop, like I don't know what do you mean? It's not gonna laugh, you know what I'm saying. Right, there was a time that like foods were gatekeeping in hip hop where you don't mix with R and B. Like I'm not an R and B single, Right, It's like that stuff is now is like we can't even picture it, Like it's that's silly, that's not what are you talking about? Blast?

You know what I'm saying? That l a do? He just got like a he's got a plaque for his last single, and it's like was it Like, wait, is he a rapper or singer? What is he paying? Is he paying a singer? Is he a rapper? What? Like? What is this? It's hip hop because it's bigger. You understand what I'm saying. You sign up to something bigger, puffy like didd he is that a Like? Is that a rapper? Like he's a mode? Like what it is?

What is this? You know what I'm saying? Like you he don't do none of the elements except but it's bigger than that. Right, So once you buy in all of the the again I'm gonna using the term, the cascading implications become just a part of the experience. Now I'm using this example personally as something that is built up and become beautiful to me. Right even this even

hood politics, my my podcast poetry. If you bought the Terraform book, you know what I'm saying, Like y'all know, like I look, I'm just I was just a battle rapper, you know, and all of the music that came out of that, that's propaganda, Like that was just an outpouring of me loving hip hop. And before I wrapped, like I say, all the time, I was clack clack clack clack six, I was doing GRAF. Before that, I was breakdancing like I was to my d N A A

B Boy. You know, I was blessed enough to be in that beautiful age group to where I get to be. I got the best the tail end of one world and the beginning and and flourishing of another one. So I got to experience a very beautiful in my mind sort of best of both worlds of what it meant to be in l A and in because again, like man, when I was you know, third fourth fifth grade, like you could see Tony Hawk, like a twenty year old

Tony Hawk. You know what I'm saying, like it was pretty dope, you know what I'm saying with the skating stuff like that, like Venice Beach spending on their heads, Like I bought into something so much bigger than any particular individual. Right, So people ask a question, who started

hip hop? Who's the first hip hop? DJ cool Hirk is one of the people we consider as a from a historian perspective, you know, through the first parties and and the Bronx at the you know, Cedric Cab, you know what I'm saying, the Park jams from you know, from the nineteen seventy five, you know, the DJ cool Hirk, you know what I'm saying. And then you got like, well, Curtis Blow was the first rapper? What was he? Like?

I don't know, grand Master Cars and the Cold Crush Brothers, you know what I'm saying, Like people say rappers Delight was the first rap single, and it's like, well, Rapper's Delight was a bite, you know, saying who wrote that? They did? Grand Master Cars wrote it? You know what I'm saying, Like, you don't know. The thing is, y'all don't know who I'm talking about m because it's bigger

than them. Some things can last longer than the individuals that started them, which brings us to what I would consider the dark side of this, which is the big lie back after this break beat, break beat, get it because hip hop? All right, drop it on the mat. M Okay, this is gonna seem so partisan. Um, and I will be accused of being what I'm always accused of is like your progressive liberal you know, social justice win or they don't use that s JW no more

do they? Right? Oh they switched that out for Oh, you're a woke warrior like man can't have nothing anyway. Um. And I'm not approaching this as such. Keep in mind my background professionally is in education, Like I am coming at this. Of course, I can't separate my personhood and my opinions about stuff, because I mean it's like, well, I mean it's a podcast. What you want me to say, dog,

like you're actually not in school right now? Podcast? Um. But I will say I am approaching this from an educational perspective to kind of help you empathize or understand at least what is even happening right now right and the implications again about what and possibly could look like using my antennas and what I understand about what it means to buy into something bigger than you. So former President Trump, Well, first of all, before I get into that, what is the big lie? The big lie is that

Trump actually won the election. It has been repeatedly disproven. I just I uh in an absurd amount of court cases, losses attempts to like rewind the clock and make that be true. It's just it's just not true. Right now. What makes that lie huge, why we call it a big lie from a historical perspective, is that for that lie to be factual, for that to be the case, there is That is why I keep saying this a cascading amount of other things that have to be true

for that one truth to be true. You're following me.

So for Trump to have one, that meant that there was a widespread conspiracy among local and national players within the Democratic Party who have all conspired together along with people from private companies right to make these things, along with local volunteers, in conjunction with the US Postal Service, right, all of these things, in conjunction with private media services, right, all conspiring to make sure that one thing would happen, right, And That means there has to be some sort of

web of communication. That means that this deep state thing that they keep talking about has to be true. Right, So all of these little things had to have come into place, right, all the way down to just your local postman. He has to be in on it, right, All these things have to be true. So you'd have to ignore all your logic around other things that are like this is unlikely. You have to do. You have to ignore all that if you're going to maintain that

the top lie is true. You're following me. Now, can that sustain by itself? I am of the belief that based on experts, right, I think through line has a dope uh interview with it with it with with some experts about this, uh that. I don't think this could have sustained when Trump kept saying they lying, they lie, no matter how big he is, without it catching on with other like Republican leaders jumping on like yeah they yeah,

they stole it from you. Look see we homies, you know what I'm saying, Like them trying to lock their brands with his because he see like because they saw he got the people's ear, right, I don't think it could have sustained with that. It couldn't have sustained without people like Fox News and these other things like perpetuating

this thing. It's not gonna catch on. You can't just like as as dope and as mythical Trump is, you know what I'm saying, Like I say mythical, like I mean that because it's like he's created this myth that, like number one, he's always been a billionaire, when despite how many evidences of him being bankrupt, despite the fact that, like the people of The Apprentice said, they made up

the myth of him being this mogul. They're like, no, he's not that, He's just a regular ass rich dude, Like no, we we built up this story, right, despite the fact that like talking about he has a perfect clean bill of health, like ni, that's not true, right, Like the fact that it's this idea that like he is completely untouchable by the law, like that's created this like demigod character about him that like, yo, he is untouchable,

like like nothing everything watched, Boy, he's been impeached twice. You feel me, Like you know what I'm saying, like this, like and it's and it still ain't touching you. You understand what I'm saying or brought not. He didn't get officially impeached twice. He got impeached in a half. You understand what I'm saying, Like like nothing can touch him. So that's that like mythical you know, he's a DemoGod

in their eyes. So despite all that, you still need people to catch on and catch fire with it, right, You can't sustain that type of stuff yourself. Somebody has to keep like riding for you. You understand I'm saying. And that's so you had So we had all these other sort of people that like that we're also had microphones, also had power, also had authority. He was able to buy in and affirm this thing and whatever their reasons for that, And I, in my opinion, was hell of selfish.

Like I don't there's no way. I don't think that they. I think there's some people who really do believe that. But I think I think I've said this before, it's like, nah, when they go home, they notice, but they're just playing their game like hitting a leg, Like you're just trying to stay in good graces with the public. You feel

me when people turn on you. You know what I'm saying, I think, uh, you take somebody like a Mike Pence that was like, look, Nie, you didn't gone too far, because you know, I believe that there are people out there that are like true believers in conservatism in the same way that like I bought in the hip hop, they brought into conservatism and it's like that's bigger than

all of us. They believe in institutions. They believe in the traditions and the and our forefathers and their constitutionalists. Like so they are like, you know, behind closed doors, disgusted by somebody like a Trump that's like he I don't know what he is besides selfish, but like that, they're like, yo, he smells like a fascist. Like he's building up an empire in his fashion, in his form and his like in his likeness. Right that they're like, well,

that's you're destroying our institutions. I believe that there are some that when they go home, that's the way they feel. But they're not gonna te don't nobody. You know what I'm saying. Yeah, you know, look right for the set on me. You know what I'm saying, wheels fall out right now to set believe you know what I'm saying, so I believe that, you know what I'm saying, But then there are those that like truly do believe that are like na man, like our democracy is dying because

an election was able to be stolen. So then the question becomes can a lie sustain itself beyond the liar? And I think we've seen that happen. And then the line starts taking on and enveloping other things. Why like sort of this whole ethos can absorb something like some Q and on stuff that like, you know, you're stopping some sort of widespread pedophile ring, and have co opted this like the cause of sex trafficking and enveloped it

into this sort of mel you of conspiratorial things. This idea that like, yeah, that there's a pedophile ring with with Democrats. This uh that the Fauci vaccine, you know what I'm saying, enveloped into them trying to put you know, computer chips inside of you. Right, you can envelope all of these things that they're hurting that you know, they're thinking out to her, like all of these other things. It starts to take on its own life so much so that again when Trump stand on stage and talks

about nig I got my booster. You feel me. It's because the lie is bigger, right, it's taken on its own life. It's bigger than it's why if you think about it like this, it's why you take an O G that just got out of prison. You feel me why. Sometimes gang intervention stuff is actually more difficult than it

seems one would think. When O G gets out of prison and he comes back to the hood and he's trying to tell kids like hey, abort mission, like turn around out it's not and it's and you're looking at the dude that was like, man, this yo, you put in mad work, Like we know your missions, like you're mythical. You feel me. People like you know Tookie Williams and

and uh yeah, Monster Cody who just passed away. You know what I'm saying, who were came back to the city and was like listen, like let me tell y'all my story. You know what I'm saying, Like this ain't it's not what you think it is. You ain't gotta make the same mistakes I do, right, Uh you know big you with his um you know the Crunchhaw football team, the Pop Warner football team, you know people doing these like things to try to like snatch kids off the

streets and kind of like give them. You know they're coming in. It's like, oh, no, we are we certified, Like don't ever, don't you have a question? You know what I'm saying, Like I earned my stripes. You know what I'm saying, We did our time and who I understand? You know what I'm saying. And they're and they're communicating in a in a in a way and in a language with with with skin in the game where they

understand really what these foods is going through. Like a matter of fact, he's the O g s like these foods like they started these hoods. One would think yo saying if the dude that's started to set would come in and say, hey, you shouldn't do this like little dudes like oh y'all burnt out. You know what I'm saying. No, it's bigger than this. I appreciate your g full respect what I'm saying, like I never respect. I'll do you know what I'm saying. But we're out here, we outside.

You can't talk everybody out of it because it's bigger than that. And that's what I'm saying that that's what they're trying to do. But that's the point I'm trying to make. It takes on a life of itself. Right, how are we still dealing with Trump one signs? And why Republicans still not showing up at the you know,

the anniversary of what would even lead somebody to do that? Again, it's the cascading imp occations of if you hold up the first thing, right, if you hold up that first, that first thing, that that means that every step after that is absolutely necessary. Because if it is true what you believe about this election, then of course you think that like democracy is, it's fallen. So our our only choices to storing the Capitol. Now, the problem with this storm and the capital is the fact that they had

no other plan after that. Like, okay, so what was y'all doing? And and and your boy? You know what I'm saying? Who I mean, are y'all gonna y'all gonna put him back in office? Like all that's gonna it's gonna be the same, Oh dude saying new lines to you. I just I don't understand, Like, what was what was

y'all's in game? You know what I'm saying, Uh. Then there's people that like like I keep talking about, like Matt Yates, like Mary Martin Taylor a who like you know what I'm saying that the Santos who like I saw the righting on the wall was like, yo, I can link myself since it's bigger than Trump, I can link myself to this thing too, and like, go out there and maybe you know what I'm saying, hit my lip. You know what I'm saying, give my power play because

it's bigger than that. You feel me? Because if that lie again is true, then the implications are everybody inside of that building are frauds. We gotta ride. So don't let nobody ever tell you that this was some sort of like you know, protests that went out of control. No, they was rotting. Because you that's your only option if you believe lie number one, right, I got one more point after this? Or break yeah? Yeah, yeah yeah. Have

you ever heard of the phrase color mute terms? Color mute terms are I asked you a question, as if you can answer me. You know what I'm saying. Some of y'all are like, yeah, it's so stupid white people do that? Why I do? It's I mean, it's a

rhetorical it's a rhetoric tool. Anyway, I'm off topic. Color mute are terms that you're not saying what you mean, You're just you in replacing where it's like urban, you know what the hell we mean when we say urban, When you say inner city, you know what the hell you meant, right, it's color mute, low income color mute. And of course why it's used so much is because there's there's a bit of ambiguity, like I mean, you know what I'm saying, there's plenty of low income white people, right,

you know, saying like come on, man, that's ridiculous. You know urban that could be I mean, hipsters are urban. You know what I'm saying, right, So that's why you use those terms, right, because they're color mutes. So it's a way out of getting pinned down by what you mean. And sometimes it's like you can use color mute terms because you are trying to use something else, which is

an umbrella term, right, or a pan ethnic thing. So like when you say something like Asian, that's pan ethnic, you know what I'm saying, Like, I mean, how different is Malaysia, Kimbo, the Philippines from Manchuria like it's Siberia, Like it's super different, you know what I'm saying, But you know African, like that's you kidne me like the second largest land mass on the planet, you know what I'm saying. So it's like you can't possibly talking to

be talking about all the same people, right panethnics. So sometimes you might be using an umbrella term uh, but

maybe saying it with color mute words following me. I'm using that to say how one could from a macro perspective by into something like this, and why you would see things like, uh, Confederate flags, you know, seventeen seventy six calls, eighteen seventy seven calls like just which is crazy because eighteen seventy seven is like the basis the compromise of the basis of like black codes of like why we had so why it was so hard for

us to vote? You know what I'm saying. Um, why you would see like Auschwitz T shirts and these people calling themselves patriots. Some people would say there was dog whistles happening. You know. Dog whistles is basically this idea that like if you don't know what that means, It's just this idea of like where only you blow it, and only you're not saying it, but people that needed

to hear it here hurt it. He who have ears let him here, you know, and bye read a Bible awards, so to say things like the true America, you know, I lost all of the cities, all of the urban areas. But the true America, the true Americans, they know the truth. And it's that I won. I won by a landslide. What does he say, ain't well black people, brown folks,

that's what he's saying, he said. And when I lost to the city, you talk about black you talk about people of color, that's what you talk about black people, you talk abou about you. What you're saying is and the true America's white people. That's what you're saying. They heard it. So you're stoking something you you you you tapping into something that again is bigger than themselves and make them feel like now they they're part of a cause. Because how do you explain follow me, y'all, I'm again,

I'm just teaching. How do you explain if factually speaking, the system has always worked for capital w white people. Obviously, if we're talking you know, economic issues, socio economic issues. Obviously, that's a different that's a different piece of intersectionality, which is something you don't want to talk about because you

don't believe in critical rights theory. But that's another piece of intersectionality that we have talked about later, that that says that, Yeah, of course there are class issues that complicate what I'm trying to say, right, but that's why I say capital w white people, whiteness. The system has worked for you. The system has worked for whiteness because it was built for whiteness. This is all like you could even ask the all right, it was like yeah, no,

like read the founding father's documents. This was made for us. It was designed so when it stops working for you, rather than looking at huge sweeping ideas that might possibly be the problem, like well, capitalism running unchecked. You know what I'm saying, Like the removal of a social safety net, like the idea of like the idea of like a

social health care, health care is unaffordable. The idea of social health care would actually help us all, especially low again intersectionality, low income white people can't afford it either, you know, I'm saying that coal miner who out there with that Filipino you know immigrant that like they're sharing U across junior freaking number four meal because you know what I'm saying, they boss like won't give them no raise.

You feel me like they understand that intersectionality, you feel me, right, But he and would really appreciate the idea that like maybe if my health care wasn't tied to this job, I wouldn't have to keep going into this cold you know what I'm saying. But you're ignoring those sweeping ideas and just saying somebody else must have ruined it for me, just like somebody else stole this election. Somebody else stole my way of life. Well who is Well, who stole

your way of life? Well? You got black people cutting in front of the line. You got all these immigrants stealing the jobs that he's good paying American jobs, right. You got these social elites, these democrats taking all the work and taking it over to other countries. Right, and then you got them, you know, uh, extremely wealthy people who are buying large liberal right and want to control

your life systems not failing systems. Fine, it's been taken from you, so you need to go take it back, Nigga, wouldn't you ride to if that was all true? Wouldn't you be like, let's ride. So when something gets bigger than all of us, it becomes self sustaining. So again, what that means for I think it only collapses with a huge collapse. Trump gotta crash and burn for you to see that that man is not a DemoGod. I think number one, clearly, the facts don't matter, right because

none of the stuff is true, right. I think somebody has to address y'all's grievances in a truthful, healthy manner. Somebody has to be able to speak your language and say, Okay, so what you're trying to take back here? This this actually solves the problems you need, You you asking for. You feel like you're not being heard, you feel like you're not being treated fairly. Okay, well check this out. Boom boom boom, boom boom. Here's how we got here.

Here's how to fix it. You know, what I'm saying in a way that they get to see is not just feeding their grievances. Now, how is that gonna happen? And I don't know because that's slow and hard. How to do that. What's quick, easy and get you back in power is you ride that way. But the part that's so strange to me is that if you're telling me the system is broken and flawed and terrible, why the hell would you run and have me vote for you if you don't believe voting works. I mean, they

could turn and as black people the same thing. I ain't got to answer money. I think there are lessons we can learn from history. They're not one one to ones, but I think that things we can learn, some of which is grievance. Politics works, but only for so long it eventually descends into well, total meltdown. But even if it descends into total meltdown, we'll survive, m y'all. This mug was recorded and edited by Me Propaganda right here in East Lows, boil Heights, Los Angeles. Y'all can follow

me at prop hip Hop on all the socials. You can follow the Hood Politics Pod itself at Hood Politics Pod, where we'll be trying to make takes on stuff that aren't really big enough for a whole episode, but definitely needs a little bit of claric. This mug was scored, edited, mixed, and mastered by the one and only Headlights. Y'all go follow my dog, matt Ou Swelski. I still don't know how to say his name. I'm glad he changed it

to Headlights. Follow him on his socials at Headlights underscore music telling you hear all these new other fly tracks. This food be Making, and the theme music was done by the one and only Gold Tips Gold Tips d J Shawn p. Y'all remember every time you check in. If you understand the hood, you can understand politics. Shouts to I Heart Media for making this happen