“WHEN I CATCH YOU ON THE CREEP/ I’ll LIFT THE GROUND RIGHT FROM UP UNDER YOUR FEET!”
-Billy Danze of M.O.P.
Hip-hop has always professed its awareness. Since it’s conception, the culture of what is “now”, has bragged and boasted it’s all knowing knowingness. The collective has always proclaimed itself as the cursor for where the hip are and where the unhip are headed. Simply because WE knew it. Our dress, our swagger our speech and train of thought never considered itself anything less than right and true, proper and perfect. Whether heroes, villains, victims or perpetrators hip-hop has never once considered that it was not all that there was, and if there were anything else, it was of little or no consequence. Simply because WE knew it. In our own words, WE ARE THE S**T!
I propose to my generation that a shift has come and we are all not in the same gear. Today our 44th President was sworn into office ushering in a new era on the planet. He has become a shining example of what can be accomplished if one just believes and holds on to the thought. He is a culmination of the dreams of slaves and their decedents thus far.
He is a perfect example of the “idea” of America. He is the harmony after the discord. He is where Motown soul meets hip-hop swagger. Cool, calm and collected, he has been dubbed No Drama Obama. I suggest to anyone reading that he knows more than us. I suggest to anyone reading that he knows he is much more than THE S**T!
I believe Barack Hussein Obama represents a force on the planet that has grown and taken shape on our watch that we were mostly unaware of. I believe Barack is the physical embodiment of a cosmic truth. His “cool” suggests a knowing that most of us don’t know.
His “calm” suggests an inner peace far greater than our knowledge of self. His “collected” suggests an everything’s gonna be all right attitude that is mostly seen in deities and messiahs. Watching him I get a sense of truth incarnate. I get a feeling of perfect imperfection. I get a sense of God and Man for Man’s sake. I feel that Barack Obama is a wonderful expression of God expressing himself/herself/itself.
This leader in this time, I believe, is akin to the things legends are made of. Legends, that hundreds and/or thousands of years later become pillars in man’s understanding of himself. I believe Barack, regardless of what happens during his administration, will come to symbolize a greater greatness. I believe that we are witnesses to a paradigm shift towards a world order that that can only be understood fully as it actually takes shape.
To understand what I mean, we only need to look at his swearing in ceremony and see the complexities of a simple thought. He swore to uphold the Constitution of the United States of America, a constitution that was founded on truth. A constitution, however, that was written without him or his kind in mind. A constitution, that at its time of inception, allowed for its white authors to dodge truth for their misunderstandings and fears, and count blacks and women as something less than human. He is now the guardian of that set of ideas. He is now the Commander in Chief, given the task of defending the truth that is America. On the surface it’s simply is what is. But, below the surface this is the stuff that schools of thought, philosophies and religions are based upon.
Am I saying that Barack is the new Jesus? No. I am saying that Barack is the new Barack. I am saying that Barack represents a man past petty things such as race. I am saying he knows he is unbound by the laws that govern swagger and hip-ness. I am saying he is where we are, or should be, headed. I am saying that Barack Obama and all that he represents is far greater than most of what we have come to express with two turntables and a microphone. Our brags and boast seem a little childish. Our gangster tales seem mostly foolish. Our better than you s**t seems a little like rubbish. As he said in his inaugural speech, “ We are a young nation but it’s time to do away wit childish things.”
Our evolution as humankind is happening all the time and we mostly take it for granted. Not taking time to stop and observe ever so often leaves one behind. All over the planet a new understanding is emerging. Here in America, we have the privilege of putting the new understanding into practice, but most of us seldom do. On a small scale we can see in hip-hop, with the emergence of artist like Lupe, BOB and Andre3K, a manifestation of something greater. In spiritual circles, with the emergence of Michael Beckwith and Deepak Chopra, we can see a manifestation of something greater. And now with the worlds sweeping endorsement of Barack Hussein Obama we can see in politics and power a manifestation of something greater. We can see a paradigm shift that lifts the ground right from under our feet.
LET’S MOVE FORWARD.
Cleezy
