Honey, Don't Front...

'For we have realized now that your culture is your religion, and it is impossible for us (Hiphoppas) to have a relationship with GOD through a culture that is not inherently ours. OUR culture is OUR direct connection to GOD... Others may have discovered other truths, but this gospel documents the spiritual truths we as a Hip Hop community have discovered at the birth of our civilisation.' (The Gospel of Hip-Hop, p. 28)

So I'm sitting thinking how best to introduce this next post... I think this tune puts it nicely. Before reading further, sit back, kool out, and give this a listen...





We all appreciate authenticity. Lovin or hatin, givin or takin, just be honest, right? Nowhere is this truer than in Hip-Hop. The principle being: be true to who you are, speak from experience, and don't be ashamed to flaunt your skill. Those who do, are rewarded with respect. But those caught 'frontin': putting on a facade or playing fake charades, are firmly put in their place. Hip-Hop's voice resounds with Smif-N-Wessun's: 'I put up with none of them punks who front shit!' So, if you come out frontin', expect to get chewed up and spat out.

And where there's frontin, biting usually aint far off. When cats be ripping off your technique, style, or image, they be biting. Call em thieves, call em wannabes, call em copy-cats: they insult the individuality and uniqueness that Hip-Hop is all about. Here imitation is not the sincerest form of flattery, far from it: we shout “do YOUR thing, kid!”

So what does one of the most established aesthetics in Hip-Hop have to do with KRS-ONE's Gospel? Its easy to talk about the relationship between religion and Hip-Hop as the movement lends itself well to many religious expressions; from Islam to Christianity to eastern mysticism. But while there does exist an apparent level of compatibility, it seems UNAUTHENTIC for us to just try and replicate or represent the expressions of other religions in Hip-Hop. Surely Hip-Hop can't get caught frontin or biting off these other world views?? Its got to keep it real, stand up and do its own thing! And this is the point KRS is careful to make. He identifies Hip-Hop as an autonomous Spiritual Minded community; one that recognizes and respects other Spiritual viewpoints, but remains independent from them. And could we really expect anything else from the culture which smacks of uniqueness!?

I think this sets the tone for the rest of KRS' book and for further bloxploration....

Heres some further reading listening: You know this sh*t is real, so don't front...