I do sam it. Hip hop chad my life.

It taught me how to treat women and have respect for the law. It also taught me the basic guidelines on how to be a drug dealer. :p:

But on a serious note, it taught me how writing rhymes and good lyrics can become an artform. When I first starting getting into hip hop/rap I thought it was just all rhyming words and that was it but after listening to a couple of good rappers I realized there was a lot more to it than that. I started to notice how between rhymes rappers started inserting obscure and pop culture references and metaphors and analogies that could go over your head at first but have a hook that makes them stay in your head, like for example, there's a verse I love in fall back by Victor Vaughn (Doom) where he puts in a Dumbo reference and a scientific one as a way to describe his vices and his approach towards music.

"You on the battlefield with lyrical militants
that know he feelin bent when he see lil' pink elephants
And never forget, to memorize the elements
Keep the mic sterilized, terrorize with eloquence"

When you hear a verse like that you start to recognize that it was written by someone who has mastered the craft of writing and rhyming, when you hear him say it, it sounds effortless but when you analyze the structure of it you can see a talented writer behind it.

I feel there's a lot of rappers that use hip hop and rap simply as a platform to become popular and rich and squeeze fame out of our pop culture but there are other rappers that approach hip hop and rap as an artform and focus on the craft of writing and clever wordplay.

Culturally, it hasn't changed the way I perceive society or how I think but it has made me aware of how they think.

This music culture has taught me that I too can become a drug dealer and stick up kid.

All I need to do is start hustling and/or join a gang head to Chicago and engage in retaliatory gang violence and contribute to the tally of deaths in that city. If it wasn't for this music none of this would have dawned on me. I would have had to watch black and white gangster movies from back in the day to help me. Achieve the same goals. Btw gangsters were positive beacons in the community during 'dem roaring 20s. I would get myself a pin stripe suit and a super inefficient tommy gun for nostalgic sake but would never use. Who am I kidding!? Just lemme take a quit trip down to Texas and give my token white friend the money to buy some assault rifles, put it in the back of how ford pick up and have HIM drive me back to Chicago where I can fulfill my dreams of becoming a gangster and getting that money real quick. It's my 2nd amendment right to be able to get guns so that I can use in any way I desire.


But on a real note, it hasn't had any effect on me. I listen to hip hop for the productions aspects first and lyrics later on. If I hear a clever lyric it is like cool, sounds pleasing to my ears but I don't break down lyrics and look for hidden meanings and ****. I listen to the beat and break down the components of the samples that they use.

Lol. I like your thoughts on how you break down a beat. Good stuff.