The Daily Gamecock

Issue date: 8/21/08 Section: The Mix

Paul Bowers, Second-year print journalism student

I'm giving hip-hop a chance. I'll confess I've been a bit of a music bigot in recent years, especially when it comes to the genre that so many claim is the voice of my own generation.

Part of my problem with hip-hop may have been a lack of context. Growing up in the suburbs, I scoffed at the sight of well-to-do Southern gentry echoing rhymes about so-called "thug life" and the injustices of the "hood."

But after spending a summer on Chicago's South Side, I'm having second thoughts. Hip-hop was everywhere - from the high school kids who blasted it on the Elevated Train to the street performers who freestyled for tips. I listened in as one man concocted impromptu rhymes during a break at his warehouse job. A local church even had a hip-hop worship service dubbed The House, complete with in-house DJs, dancers and emcees.

Artists performed intricate raps and spoken-word pieces. Kids taught me dance moves. And I met scores of people whose lives had been as hard and low as a ghetto-blasting bass line.

Like punk rock, hip-hop never made sense to me until I met people who had lived it. Just as there really are guys who chain-smoke and sleep on couches and play too loudly in dive bars, there really are people who get along in the inner-city environment so graphically depicted by rappers. Stylistic qualms aside, I had to appreciate hip-hop as a medium for another culture's joys, frustrations and conflicts.

Now that I'm back home, I vow to give the music a fair shake. Too much of my opinion has been shaped by the absurd posturing of radio rap-the blind materialism, the blatant misogyny, the obnoxious egotism. What I forgot was that similar gripes could be made about any genre's frontrunners. Some just wear it on their sleeve.

I'll be digging to the roots, seeking the African origins of rhythmic rhymes and researching the landmark albums. I'll be seeking out intelligent rappers who can talk about something other than themselves for five minutes (I know they're out there).

Most importantly, I'm going into this with an open mind. Whatever preconceived notions I may have built up, I'm wiping the slate clean. I'll also be looking for people who can speak authoritatively on the subject.

This is a call for elucidation. If you think you can explain hip-hop to a middle-class white nerd guitarist, do not hesitate to fill me in. If you know of any true artists within the genre, please stick a headphone in my ear.

I am ignorant; I am a newcomer. I couldn't tell you the difference between Tupac and Biggie. I don't really get what "crunk" means. And my dance moves make me look like an epileptic Larry Bird.

I know a lot of people are in the same place as me, endlessly repeating the trusty "I like everything but rap" line. We'd all do well to open our minds and then open our ears.

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