On Hip Hop

In my lifetime (29 yrs) Hip Hop has become popular music. From the streets of New York, to my hometown of Compton, from down south, to 8 mile, Hip Hop has evolved into an American musical revolution. It has become the soundtrack to the lives of my generation. 

I'm Skylar, entrepreneur, comedian, and writer. Hip Hop has been a part of me all my life. I grew up in the Compton/Watts area of California. There, if you weren't my parents age Hip Hop is/was king. Specifically for me and my friends Gangster Rap. Until this day I still enjoy the hard hitting sounds of N.W.A, the melodies and flows of Nate Dog and Warren G, and yes Snoop Dog. I cant get the image of his first album cover out of my head. He was a dog in a hat that was grabbing a female dogs butt while she was going into a dog house. I digress, my passion for Hip Hop began with Gangster Rap, but as I got older my taste for the art form began to expand. 

In junior high I began to get into Timbaland and Magoo and Missy (Still mad at Timbaland for making me like that One Republic song. No, No, No, Timbo, It's to late to apologize.) , Too Short, Puff-Daddy and The Family (I loved my Lil Kim poster and if you ever get to meet me , ask me to sing Mo Money Mo Problems.) The Hot Boys (Guess which members new music I enjoy today.) Tupac (Loved him as birdie in Above The Rim.), Jay Z (In his throwback, not a tailored suit. I still do enjoy tailored suit Jigga.) and of course Busta Rhymes (He's the reason my drink at bars is Covasier. Sorry Puff, I'm not a Ciroc guy.) At this point I was rocking a Penny Hardaway throw back, with my blue glasses and jordans, with my silver Superman piece and cubic zirconium bling, while I constantly sprayed my s-curl flat top. image I know in retrospect, but back then I thought I looked. clean. High school was some of the same, but a bit different, but my love for Hip Hop stayed constant.

Hip Hop music and culture for me in High School kicked into high gear. The allure of girls became too strong and Hip Hop is nothing but cool and attractive to the ladies. So I shaved my head; I figured it worked for Jordan and Tyrese. Got a workers permit so I can buy excessive amounts of FUBU, Sean Jean, Rockawear, Jordans, and South Pole. My favorite being South Pole, because they used a lot of blue. (If you are wondering what my obsession with was, take the last part of my first name and chop it off.) Another new hip hop phenomena occurred, which was the absence of shirts. You either had to wave it above your head like Pete Pablo, or stuff it in the back of your pants like The Ruff Riders and ride around. I was OK with this, because at that point I played Football. So I was in this constant loop of buying expensive clothes only to take them off and wave them around my head. Driving in high-school was a big thing. I couldn't afford a 64 Impala on Dubs, but I could afford a 76 Cadillac Coupe-deville on 10's. In the words of Method Man and Red Man, "I know I keep em clean though." My friends and I were not riding dirty to the Carson Mall like the Game, but they did envy me up until the point they had to push my car. Either because the lack of gas money or I didn't warm it up enough. But that was OK because we were still fly.