As Iggy Azalea and Azealia Banks were beefing this week, Iggy Iggs tweeted out that race and politics had nothing to do with her hip-hop career.
Now! rant, Make it racial! make it political! Make it whatever but I guarantee it won't make you likable & THATS why ur crying on the radio.
In response, rapper Q-Tip replied to the Aussie star that hip-hop only exists because of its roots, which include race and politics.
Buckle up, and you might learn something.
@IGGYAZALEA HipHop is a artistic and socio-political movement/culture that sprang from the disparate ghettos of NY in the early 70's
@IGGYAZALEA Coming off the heels of the CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT and approaching the end of the Vietnam war it was a crossroads 4 America
Times were particularly tough for black kids in poor neighborhoods, Q-Tip begins.
@IGGYAZALEA specially for blacks in the US our neighborhoods were PROLIFERATED w/a rush of HEROINE
@IGGYAZALEA our school systems here in NY dungeon traps with light for learning
@IGGYAZALEA blk men some of whom didn't return from tours of duty n the ones who did came w/war baggage (agent orange, addiction, ect..)
@IGGYAZALEA these men had families but due to these events and throw into the mix the public emasculation...
@IGGYAZALEA they proved to be handicapped parents. The surrogate parents? The STREETS
@IGGYAZALEA the streets of gangs, crimes, and the hustlers coddled us and swept us up
Amid those circumstances, kids growing up on the streets found a creative outlet.
@IGGYAZALEA but! Being a spirited, rhythmic & expressive people music art dance outlined our existence
@IGGYAZALEA it proved a way for us to exhault to scream to dance to laugh and find OUR VOICE
@IGGYAZALEA we weren't at the time skilled musicians as kids. We had records, turntables, ideas and INGENUITY
@IGGYAZALEA being natural chemist we took from whatever was availed to us and we created something mighty and special
@IGGYAZALEA we cut breakbeats back n forth we took a hybrid of Jamaican toasting along w/ radio jock rap( hank Spann, Gary Byrd, ect.) and
@IGGYAZALEA we put our rap down..
And it started to grow.
@IGGYAZALEA it was a neighborhood thing really. Black and Latino Kids were carving out their space and it became infectious
@IGGYAZALEA eventually Keith Cowboy coined the phrase hiphop . Yrs later the first rap record was recorded and now we r moving
But adversity didn't disappear, Q-Tip continues.
@IGGYAZALEA but during these strides this country still had the monster of racism and racial insensitivity breathing and ruling
@IGGYAZALEA believe it or not young black n Latino lives specifically weren't acknowledged in mainstream American culture unless Ofcourse..
@IGGYAZALEA the convo was abt gangs , being criminals or uneducated. And hey! Like I stated early our families were rushed our schools
@IGGYAZALEA sucked and we were left to put devices to survive
@IGGYAZALEA but HIPHOP showed that we had DEPTH, fire, and BRILLANCE
Still, the music and movement grew.
@IGGYAZALEA the music was undeniable! It moved from NY N became national and even GLOBAL
@IGGYAZALEA hiphop now was FOR EVERYBODY!! All of those who cld relate to the roots, the spirit, the history, the energy.. It reached YOU
Eventually inspiring a white Australian girl named Amethyst Amelia Kelly. That's great, Q-Tip says.
@IGGYAZALEA it touched your spirit n took u up. We magnetized you! That's what BRILLANCE does
@IGGYAZALEA now u are fulfilling your dreams ... BUT!
@IGGYAZALEA you have to take into account the HISTORY as you move underneath the banner of hiphop. As I said before
@IGGYAZALEA hiphop is fun it's vile it's dance it's traditional it's light hearted but 1 thing it can never detach itself from
Those roots remain.
@IGGYAZALEA is being a SOCIO-Political movement. U may ask why ... Well
@IGGYAZALEA once you are born black your existence I believe is joined with socio-political epitaph and philos
@IGGYAZALEA based on the tangled and treacherous history SLAVERY alone this is the case
@IGGYAZALEA it never leaves our conversation... Ever. WeAther in our universities our dinner tables our studios or jail cells
@IGGYAZALEA the effects still resononates with us. It hurts... We get emotional and angry and melancholy
@IGGYAZALEA did u know president Clinton was the ONLY PRESIDENT to apologize for it?
And they're still affecting black people today, Q-Tip says.
@IGGYAZALEA did u know that remnants of slavery exist today thru white privilege? When certain "niceties" r extended your way because of
@IGGYAZALEA how u look? Isn't that crazy? I say this 2 say u are a hiphop artist who has the right 2 express herself however she wishes
A friendly heads-up from one artist to another.
@IGGYAZALEA this is not a chastisement this is not admonishment at ALL this is just one artist reaching to another hoping to spark insight
@IGGYAZALEA into the field you r in. I say this in the spirit of a hopeful healthy dialogue that maybe one day we can continue
@IGGYAZALEA I've been on twitter a long time and this will probably be my last series of tweets pretty much but
@IGGYAZALEA I'm Kool with it as long as I got to share this w u. Zzzzzzz's up! Peace!
And what does T.I. think?
