Can't Stop, Won't Stop

Well the book Can't Stop, Won't Stop is actually a very interesting read. Kool Herc was a very interesting guy who was born in Jamaica. He moved to the United States with his family for a better life. At a young age he loved music and beats. His sister who was very inventive decided that she wanted new clothes so she decided to get what she wanted while also helping her brother do something that he loved. She would have parties which she would personally make the invitations on note cards and hand them out. Her brother would DJ them in the rec room and she would charge 25 cents to get in. The money that she made she used to get her clothes. Kool Herc also help figure out how to make his fathers speakers louder. Kool Herc figured out how to manipulate the wiring and managed to get a loud true sound out of the speakers.
Afrika Bambaataa however lived a very different life from Kool Herc. Bambaataa lived his life jumping from gang to gang. He called himself Zulu which ment "affectionate leader." He also had to go through a really tough time when his cousin died. Bambaataa would not say his name he just called him Soulski. He still carries a copy of his death certificate to remind him of what happened. Bambaataa was looking for a way to close the generation gap to have a way to make people understand.
From both of these individuals I find it amazing what they did to get to where they ended up. As we started talking in class about how hip hop is so much more than just music I have come to appriciate that more and more as class has continued. I guess where I had a hard time thinking otherwise was when I didn't think of it as a way of life. After watching "Letter to the President" and reading about these to gentlemens lives it becomes more clear. Now when I think of hip hop I don't only think of it as music but in some instances it could be a message or even a cry for help. Hip hop music is very deep it has many layers and the lyrics tell it all. As I learn more about different people in hip hop it all seems to go back to one common theme; life. It tells a story of what most americans don't ever see or never take the time to learn about. One thing that I do hope is that everyone has a chance sometime in their college career to take an educational class about hip hop so we can stop the ignorant racist comments that so many say.