Giving Thanks for Great Hip Hop

Written by Tyler Hakes. Published: Tuesday, November 23, 2010.

Generally speaking, Thanksgiving is a time to — well — give thanks. It’s a time to reflect on the positives in your life and to move away from the negatives. Most people associate it with food, friends and family – the things that tend to be often taken for granted in the U.S.

But, what does it actually mean to “give thanks”? Is it synonymous with being thankful? Is simply feeling a sense of gratefulness well-up inside your heart a sufficient act for a day like this? Or, is it more literal, should there be an actual transference of thanks from person-to-person or person-to-object?

My answer is, of course: Both. (Things like this are never easy).

Thanksgiving (ignoring the racist and misdirected underpinnings associated with the whole day) represents a time for expressing what we normally don’t, and also a time for reflecting on what we’ve been blessed with.

That being said, I can’t help but feel that the holiday is, in some sense, affiliated closely with what we do here on our site. Each day, our staff members put in work and time to cover artists that, under most pretenses, are ignored by almost all other media outlets. (When’s the last time you saw Sab or Zion I in XXL?) We literally take time – every day – to show our appreciation for the things that most people don’t during their day-to-day.

Why do we do that? Well, I can only really speak for myself, but I think that my answer is obvious. It’s much better than doing the alternative.

The alternative to giving thinks to those who make great hip hop would be to spend my time, instead, bashing on those who make awful hip hop. While it would undoubtedly be fun for a while, I can’t imagine that it would be nearly as rewarding as building a refuge from said musicians.

I know it wouldn’t be as enjoyable because, I’ve been there. For years, before starting this website I spent my energy lashing out against what outraged me. Mocking the mainstream incantation of hip hop and casting it as the sort of vile that would eventually lead to the downfall of the human race. I was convinced I was right. (I still am). But, at some point it became clear that there was no way to make others feel the same way I felt. I could only seek out those that held the same state of mind. The only way for me to make a meaningful difference is to just block out what I don’t enjoy and spend my time exonerating those that restore my faith in the culture – hopefully, restoring other people’s faith at the same time.

So, that’s what we do. We give thanks to those artists, labels, groups, fans and people that continue to bare the torch of original hip hop culture. And, we hope that you’ll join us.

To close out my Thanksgiving-edition letter I’ll leave you with my mantra for those who side with our brand of hip hop and are turned off by – the rest:

Let’s focus our energy on being positive. Let’s continue to shine light on those that are doing it right and keeping it true, rather than berating those we see is ruining what we have.

Because, the thing is, who cares? For every artist that crosses that line between being an artist and an entertainer (more on this next month, possibly) – or, “sells out” as it used to be called (more on this not next month) – there are ten or twenty real artists, making really good music, jumping up and down trying to get your attention. It doesn’t matter what’s popular and what’s not, if all you care about is listening to good music from good artists.

So, let’s move beyond being angry, let’s move past being pissed. Let’s just be grateful for what’s come along, what’s out there right now, and what’s certainly still to come. Let’s give thanks for real hip hop.

Happy Thanksgiving to all of our readers, supporters and fans. Hopefully you have much to be thankful for this holiday season.

-Tyler Hakes

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