Music is the air I breathe. For more than two decades, I have been a writer of both lyric and song, lived and loved both producing and performing R&B and Hip-Hop music. My life's work is, entertainment.

The Hip-Hop revolution first started when I was a B-Girl doing the electric boogie in the early 80's listening to artist's like N W A, Cool Moe D, Queen Latifah, L L Cool J and New Edition, on the radio. Hip-Hop later evolved into the full blown rap-game, known as "gangsta rap" in the early 90's when performers like Tupac, Ice Cube and Snoop Dogg took over the charts, giving rise to the brand new dirty south, get krunk, east coast/west coast Hip-Hop world we see today and record breaking artist's like 50 Cent and Ludacris.

Hip-Hop has no particular systematic direction or rules, except, the music will always remain a complex mixture of passion and rhythm, combined with old-school vs. new-school beats, battles, samples, mixes and remixes of every genre, from Pop to Rock, Reggae to Classical, even a little bit of Country.

The Hip-Hop revolution is all about the struggles and triumphs in urban cultures, expressed through inexplicable flows of lyricism, mixed with rhythms, beats and sounds that wind and intertwine like baskets made of pure gold, weaving generations of music and people together through entertainment.

Urban communities and the Hip-Hop movement have been making strong efforts to form a more positive direction for Hip-Hop in the 21st century and beyond. The industry as a whole admits Hip-Hop often depicts negative sterotypes, beautifies violence and encourages the degredation of women.

These were a few of the issues addressed at the "From Imus to Industry: The Business of Stereotypes and Degrading Images" hearings, held on Spetember 25, 2007 in Washington D. C. which hosted panels of major entertainment company CEO's, Hip-Hop artists and community activists, including Rep. Bobby Rush, in open arguements concerning the current reationship between Hip-Hop and our society.

Every culture, since the beginning of time, has festered some form of negative impact in society, in all aspects of life, including religion. Hip-Hop is no different than the rest. But censorship cannot be allowed to dictate artistic expression, any more than it should be allowed to stifle journalism or the right to free speech, however, it's about time Hip-Hop made a difference in its quality and standards and moral values, most of which are missing in present urban society, to help maintain peace among neighbors and inner-city communities, building them up as a people, rather than tearing them down.

I believe, the same ways that Hip-Hop created an entire culture of music across the globe, from the blood, sweat, tears and even deaths of rap artists, dancers, dj's, mc's, vocalists, actors and other urban entertainers, Hip-Hop can and will soon overcome these previous negativisms by evolving into a more responsible, respectful culture in our society.

Learn more about this author, Michelle Ann Newton.
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