Personally, I think we've hit a time when the barriers of the point of origin start falling ... it's just not a new art anymore; the perception of it being a "black" thing or an "urban" thing or a "ghetto" thing come away naturally with age, and it becomes simply an "expression" thing. We're starting to see MCs with more bite than most out of Compton or Philly (no disrespect intended towards the city of the west or my own home town, of course) coming out of the practically-pure-white suburbs of Minnesota ... not to mention more hispanics, more asians, more native americans (I caught this great hip hop/roots reggae fusion band not too long ago that was entirely cherokee, I believe, but, that's far more off topic yet than the whole rest of this little rant of mine).

My whole original intent, really, was just to say: thank god you're doing what you're doing, regardless of what those with either more shallow or more possessive boundaries may say to you ... because really, you're doing what you love, and there's little in this world as perfect as an artist making public their passion.

Peace~
Michelle




It's like this: by being black ink, on my right hand, raised to touch and smile.