Is Hip Hop Going Back To Its Roots?

Not at all, but there has been a recent surge in socially conscious and political hip hop lately. It's not that odd that NAS's new album is full of some good joints like Hero, Sly Fox, and Black President, especially when you have production and writing help from the likes of Dead Prez. But yesterday as I was flipping through the channels, I caught a new Big Boi music video ft. Mary J. Blige, Somethings Gotta Give.

Not that I don't expect Big Boi to put out good and thoughtful music, but I was surprised to see BET giving it some air time and trying to push it on 106&Park (granted the people were cheering more when they heard who he was doing his club joints with). It really shows a difference (no matter how long it might last) in the music industry lately, musicians in the mainstream are starting to actually care and try to take action about the state of America

We saw something similar 4 years ago when diddy started the Rock The Vote campaign, but that was pretty useless. More people were interested in picking up a shirt than actually voting. I think the difference now,besides the fact that our situation is even WORSE than 4 years ago, is that there is a presidential candidate that our generations can believe in. In 2004, many people were voting for Kerry because he was the lesser of the two evils, not because he was n amazing candidate. Now, with a new "hope" for "change" (with Obama), many people see the opportunity for a better future. Even thought I know Marco Polo will beat out Big Boi's new joint on the charts, I just hope that the good music keeps coming!

Step on the stars while you're reaching for the sun,
But never burn the bridge,
Each one teach one,
If you lend a helping hand,
You may never need one