From AllHipHop:

Hip-Hop music and culture was born out of the most destitute of conditions in the South Bronx of the 1970’s. It was a time that most of us cannot imagine, and that area resembled a bomb-stricken war zone. But it is out of that condition that Hip-Hop was born, brick by brick. Not overnight, not without struggle, and definitely not without innovation. Legends like Kool Herc and Afrika Bambaataa had no roadmap to where they were going, but they paved the way anyway.

Yesterday, the President addressed the nation during his second State of the Union address and he spoke on a myriad of topics ranging from jobs to the economy and even gays in the military. Hip-Hop got a shout out, too, if you caught it. Obama simply said, “We do big things.”

The Hip-Hop community’s response to Obama’s speech has been as wide-ranging as the personalities in America, from dismissive to inspired. For example, a friend of mine in Delaware said he watched a mystery movie instead of the President’s speech, because he didn’t want to hear more talk. Furthermore, he’s fighting to keep his job, and others around him have already been laid off from theirs. On the other side, others who are presently out of work, or who are out there grinding to get it, were left inspired by Obama’s words. I am one of the latter.

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