Flashback : Left to our own literary devices...

Flashback is action that interrupts to show an event that happened at an earlier time which is necessary to better understanding.

tiha says:
We all have our foundations, our parents instilled morals and ethics, or the church did it, or your neighborhood posse. When I was a teenager I was truly blessed to have my ears kissed by conscious rap. It was funky enough to irritate my parents, but grooving enough to make James Brown proud to have his beats sampled. I mean 90s rap filled my teenaged life with meaning, I wanted to stand up for my people. I wanted to go dig Brenda’s baby out of the dumpster and make her take it to the hospital.




It made me think Ice Cube was some kind of seer of the people whenever he predicted the next west coast revolt. It made me want to hurry up and be able to vote so I could help fight the power. It made me wanted to illicit change in the way the police treated brown folks. It made me believe that we could accomplish anything if we all stood together, and it made me believe in us as a people. We were united through our angst.



90s conscious rap was the soundtrack to the revolution-that still hasn’t come. I listen to 90’s rap now, and its all still relevant, same struggles, same issues, just a different decade. Really people? We don’t have to reach that far back in our history to know what’s going on. So I’m throwing up my fist, I have on my Tims, I’m back in the alley on a cold Boston night plotting for change, giving my respect to the messages these artists tried to pass on to us. I hear you guys, I swear I do!

alise chimes in:

One way the spirit of the 90's conscious rap is living on is through Spoken Word.



Many of the poets and poetry fans I run into have that spirit of revolution, change, and self awareness. We hope that through each word, poem, anecdote, or story that is told, it becomes catalyst for some young warrior or leader who just needed a push. I hope that beautiful soul saves us all.

peace.