http://www.hardknock.tv In part one of our in-depth interview with Young Guru, he talks with Nick Huff Barili about making the transition from being Jay Z engineer to teaching at USC. "We've always said that you can take the poetry of Hip Hop and teach it as classes," he said. "There's so much that can be learned from not just the lyrics, but the production and the social context of why these albums were made. But it's great to see that people are finally recognizing Hip Hop as something that's so important that it should be in these arenas and be taught. I think one of the greatest things for me was when I went to Cornell to check out the Hip Hop exhibit that they have. They actually have like Afrika Bambaataa's notebook next to ancient Egyptian scrolls. So, you see the respect level...You really value that notebook and see the historical value in Afrika Bambaataa's notebook the same way that we now see the historical value in some ancient Egyptian scroll. You know? That's a huge statement...The only problem that I have with it is that you have to be really careful as to who is the information giver. And what information that they're giving. And the great thing about Hip Hop is that the people who created this, the forefathers, our founding fathers are still alive." Along with talking about Hip Hop in academia, Guru addresses "Curators" in Hip Hop who don't know the roots of the culture and haven't even listened to KRS-One's Criminal Minded album or a De La Soul album. "If you don't control what it is it can easily become something else," Young Guru said. "If you don't take and accept who you are someone else is gonna take your culture and flip it and do something else to it and not give you the credit for it. So, it's up to Hip Hoppers to document Hip Hop, right? But the way that you preserve what it is is to teach the youth exactly where it came from. So, that their expression at the core of it is Hip Hop, right? So, when it spreads to different countries, different continents, it's still the core of it is Hip Hop." Guru states that it's important for people who know and care about the culture to teach it and preserve it. Guru states that Hip Hop is lucky that its forefathers are still around and that we should make sure to learn from them while they are still alive. Guru goes on to say that Hip Hop is not a color based thing. Guru elaborates "Hip Hop has always had that different face. If we really go back and you really talk about Hip Hop music and Hip Hop culture some of your greatest graffiti writers like Zephyr and these guys were white guys. People try to take out the Spanish and Puerto Rican influence in some of the greatest B-boys and some of the greatest DJs in the beginning of Hip Hop. You can't tell me that the Beastie Boys are not Hip Hop. You can't tell me MC Serch is not Hip Hop. I think that people -- when they look at when it spreads, the audience themselves may not be Hip Hop. Macklemore's audience may not be the biggest Hip Hop audience, but you can't say that Macklemore himself is not Hip Hop. People are going to have their own expression. Hip Hop is not a color based thing. It's actually the one place where Dr. King's dream has been realized. Where it doesn't really matter what color you are. It matters how dope you are. That's all it is. That's what the content of character means. How good are you at what you claim you do? That's Hip Hop. The only place you could ever see that."
Part 1 of our interview ends with Guru distinguishing the difference between a beat maker and a producer. Stay tuned next week for part 2 of our conversation with Young Guru.
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