The hip-hop industry has taken the world by storm. From clever phrases to catchy instrumentals, it has ‘heads boppin’ all over the world.

This piece is not geared towards any rapper in general, and it is not in any way, shape or form to tear anyone down but rather to bring awareness to a foundation of hip hop as a whole to the industry that has been unconscious as a whole.

Why?

Because it’s feeding the very unconsciousness that pays for it.

At the age of 29, I have had my VERY fair share of solid partying from the age of 18 – 24, from beer pong tables, to countless drinking games, sloppy dancing nights and walks home that I never remembered.

It is rather blasphemous to say that I do not like hip-hop, because, in fact, I do listen to it to this day while I work out.

There are basic parts to music that I pay attention to: part one is the lyrics and part two is the vocals and part three is the instrumentals.

My main motivation for listening to hip hop, however, is for the catchy instrumentals and the auto tune vocals, which I can dance to in between each set of triceps.

Motivation for music comes in many different forms for one person to another.

I cannot sit here and say that listening to hip hop has had a major influence on my lifestyle, and the more I had listened to it, the more I had wanted to party, and the partying certainly influenced listening to it.

I have found, though, that after being aware of what truly is and is fulfillment that the lyrics many mainstream and even underground artists are using are born from the collective unconscious.

Most of the time, people looking for entertainment are not looking for peace; peace is boring, non-exciting to a human mind that is looking for a high.

The bottom line, though, is that fulfillment is not entertaining; it is not exciting, but it is not boring either, because in the observation of neutral awareness, right here, there is no mind to box reality in with these labels.

What you truly want, though, is not the illusory experiences of the highs that always come but always go, what you truly want deep within you is fulfillment.

So let’s start to delve deep into the aspects of the hip hop industry.

Competition

“I’m the best rapper alive.”

“I’m the greatest rapper of all time.”

From rap battles, to two or more rap artists “beefing”, too putting others down are examples that show competition is a major component in today’s hip hop game.

Competition drives a major egotistical battle in the hip hop game. You can see this to be true if you have paid even the least bit of attention to hip hop, whose  popular artists go viral online consistently.

There is an entire TV show made for rap battles called Drop the Mic and several rap battles on Wild N’ Out.

Oneness is a common foreground that spirituality preaches, which simply means that at the heart being I am everything and you are everything, even though the mind perceives that we are two different individuals.

This awareness eliminates the need to have any competition, the me versus you, so that we can come back to the source of our heart and recognize that everyone wants the same thing, even if we are unaware of it, which is peace, love and tranquility.

Inferiority complex is common ground in rappers who showcase their so called superiority to the rest of the world.

Consider this question deeply, however, if you were truly comfortable within yourself, truly at peace, what in this world would make you feel like you have to be superior to someone or something?

The truth is only those who feel that they need to be superior deep down are feeling as if they are inadequate and inferior in some way.

The feeling inferior to someone is also competition, because it is still a measurement relative to someone else, and deep down you feel inferior with the want to be superior.

Both superior and inferior are competition and bring with them the illusion that….


“Nobody is superior; nobody is inferior but nobody is equal either. People are simply unique, incomparable.” – Osho


What’s that?

There is a such thing as a healthy competition?

There can be healthy competition, yes., Sports, for example, can teach you through competition the ups and downs of life.

But I highly doubt if you go listen to rap battle on Youtube you would be able to sense anything even remotely close to that of a “healthy” competition.

As a lifelong sports fan, I can also say that as much as I love sports it can and has created separation, but that that topic is a whole other ballgame. (Pun intended.)

Fortune

I’ve probably seen hundreds of hip hop videos in which said rapper is throwing money, bands, bills, paper on whatever jargon that is used in the world today.

Money is not bad or good, but it is a showcase of the reflection of your inward reality or consciousness. Money is a reflection of your energy.

This is another case in which competition arises. “Getcha dollas up” is phrase to showcase that I have more money than you, therefore, I’m superior at life than you.

We equate money as our worthiness to society, because the “self-image” that compares itself to the rest of society has to one up it, and what better way than to use money to do so.

But, really, this comparison of how much money I have (no matter the amount) is coming from a place of lack, of insecurity.

There is no question that money can make us live more comfortable lives as it provides food, water, shelter and life’s basic necessities.

It can make life a lot more fun too, to experience in as many ways as you can.

The challenge with equating your worthiness with money is that no amount of money in the world can give sustainable peace, fulfillment and freedom.

Every single material in this world has a lifespan of intrinsic value of isolated value.

The car you buy today will not give you the same heightened experience a year from now, and the same goes for any material that you can think of.

If you don’t believe me, look at the presents you got for Christmas when you were younger and ask yourself if they have the same effect on you that they did the moment that you opened them?

Or even presents you received two years ago, or last year?

This does not mean you will lose your appreciation of the things you have in your life; but to think that any material can give you everlasting happiness is an illusion at best.

So rather than seeing money as something that makes you worthy or unworthy, see it as a tool that you can use in any way you please, and it will always be used as a reflection of your energy.

Fame

Just as with money, fame is not a bad thing, and a lot of people who say things along the lines of putting down those who have major fame are usually deeply imbedded with the me-versus-you outlook.

However, if the need to be famous is to believe that the more famous you are the worthier you are as a human being and the more people conclude this the happier I seem to feel, you live in a great illusion which cause great deal of unhappiness and unworthiness.

It does not matter if you are Mark Zuckerberg, Steve Jobs, Arnold Schwarzeneggar, Oprah Winfrey, Nicki Minaj or any other famous person who’s worshipped, you are no more or no less worthy of absolute internal freedom that they are.

Fame can be a great thing, it can showcase someone’s effort, skill or talent in many ways, and if it comes to you, awesome!

It is not something anybody should feel guilty for, no matter how “Spiritual” or “Growth” oriented you are.

In fact, if you label yourself as “Spiritual,” especially if it is about being superior, then it IS causing you pain inside. 

The key here, though, is that fame cannot give you complete internal freedom.

One of my well respect hip hop artist’s J Cole explains his journey perfectly: this is a must watch video. 


“Success, the things that you place your importance on can never satisfy you and never make you happy because they never end. There is no amount of money that will ever make you stop if money is what you care about. Got a million, get got to get ten, got ten got to get one hundred. Got five, got to get a billion.”


Then he eloquently continues….


“If it’s cars, if it’s women you will never have enough you will be chasing ‘em forever, if it’s success you can’t NEVER get enough of that. It doesn’t stop, it keeps calling you, it’s a like a drug. It’s a hamster wheel.”


“We are placing our importance as a country, forget the country because that’s wack to me too, as a WORLD, on the wrong things.”


“We let this system at the world tell us that these things are important, the new, oh you got the flat screen but you ain’t got the 60 inch, oh you got the 60 inch but you ain’t got the 60 inch 3D. It’s exhausting.”


“Have things, but don’t place your value on those things, it’s just a thing. It ain’t real, it’s not real! To me what is real is like spiritual, like a connection with someone love is real.”


Well, it’s safe to say that J Cole has somehow somewhat made it out of the Matrix.

What Can Give Me Complete Freedom?

The only thing that can give you complete freedom is to awaken to what you truly are, which is the thoughtless awareness of this instant.

You cannot understand this with the mind, but that is the point of what J Cole discusses in his video.

The things that the mind wants cannot stop, but the root of that is that the mind itself cannot stop, it has to keep going, it needs more thought because it “thinks” that more thought will satisfy it, but it never does, not until you realize who you are in the absolute sense.

The mind only stops in this moment and it is right here and right now that you can only be complete, and in this fulfillment is.

With this being said I’m going to continue listening to hip hop, I’m going to dance to it, have fun with it, and know that having fun is going to pass, but my fulfillment does not rely on it.