We also want to try and slow down all this foolishness that's going on between the East and West. We gotta understand that Hip Hop is now universal. Hip Hop is not East coast or West coast.
Interpretation
Hip Hop transcends regional boundaries and should promote understanding rather than conflict.
This quote by Afrika Bambaataa highlights the universal nature of Hip Hop music and culture, emphasizing that it should not be confined to any geographical or cultural borders. By acknowledging the foolishness of divisive attitudes between the East and West, he advocates for unity and understanding within the Hip Hop community, encouraging individuals to appreciate its global impact.
In practice
In a speech promoting cultural appreciation at a music festival.
Everybody needs to show respect to each others' ways and the cultural life that you get on this planet. Don't get caught up on 'I'm brown, black, white, red, blue, whatever.' You gotta ask, what were you called before 1492? All these names we're using now are just an illusion made to keep us fighting each other.
I'd like to see people pay attention to the science of hip hop. The knowledge part, the political side of what hip hop could do, or where hip hop is gonna go. I always say it's gonna become universal as we become a galactic union.
How you act, walk, look and talk is all part of Hip Hop culture. And the music is colorless. Hip Hop music is made from Black, brown, yellow, red and white.
I wear anything of culture, from the Earth or beyond. The whole planet is my shop.
A lot of times, when people say hip-hop, they don't know what they're talking about. They just think of the rappers. When you talk about hip-hop, you're talking about the whole culture and movement. You have to take the whole culture for what it is.
I want to keep talking about my people and my country in my own language.
Sharing food has always had a central place in civilized societies; it's no accident that so many of our cultural, religious and patriotic rituals are involved with eating.
Listen, you know this: If there's not a rebellious youth culture, there's no culture at all. It's absolutely essential. It is the future. This is what we're supposed to do as a species, is advance ideas.
The pro skaters I know are responsible members of society. Many of them are fathers, homeowners, world travelers and successful entrepreneurs. Their hairdos and tattoos are simply part of our culture, even when they raise eyebrows during PTA meetings.
We know so much about the European food story, and we're getting to know about the American food story; but we know so little about the African food story.
I very much want to inject gay culture into the mainstream. It's not an underground tool for me. It's my whole life.
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