Underground Sisterz

Snakeeyez: WOW! You really felt like making the judgement that we are all middle-upper class?! What led you to assume? Is it my $2500 VW Jetta bought off craigslist that would break down and fall apart every other week? I grew up on a farm in WI, with 5 TV channels, both parents worked 2 jobs to make ends meet, My Mom currently in government programs just to eat and have a roof over her head, I worked really hard since i was 13 to save money to move to CA to be exposed to many different peoples and cultures, to SF where I discovered, live, and breathe Hip Hop for the last 10 years... spending my nights practicing and cyphering in the clubs, battling at youth centers and gyms by day..doing street shows to make $10/day for the fun/love of it all... My dancing comes from my heart, I am very passionate about it, and for me to have to have the opportunity to share my passion with youth brings me fulfillment.. I didnt have these opportunities growing up... Growing up in a very LOW-CLASS family... and still living pay check to pay check TODAY, continuing to inspire our youth thru positive Hip Hop... in grass roots non-profit organizations. Non of the women in S.O.T.U come from wealthy families, not that it matters Snakeeyez... We are all hard working bad ass women consisting of Neuroscientists, Firefighters, Massage therapists, Entertainment Managers, active Peace Corps members, etc etc.... Breaking, MCing, DJing, or art have brought us strong talented women together and we believe in supporting eachother.. strength in numbers.... to inspire the next generation of women.. keeping women motivated to participate in such a male dominated arena. My wording in this CurrentTV segment may not have always been the best, but HEY, not everybody is comfortable being filmed and coming up with sharp precise answers on the spot. There were no re-takes, everything filmed was RAW. I AM A BGIRL. I AM A DJ. I AM A STUDENT. I AM A TEACHER. I AM HIP HOP. I HAVE A VOICE. A LOW-INCOME WHITE FEMALE VOICE THAT WAS HEARD. THANK YOU TO ALL YOU SISTERZ OF THE UNDERGROUND SUPPORTERS OUT THERE, WE APPRECIATE YOU:)

-CRYKIT AKA BGIRL MISS CRIX AKA MICHELLE KOLNIK OF SISTERZ OF THE UNDERGROUND AND EXTRA CREDIT KRU

While their definition of the core values of hip-hop is hokey at best I really don't think that you really understand the key values of hip-hop either. Hip-hop encompasses a very broad category of music. I think that talking about talking hip-hop is like talking about rock and roll. If I were to go to Itunes would I be able to really discern the core values of rock music or any other genre by examining the most downloaded songs or would it say more about the consumers or rock music. That is an interesting quandary.

Secondly and I think this is more relevant some people define the original components of hip-hop as being composed of three parts MCing (being able to write and "spit" lyrics), turntabling (being able to beat mix, scratch, etc) and B-Boy'ing (breakdancing). This is far removed from the hip-hop industry which is more concerned about making fast bucks off of "artists." Which is pretty much like most of the mainstream music industry. I believe the former is what these women refer to.