KRS ONE on Language, Symbolism, God and Immortality

This was one of the best short presentations I've watched in a long time. The man in it is KRS One, a hip hop artist who is very outspoken & passionate about his beliefs. The channel I found it on is called "House of Spiritual Awakening", although I haven't watched their other videos. Anyway, We proceed:

I watched this and it really made me think. He talks about language, symbolism, knowledge, and how "if a word isn't in our vocabulary, and we don't know what to call something, we overlook it"

Knowledge, words allow us to perceive and communicate (with others AND ourselves) the reality we see around us. I'm trying to summarize, but if you watch the video you will see how impactful these messages are.

He's also talking about conscience - that voice we hear when we talk to ourselves. Where does that voice come from? How does it talk without our actual mouth moving? And how to we hear it, if we aren't actually hearing it with our physical ears? He uses this example to show that we are not this "shell" person, we are THAT VOICE (your conscience), speaking Through the shell. And when we die, that shell has no more life in it, but that voice goes on. I do believe this as well. He does a great way of explaining it.

It was enlightening and I hope someone else can enjoy it. It's inspired me to want to see him in person (I actually bought tickets to a KRS One show when I was a teen but got kicked out of the venue because of a squabble with a staff member, lol).

Have a great day/eve ATS friends.

a reply to: FamCore

While I've been a fan of KRS-One since the very early 90s (not many were around me, living in California at the time), I don't necessarily agree with all of his beliefs. He is a very good philosopher in the sense that he is smart enough to ask interesting questions and seek answers to them, and this translates very well into a church setting and his lyrics and music.

But like he says in "My Philosophy:"

"...see how it sounds?
a little unrational
a lot of mc's like to use the word DRAMATICAL!"

I see this as some interesting philosophical discussion, but I see it as being a little "unrational" and "dramatical," myself. But that's just my opinion. Interesting for down-time thinking, though, for sure.

Fresh for '16, you suckas!

ETA: The dig at the end towards scientists shows that his philosophy brings with it unnecessary bias--not all scientists are atheists, just like not all religious people live their lives the way their god prescribes.

a reply to: SlapMonkey

Great analysis - in Pt. 2 (the video before this one) he talks about white supremacy and other things that I didn't quite get - I do think that if you spend too much time studying one thing/subject, you begin to lose sight of other valuable topics and his mention of "scientists" at the end could be an indication of that.

But I also see a lot of value in what he spoke about and some of the big-picture topics.

KRS One must be from NY or East Coast I'm assuming?

Out in Cali in the 90s I recall some of the popular artists out there were Mac Dre, Heiroglyphics, Pharcyde, Ice Cube?

Thanks for your feedback SlapMonkey

KRS is the greatest live MC of all time. I dunno though, sometimes he has the ability to drop amazingly profound insights and other times he just says things that are utterly stupid.

I liked what he had to say in this video though.

originally posted by: FamCore
a reply to: SlapMonkey

Great analysis - in Pt. 2 (the video before this one) he talks about white supremacy and other things that I didn't quite get - I do think that if you spend too much time studying one thing/subject, you begin to lose sight of other valuable topics and his mention of "scientists" at the end could be an indication of that.

But I also see a lot of value in what he spoke about and some of the big-picture topics.

KRS One must be from NY or East Coast I'm assuming?

Out in Cali in the 90s I recall some of the popular artists out there were Mac Dre, Heiroglyphics, Pharcyde, Ice Cube?

Thanks for your feedback SlapMonkey

He is from NYC. Bronx. Killed MC Shan's career with the classic Bridge is Over.

I love his music. "My Philosophy" is a certified Top 10 classic on any hip hop fan's list imho. However, he can be a bit over the top with his pro-black, back to Africa BS imho. I lapped it up as a wandering black teen trying to find myself, but with age comes a little more logical thought. As Slap Monkey said, he can be a "dramatical." With that said, he was and is a voice of positivity in a largely negative music genre now.

He'd lyrically crush any of these new wack ass skinny jean rappers of today.

"How many MCs must get dissed, before somebody says don't F-wit Chris (KRS)"

a reply to: FamCore
Great thread topic Fam Core !
Stars and Flags !!

originally posted by: FamCore
KRS One must be from NY or East Coast I'm assuming?

Yes...straight outta the Bronx.

Wu-Tang Clan introduced me to good East-Coast hip hop...I found KRS-one through that.

originally posted by: Edumakated
With that said, he was and is a voice of positivity in a largely negative music genre now.

He'd lyrically crush any of these new wack ass skinny jean rappers of today.

True, although even if there are some who could hang, his substance would beat them all.

originally posted by: MagnaCarta2015
KRS is the greatest live MC of all time. I dunno though, sometimes he has the ability to drop amazingly profound insights and other times he just says things that are utterly stupid.

I liked what he had to say in this video though.

In the video previous to this called "KRS One Speaks Pt. 2" (even though I can't find a Part 1?), he mentions some things about white supremacy/racism, which had me confused but in the video I posted I really appreciated his explanation of "speaking things into existence", and how that idea or thing has something of it's own identity/spirit separate from it's physical presence. "As above, so below" is another concept that I connected to all this.

From the microcosm to the macrocosm, but even further than that, multiple-planes of existence, both existing simultaneously, yet in our visible reality, that thing is more limited because of our ability to understand/perceive it

ETA: Sorry if that sounded confusing..

originally posted by: SlapMonkey

originally posted by: Edumakated
With that said, he was and is a voice of positivity in a largely negative music genre now.

He'd lyrically crush any of these new wack ass skinny jean rappers of today.

True, although even if there are some who could hang, his substance would beat them all.

"I'm not saying I'm number 1... oops, I lied... I am number 1, 2, 3, 4, and five" KRS-1, Step into My World.

haha he's the man.. when a man can back up his reputation with ultimate lyrics, that deserves respect big time.

Big L was great too, gone too soon. Most of the guys from WU are still putting out work but nothing will ever compare to the golden era and 90's, so much of it has lost that touch these days, being only about the women, alcohol, cars, violence, etc. Some of that has always been there (since the art is a reflection of the real experiences), but it's glorified too much and the modern day artists seem to have MUCH less to offer. Not much at all really. At least there are some of the originals still doing it for the right reason

a reply to: Edumakated

One of my faves from him...actually, it's the song that got me interested in his music.

a reply to: FamCore

yeah, I see the 90s (early and mid, not late) as having the lyrical purity of 80s hip hop, but taking the accompanying music to a level that matched the lyrics. That was missing in the 80s, for the most part.

By the time I graduate high school in '97, hip hop was on the decline...I blame much of that on Mase and Sean "Puffy" Combs.

originally posted by: SlapMonkey
a reply to: FamCore

yeah, I see the 90s (early and mid, not late) as having the lyrical purity of 80s hip hop, but taking the accompanying music to a level that matched the lyrics. That was missing in the 80s, for the most part.

By the time I graduate high school in '97, hip hop was on the decline...I blame much of that on Mase and Sean "Puffy" Combs.

KRS1 is a dying breed. The sad thing is that in that era he wasn't alone. Plenty of artist embraced philosophical thought, positivity, education, etc. We had KRS, Rakim, X-Clan, PE, etc. The thing was many of these acts got mainstream acceptance. Being positive was the norm, not the exception.

Now it is the reverse. You have to find underground acts that get little to no real exposure if you want to hear something other than the typical trap stories that pervade hip hop nowadays.

I would agree with you that the Puffy era pretty much ruined hip hop. It basically turned it from a true art form to just a hustle to get out of the hood. It really got overly commercialized, over produced, and one hit wonders are becoming the norm. Out of control materialism. Everyone is on youtube or instagram trying to be the next Slim Jesus and get their five minutes of fame.

No one will be having discussions about how great lyrically Chief Keef was 20 years from now or how Trinidad James developed new rhyme patterns or how Young Thug was so philosophical. We basically have disposable MCs now. Microwave production as I heard one hip hop producer say.

When I listen to my favorite MCs now from the 80s / early 90s I truly realize how talented a lot of these guys were then. They had an ability to create memorable lines that often had me hitting rewind going WTF? Or an ability to distill a simple lyric that would bring shivers or tear in how they told a story. The beats were simplistic and sampling creative. you nodded your head, but the production never over powered the lyrical content. Even the DJs had to truly now how to cut and scratch and would often do solos at concerts to show their skills on the turn tables. Nowadays they just hit "play".

As someone who grew up on hip hop I've tried to keep current and not turning into that "uncle" complaining about new music, but I just can't listen to the crap we call hip hop nowadays. IDGAF. Most of it is garbage.

Hip Hop is on its way to being like jazz imho.

OMG I didn't read everything yet but OMG YES LANGUAGE FORMS PERCEPTION AND ACTUALLY DICTATES HOW WE VIEW THE WORLD AROUND US. At least, I'm becoming a firm believer in this... someone else posted a bunch of great links that I was reading connected to this idea, I'll get back to you with it.

a reply to: geezlouise

that would be cool - please do!

a reply to: FamCore

K, here's a list of some things written on the matter provided by Murgatroid who I love a lot from a distance. They are relatively short articles except for one, an ol' book on propaganda and what it is (free PDF).

www.abovetopsecret.com...

Anyway it feels important to me and I love your Avatar.

Cool thread!

Here is a great investigation into language and symbols and how they assume all sorts of things.

a reply to: geezlouise

Murgatroid is a fantastic contributor - thanks for directing me to that thread. The propaganda piece is very interesting - "Fear makes you more susceptible to propaganda", that seems to ring so true.

Thanks again!

PS I have Avatar ADD and change it pretty often lol I'll share it on your wall for future reference in case my avatar changes

a reply to: Itisnowagain

Allan Watts - nice! I will check this out, thanks for sharing