Where I stand in the Global Hip Hop Cipher

My position in the Global hip hop cypher has changed as I've gotten older but my love for the culture and music is still stay the same. I feel like hip hop provides a welcoming environment for those like myself that society has labeled as 'other'. This label goes beyond the constraints of race but for those who society has marginalized though a variety of methods. When I was younger I was interested in hip hop music that was centered around partying and fun but as I have gotten older i've become more interested in the conscious realm of hip hop music. I believe in hip hop's power to educate and open the minds of it listeners world wide and I think more rappers should keep this mind when writing their lyrics. In many African American communities these rappers are the only role models some children know and the messages in their music play a large effect in the way they view themselves. As a young black woman I have reaped the positive and negative benefits of hip hop and I choose to use those positive messages to empower myself and the negatives to critique some the over arching problems in the black community.