I Am As Old As Hip Hop

I am as old as hip hop
as angry and confused
as sold out and conflicted
as beat up and abused
as hopeful and progressive
as backward and profane
as full of wit and wisdom
as messed up and insane

We are like brothers
born in the same year
raised up in the same city
shaped by the same icons and images
chased after and beaten down on the same streets
puffed up with credibility
both earned and faked
walking that walk
talking that talk
feeding that myth
born of reality

We are the same
and yet not the same

jumpy and confident
pimped out and insecure
crying for justice
desperate for love

sampling the past
to make sense of the present

unsure about the future
but proclaiming just the same

I am as old as hip hop
the same, but not the same
born of different mothers
go by different names
and though we share a history
we often disagree

and so I cannot speak for hip hop
and hip hop cannot speak for me