this is one of those moments

when i could really use a boyfriend/best friend/acquaintance/guardian angel who is a major hip-hop head.

i am not a hip-hop head. far from it, i was raised in a household presided over by two very well-meaning african-americans hell-bent on making their children successes in the most textbook definition of the term. that meant we played string instruments, worked our asses off to get transfers and scholarships to schools in better neighborhoods, and spent the majority of our free time in church and/or church-sponsored events. my father didn't allow us to listen to normal radio stations, and once, upon hearing billy joel or someone say "damn" in a song on the lite station, i was no longer allowed to listen to that either, which was my last-ditch effort to stay in touch with the world outside of faith vision bible fellowship and our house on 175th terrace. while i am a hip-hop fan, those 14 years lost have hurt my knowledge quite a bit. there's only so much you can learn at dances at college and by hanging out with the "right" people and pretending to mouth the words they're all singing at the top of their lungs. :/

(hopefully you got a chuckle out of that last paragraph, i know i'm laughing my ass off at the pitifulness of my life. god, what a mess i am.)

anyway, now i'm working on a hip-hop curriculum, and my lack of actual hip-hop knowledge is coming back to haunt. i haven't felt this uncool since the freshman year office of black student affairs retreat! (sagehens, holler if you hear me!)

well, off to some hip-hop websites to find some street cred...