I've been getting back into searching for some old hip-hop classics that have eluded me and one that I have recently been listening a lot to is Main Source Breaking Atoms. Released in 1991, it is a very politically conscious album before the term conscious rapper was invented and before hip-hop was the enormous cultural phenomenon it is today. Many talk of the golden age of hip-hop with incredibly lofty language, and rightfully so. It seems that almost any album released in the late 80's to mid 90's is a classic. But as a result many discount modern hip-hop as entirely commercial. Certainly the game has changed, but not all of it is bad. With it's broader spectrum, this unique musical genre that grew like wildfire out of the Bronx as recently as the 80's has such a large impact. I could go on for days on this topic, but back to this Main Source album.
By far my favorite song is 'Just A Friendly Game Of Baseball' which places police brutality in terms of the great national past time. In the song they claim the mythical Babe Ruth is a bigot and that the government are the umpires. It's a great analogy when you think about how sports has infiltrated the justice system in the form of the 3 strikes your out policy. Thank God that Major League Baseball didn't go with 3-2 count that I played with in Catholic League High School Baseball or our justice system would be even more messed up. A 2 strikes your out policy would have been even more catastrophic.
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