About
About the Hip Hop Octopus Blog
Why is this page named after an eight legged cephalopod?
It's because hip hop has many components to it - some of these include the science of production and beat making, complex lyrical structure and poetic diction, and the countless stories that lie behind every song. Although the perception of the average American of hip hop tends to be MTV videos filled with bling and senseless gangster lyrics filled with curse words, this blog aims to educate the general public about the rich history of hip hop, as well as to make some sense out of the music and culture in general.
It is a bit stunning to me that people can automatically filter out all the lyrics except the cursing, then criticize a song, or that all it takes to be a rapper is "talking quickly while looping a noise over and over again."
I do not claim to be an expert on anything related to being African-American (nor am I black myself), but I simply enjoy the music and everything that it stands for.
My Targeted Readers
Everybody! I hope I do not alienate anybody with my ideas and musings.
Upon reading hip hop blogs on the Internet, I noticed some trends. Hip hop blogs tended to either a compilation of mixtape songs and rap videos, or they didn't have enough written material to stimulate me. Therefore, this blog hopes to speak to those who are appreciative of hip hop on any number of intellectual levels, or to those who are clueless and wondering what all the fuss was about for the last 20 or so years : )
About the Hip Hop Octopus
I am a twenty something college graduate living on the West Coast (insert Snoop Dogg "wesstsyde" sound bite here). I started listening to hip hop because quite simply, all my friends in middle school listened to it.
I am a firm believer in you are what you eat (hence I am a nutrition fanatic) and you are also what you listen to.
Besides rap music, I also listen to neo-soul, jazz, r&b, trip-hop, and whatever tickles my ear at the moment. Love (for music) knows no limits nor boundaries to me - I am a liberal listener.
Other interests include (brace yourself): personal finance and money management, search engine optimization and marketing, anything nerdy and dealing with technology, writing and journalism, and wine, coffee, and food.
I am a shameless indulger in guilty man pleasures - beer, cars, sports (go Clippers), red meat, pumping iron, Family Guy, etc.
I hope you, my dear readers, enjoy my well intentioned ramblings.