Chap vs B. Chap

Hip-Hop has played an integral role in my life since the first time I heard "Da Butt" by E.U. Now, I am not going to fake the funk like I got bars, but hip-hop's effect on me was subconscious. I grew up as a book-smart young man living life based on the facts of the books that read. Yet, hip-hop was essential to helping shape some of the principles that I still live by to this day. Thus, at a young age, I found myself in the midst of a war for my philosophy on life.

This war is one that affects many young men, but especially young men of color. For us, the choice that we make shapes not only our existence, but the very existence of our families. Yet and still, the essence of hip-hop is free-will determinism. It is the perfect dichotomy of idealistic materialism. Take for example Jay-Z's wordplay on "Moment of Clarity",

"If skills sold truth be told

I'd probably be lyrically Talib Kweli

Truthfully I want to rhyme like Common Sense (But I did five Mil)

I ain't been rhyming like Common since

When your sense got that much in common

And you been hustling since, your inception, fuck perception

Go with what makes sense

Since I know what I'm up against

We as rappers must decide what's most important

And I can't help the poor if I'm one of them

So I got rich and gave back to me that's the win, win

The next time you see the homie and his rims spin

Just know my mind is working just like them (The rims that is)"

In this moment, Jay-Z is being very clear that his principles are shaped by the facts of his reality. A reality that is not lost on myself either. A reality that William James foretold back in 1906.

Thus, my personal philosophy is a keen to Jay-Z. I try to live my life by a set of principles that have been shaped by the facts of my reality. My free-will determinism could be described as a river moving forward, adapting to the terrain as it changes. Always forward, never backwards.