Clin D'oeil

Yo, whats up this is Streethearts (sp?) Also known to y'all as Slim Kid Tre The topic for today is uh The influence of jazz Now, jazz has come a long way Back in the days There was bebop And now its hip hop Jazz was revolutionary And hip hop is also revolutionary Unlike rap Rap's not really getting the message across Like our forefathers Like the Gil Scott-Herons, you know They paved the way They set the pace They set the tone Like the Last Poets All of these are great people, great minds To do things to carry the torch of our ancestors to let us know what's really, really going on around the world Hip hop has definitely carried that torch in a positive way Rap was a vehicle for stopping the violence Just as jazz was back in the days Back in the 60s, back in the 30s Quincey Jones, McCoy Tyrner, Grant Green Wes Montgomery, Elvin Jones, Miles Davis Eric Gale, Phil Sanders, Freddie Hubbbard Billy Higgins, Jimmy Smith, Wayne Shorter Ahmad Jamal, Thelonius Monk – all big influences For what it is that we do And what it is that we are As we take our stance in music Jazz was also like a secret conversation I mean, it was a universal language So no matter what culture you came from You would still hear the music And feel the story even if you didn't know the words In hip hop We have to put our all into it So you can feel the energy coming across just the same as the saxophone player Who played with the same intensity and feeling And that's what we're all here for To feel that love and vibration To uplift the people, indeed So that is indeed an influence on me