NATHAN LEE ON CIPHER

I once spoke with an older man who told me that hip hop music is fine to listen to if you're a 15 year old kid with baggy pants and a low IQ. He said the hip hop generation was the biggest disappointment in the history of youth expression. He had no idea that I was very close to the music and the culture of hip hop. I was torn between supporting his rant and disagreeing with him. On one hand, the majority of mainstream rap music has little to offer and the creativity of the lyrics is sorely lacking. Then I began to think about the music and all the possibilities unrealized.

I consider myself a part of the hip hop generation and music was my first form of artistic expression. I have become disheartened at how the music has regressed. What saddens me is the unrealized potential that the music still holds. This is why CIPHER was conceived. In order to change the majority's perception of the music, they have to witness it in a different context. CIPHER will be a cyclone of conscious lyrics, installation art and other mediums brought together for one reason; to show what hip hop can be in terms of content and human connectivity .

Most hip hoppers know a CIPHER is a circle of rappers freestyling and battling with one another. In this case a "cipher" is the full realm of human emotions expressed through lyrics. As curator and presenter of CIPHER, it is important to show as much diversity as possible so that others who are not familiar with the music can truly understand it. It has to be presented in a way that everyone can understand. All of the artists involved in CIPHER sound different, look different and express different, but they all have something relevant to say. That is what makes this event so unique. There isn't a record deal at stake. What is at stake is the validity of the most influential music to ever come into existence. It is not my desire to see it remembered as the longest lasting fad in history. It is not my desire to see it become synonymous with hubcaps and bling. By bringing it to the art community as the art form it is, the hope is that CIPHER will give a new perspective and dare to ask, "What if?"

Steve Liggett was open enough to host CIPHER in his gallery Living Arts Tulsa on January 2009. Forums like the one he is providing allow for such experiments in artistic expression. Individuals like Steve Liggett help keep innovative risk taking alive and well in the arts. I appreciate his willingness to involve himself in what many others are too afraid to.

Hip hop music has to become more than the CNN of the street, it has to become the CNN of humanity.