black. A Black History Month Project by Will Hawkins

Hello friends! As Black History month is winding down, I would like to share with you a beautiful project done by one of my good friends that I have gotten to know this past year, Will Hawkins. Will and I connected instantly after we first met, due to the fact that I was wearing a Tribe Called Quest shirt. We clicked right away because of our shared love for Tribe, and many other artists. But our connection doesn't stop simply at the beats and rhythms, but it continues with our lives (Let's see if you can catch that reference). Will and I share a passion for racial justice and reconciliation in our country, and we both believe that Hip-hop has, is, and will continue to be a formidable force in bringing that about. 

Will doesn't just talk the talk of hip-hop like I do, he can walk the walk, by producing his own music. He decided to do a special project on celebrating his own identity as a black man, and how that extends to the larger community. In more ways than one, Will is able to expound upon what hip-hop really is, through his words, and his music. I hope you enjoy this as much as I have. Cheers!

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"black. (pt. 1)"

This month I really wanted to be engaged with black history month, so I decided to do a small beat series celebrating the lives of prominent African American figures. "The Black Series" is about hip hop, African American History, and hope. Each Monday of this month I will release a new instrumental highlighting those 3 things. Enjoy the first installment; "black (pt. 1)" featuring Martin Luther King's last sermon "I've Been to the Mountaintop." This message was given on April 3rd, 1968; the day before King was assassinated. I challenge you to go read about it. 
https://soundcloud.com/will-hawkins-28/black-pt-1

Hi! My name is William (Will) Hawkins, I’m from Fontana, California; and I love hip hop music. There’s a lot that I can say about what hip hop means to me. Even before I fully understood what it meant, I was always captivated by it. It’s really hard to put into words. I loved the hard drums, I loved the aggression, and I loved the sense of freedom I felt whenever I listened to it.  

I remember the exact moment when I truly fell in love with hip hop. I was in the 5th grade, and it was a school night. I believe my dad had to go to the store or something and he asked me to tag along. Common’s 5th album “Be” had been released recently and we both wanted to listen to it. So my Dad put it on. And that was the moment that I fell in love with hip hop. The first song, “Be (Intro)”, was unlike anything I had heard before within the hip hop genre. Mind you, I was 12 years old and the “hip hop genre” to me was basically Lil Wayne (nobody was touchin’ Wayne back then). But I remember listening to just the production alone in the first minute of the song; how each instrument was layered on top of the next so beautifully. It was crazy. I remember when the drums came in with the Albert Jones sample, it truly was the rawest feeling of joy I had ever felt in my 11 or so years of life. We didn’t get past the first track. I asked my dad to play “Be (Intro)” again and again and again. So we basically spent the night driving around the neighborhood listening to that song. I’ll never forget that moment. That’s when I knew that hip hop would be an integral part of my life forever.

"black. (pt. 2)"

Maya Angelou was born on April 4, 1928. She was a poet, author, civil rights activist, and so much more during her time on this earth. "Still I Rise" is one of her most well known pieces of literature. Written in 1978, this poem was informally addressed to both the white oppressor and the new slave to highlight the simple fact that even in the face of utter disparity and suffering the black community will still "rise." African Americans have always had a unique ability to unify, and that's mainly because our life experiences for so long have been dictated by the color of our skin. But we're still rising. Together. Thank you Maya. Go read some of her poems. Enjoy the second installment of the "Black Series."
https://soundcloud.com/will-hawkins-28/black-pt-2

Fast-forward to 2012, I bought a MacBook and started learning how to make beats on GarageBand. And ever since then producing has been my favorite thing to do. There’s so much freedom in creating something new. It’s exhilarating. It’s fulfilling. It’s freeing. And even though I still have a ton to learn and I’m nowhere near where I want to be, I’m going to keep sharing my music with people because my music is a part of who I am. I feel the most comfortable in my skin when I’m making music. I think most musicians can relate to this. When you create something that comes from your heart, something true to who you are; there should be no shame in sharing it. That’s art.  And that brings me to “The Black Series.”

Honestly, “The Black Series” was a project I felt that I needed to do for myself. I feel like every year Black History Month comes and goes and I never really engage with it. I never really pause and think about how dope it is to be black and how powerful black history is. This project was my decision to engage with it. Being black is hard, man.  I grew up in a predominately white neighborhood. I was always the only black kid. That was really tough. For a long time, I hated being black. I struggled with depression. I thought I was ugly. I didn’t like myself. It wasn’t until the end of high school/college that I started seriously learning about my heritage. I dove deep into black history, and I realized that being black is one the dopest things about me. There is SO much beauty in black history that needs to be celebrated, but there is also an immense amount of pain that needs to be recognized. That’s really what I wanted “The Black Series”  to be about; celebrating the beauty and recognizing the pain within black history.  

Of course, hip hop music is at the center of  “The Black Series.” And that’s intentional. When the hip hop movement started it was a major avenue through which the beauty and pain of the black community was expressed. It was a source of commonality between black people. Hip hop is a really important aspect of black history. It became an outlet to protest, an outlet to unite, and an outlet grieve. It gave black people a voice. Artists like 2pac, Public Enemy, and NWA are examples of how hip hop became the political cry of the black community. Today we have Kendrick Lamar, J Cole, and many others who are doing the same thing. This is what hip hop has always sought to do, and it’s awesome.

"black. (pt. 3)"

"By the 1890s, lynching fever gripped the South, spreading like cholera, as white communities made blacks their primary target, and torture their focus. Burning the black victim slowly for hours was the chief method of torture. Lynching became a white media spectacle, in which prominent newspapers, like the Atlanta Constitution, announced to the public the date, and time of the expected hanging and burning of black victims. Often as many as ten to twenty thousand men, women, and children attended the event."

"takes a whole lot of empathetic effort to step into those of black people and see the world through the eyes of African Americans" -James Cone
https://soundcloud.com/will-hawkins-28/black-pt-3

In my own life I have experienced the beauty and pain that comes with my blackness.  It wasn’t until I got older that I realized that literally every other black person lives in that tension.  It’s what brings us together.  It’s what makes us strong.  Martin Luther King Jr., during his last speech, said “I may not get there with you.  But I want you to know that we, as a people, will get to the promised land.”  Moses never made it to the promised land.  But he died journeying towards Canaan with his people.  So did Martin.  And so did many others throughout the course of black history.  We’re still journeying towards the “promised land” of love, justice, and equality as a black community; but because of black history, we are much closer than we’ve ever been.  Happy Black History Month. I hope you enjoy “The Black Series.”

"black. (pt. 4)"

Happy Black History Month. Black is beautiful. Black is dope. I hope you learned something about black history this month. Enjoy the last installment of "the Black Series"

https://soundcloud.com/will-hawkins-28/black-pt-4