Dear Friends,

It was in January 2002 when I discovered that Hip Hop was poisoning my soul. I’d become suspicious of the daily meals of manufactured machismo and choreographed authenticity. I had long suspected that a woman could be valued for more than the size of her posterior or her willingness to prostitute herself before a lyrical pimp. But it wasn't until I ran into a kid on the street in my hometown of Accra, Ghana who greeted me with "what's up my nigga?" that I truly began questioning what our music was doing to and for us.

I've heard a million excuses and a thousand other reasons why artists are not responsible for what they say, why the "Industry" is just giving people what they want, and why the violence, misogyny and general nihilism of our popular culture have no effect on real life because it's "just music."

With a straight face they'll tell you that Music, arguably the most powerful art form known to human-kind has no effect on how people see themselves and the world they live in? I hear this over and over again and I just can't help but ask "who's playing who?" Or better yet...

"Who's playing you?"

While the mainstream media doles out a daily diet of negative imagery, violent crime rates rise in inner-cities across the nation, youth across the globe are swept up in waves of political conflict, and the artists who once gave hope to a generation have given up on making music that means anything.

I'm not prepared to let the media define me, my identity or the life I choose to lead. Are you?

What is "Take Back the Mic?" It's what we are about to do with a vengeance. Real people, real voices, real power to turn the tide of our culture into something that builds us up more than it breaks us down. The train is leaving the station...you are invited to get on board.

Peace,

D. N. A.