The Hatrix, Part Three

(The Hatrix Revolutions: Don't Peep the Scene, Be the Scene)

A friend of mine was saying that the question of which artists are most successful is no longer based on who's the most talented
But on who's the most charismatic, well-managed, and well-packaged
And I felt where he was coming from
But at the same time, I had to ask
What's wrong with being: literary with your pen, a visionary with your wishes,
AND a business man with your chips?
See, to me, that represents the Triple Crown
That's how I'M trying to get down!
And I feel like the only reason more poets haven't reached the level of success that they would like, kid Is because whenever the possibility of success shows its face,
THEY FIGHT IT.
For instance, the same kids who were complaining when nobody was interested in spoken word at first, yo
Were the main kids complaining that Def Poetry Jam would make the shit "commercial"
But instead of all that hating
You know what I did? I sent my tape in!
Because I believe you have to
BE the change you want to see in the world
So if you're worried about weak, watered-down poetry messing it up
If you consider yourself a real poet, then this is the time to put up or shut up!
So STEP UP!
Because if you feel that the scene is in a state where Nikki and Sonia and Langston and Tupac
Would not be pleased to see it
Then you look real silly curled up in your cozy little critic's corner Complaining about how "weak" the scene is
Don't just PEEP the scene, kid
BE the scene, kid!
Because the scene is not just what you
SEE in it But the scene is what you
BE in it And if you leave it, it will be left just as you leave it.
It depresses me to hear people talk about what they WOULD do if they had more money
Like I wasn't broke as shit when I self-published my two books I just did what our people have been doing since the beginning of time, kid I hustled and grinded
Why you think the name of my company is Broke Baller Enterprises? Then you've got these talented underground emcees
Feeling like they need to take vows of poverty
Refusing to get bar codes for their independently-released CDs
Because they don't want to be Sound-Scanned by "The Man"
But I'm saying, if this "Man" is as all-powerful as YOU make him seem Then no matter WHAT you do, he'll STILL find a way to take your green And who the hell is "The Man", anyway?
It's 2002, fool!
The main thing stopping you from making moves is YOU!!
So to all y'all poets who are always complaining
About how "there ain't nothing good on BET"
Now that "106 & Park" is featuring a poet every week
What better avenue is there to state your beef?
See,
THAT'S the stuff of LORE
Following your heart and saying what you feel
Those are the main reasons I write poetry, for real
And I'm not saying your reasons for writing have to be the same as mine And if our ideas of what good poetry is and where it should go ain't the same, then fine
But all I'm saying is, if you ain't trying to CHANGE the game
Then at least don't HATE the game
Because that's that HATRIX!
That fakeness!
That brain-dead lameness!
And like Agent Smith said,
How can you make the call
If you can't even move your lips...??