Music is an essential part of everyday life. We hear it everywhere we go; whether you're watching a movie on T.V., or standing in an elevator, or listening to a family member sing in the shower while you try to peacefully eat your breakfast at the kitchen table before you embark on the glorious day ahead of you. (I know the singing wasn't all that great, but it's still music.)

Now, we know that there are many genres of music that have a following of devoted fans, but there is one genre that is near and dear to my heart: hip hop. With the recent release of numerous hip hop albums that have held a socially conscious message behind them, I've really started to appreciate the genre and the culture of hip hop as a collective. Hip hop culture is rooted in struggle and oppression. It originally started in the low-income environments of New York City by Black and Hispanic youth as an avenue of expression while living under their circumstances. Many of these youth would deejay parties in their neighborhoods and would ask a friend to emcee for them. The purpose of the emcee was to get the crowd involved while the deejay played. Eventually, emcees began rhyming lyrics over the samples of the deejay and rapping was invented. In 1979, when Sugarhill Gang came out with "Rapper's Delight," the song became a top-ten hit and gave birth to rap as an element of hip hop culture.

Hip Hop started out as fun party music that was widely successful with groups like Run DMC and The Beastie Boys having albums that claimed top ten spots, but artist quickly began to realize that they could use hip hop as a platform for social change. The 80's saw the emergence of the group Public Enemy, who used their lyrics to call for political action and an end to racism. (What? Racism was happening in the 80's!?) This gave way to socially conscious rappers like Common, Mos Def and Telib Kweli creating a new direction for how hip hop can be infused with jazz and funk to convey a deeper message.

We also can't forget the New York hip hop scene in the 90's that gave way to artist like Nas, who would drop his album "Illmatic" during this time period. Its most notarized for Nas' poetic style of flow over mid-tempo beats and is arguably the greatest hip hop album of all time. While the 90's did give way to some of the greatest names in hip hop, there is no one who has caught the nation's attention through their art like N.W.A. did. Their music gave a vivid description of what life was like living in the ghettos of south central Los angles.Their lyrics were filled with profanity and provocative imagery that was offensive to many people, but the group saw what was offensive to others as their way of life.The group rapped about what they lived through. This style of gangsta rap gave way to one of their most popular songs (and still a favorite among today's youth) "Fuck the Police." The song spoke about the way police in south central treated residents and was a response to the beating of Rodney King. N.W.A will always be remembered for the way they shifted the culture of hip hop and changed what people expected rappers to rap about.

Now, if we fast forward to present day, we have rappers like Kendrick Lamar, Kanye West, J. Cole and Chance the rapper who are working to use their music to change the way people think. West, who has been around for a while and has seen much controversy, is arguably the most influential artist in hip hop. He shifts the culture every time he drops and album. Look at albums like "College Dropout," "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy," "Graduation," and "The Life of Pablo" (whether you like Kanye or not, if you think LOP is anything less than a masterpiece in its own world, I will argue with you). These albums have changed the way fans think of hip hop as well as the world.

J.Cole uses poetic lyrics to describe life lessons that all should take heed to with his album "2014 Forrest Hills Drive," which went platinum without any features. Kendrick Lamar is dismantling the system through his lyrics while inspiring an entire generation of youth to stand for equality with his album "To Pimp a Butterfly." Chance the Rapper is using hip hop to make music free for everyone. This weekend his third mixtape, "Coloring Book," released and it soared to the top of the charts ahead of Kanye, Jay Z and Beyonce. The project is characterized by the way it infuses gospel music with hip hop to make the listener feel good and the best part about it is its free! Chance is using hip hop to change the way people feel and think while not attempting to gain profit from it! I believe that would be called philanthropy, and the world could use a little more of that these days.

What I'm basically trying to say is hip hop is more than the music you can't listen to around your parents. It is the rock and foundation of an entire culture and leaves an impact on people in more ways than you can imagine. The lyrics are healing in some instances and thought provoking in others. In my opinion there is no other genre of music that causes you to think and analyze the world, as well as yourself, more intensively than hip hop. It has the power to shift minds for the better. So the next time you're listening to "Alright" by Kendrick Lamar, listen to the lyrics. Tell me what you hear. Then tell me how you feel.