Valentine Hiphop (Hiphop Loves You)

Learnin' the ropes of ghetto survival.
Peepin' out the situation, I had to slide through.
Had to watch my back, my front, plus my sides too.
When it came to gettin' mine, I ain't tryin' to argue.
Sometimes I wouldn't of made it, if it wasn't for you.
Hip-Hop, you the love of my life and that's true.

The Roots - "Things Fall Apart"

 Why a Hiphop Valentine? Hiphop love is not for the weak and insecure. It celebrates desire, bliss and the high of new beginnings, the lows of rejection, betrayal and loss as well as the promise and joy of true commitment. Any artist who lets their flow turn to love must wrestle with maintaining their persona as an artist - who is usually hard, real, and explicit about what they see, feel and think.

Every year we will pay tribute to artists who step up and interpret for us how hard it is to love in this day and age - and how important it is to try to love anyone anyway.

Hiphop Loves You!

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Download Hiphop Loves You Art

Check out this "Hiphop Loves You" Valentine's Day card created specially for The Hiphop Archive by Ariel Shepard. Feel free to download and distribute it to the ones you love.

• Download .jpg (279 k)  Download .pdf (4.69 M)

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Check Out The Hiphop Archive's "Hiphop Loves You" Valentine's Day Compilation Album

As much as Hiphop is known for its gangsta isms and misogyny, it is also known for its odes to love. This year's Hiphop Archive Valentine's Day compilation seeks to show the range, depth, and commitment of Hiphop artists as they use their craft to express their relationships to love and to the opposite sex. We've dug deep into the crates to find you gems from Whodini, Spoonie Gee, and UMC's. We've also included well-known classics such as Tribe's "Bonita Applebum" and Cool James' "I Need Love". If you don't know, ask the Archive.

-DJ Bobby Drake

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 "Hiphop Loves You" Tracklist:

Outkast - Happy Valentine's Day - Speakerboxxx/The Love Below (2003)
LL Cool J - I Need Love - Bigger and Deffer (1987)
Big Daddy Kane - The Day You're Mine - Long Live the Kane (1988)
Spoonie G - Love Rap - Godfather of Hip-Hop: Classic Old-School Hip-Hop (1979-1988)
Pete Rock & CL Smooth - Lots of Lovin' - Mecca and the Soul Brother (1992)
2Pac - My Burnin Heart - The Lost Tapes (2000)
Eric B & Rakim - Mahogany - Let the Rhythm Hit 'Em (1990)
A Tribe Called Quest - Bonita Applebum - People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm (1990)
UMC's - Feelings - Fruits of Nature (1991)
Pep Love - T.A.M.I. - Ascension (2001)
Whodini - One Love - Back in Black (1986)
Common - The Light - Like Water For Chocolate (2000)
Brand Nubian - Sincerely - Foundation (1998)
Jean Grae - Whatever - This Week (2004)
The Foreign Exchange - Sincere - Connected (2004)
The Roots ft. Erykah Badu - You Got Me - Things Fall Apart (1999)
Nicki Minaj ft. Drake - Moment 4 Life - Pink Friday (2010)

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 Other Hiphop "Love" Links From Around The Web

COMICS TREAT US LIKE COLTRANE, INSANE - A Hiphop Loves You meditation written by The Archive's very own Frank Samson
From Hip Hop Linguistics: Hip-Hop Love Songs and the Construction of Socially-Acceptable Urban Identities

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* This year we did not include duets or recordings where the rhythm & blues singer was important (We'll do that next year).