How Hip Hop Radically Heals

Hi, I'm Dr. Jameca Cooper, and thank you for joining and watching this video. Hopefully you like the content, the video, you like the video and subscribe to the channel to come back for more. By now you already know me. I am a psychologist. I've been a psychologist for 20 years, and in that 20 years I've practiced, consulted, taught, traveled all over the world. I've done a little bit of everything. In the midst of raising two boys. Um, today we are talking about radical healing. We're still in the midst of 30 Days of Radical Healings. I'm here to give you tips on how to be better in this new year. Today we're talking about can hip-hop music be healing? Yes, it can. Yes, it can. I grew up pretty much on hip-hop. Now, not some of this new kind of hip-hop um, that you can't really understand the words, but more on the old school hip-hop is what I grew up on in the '90s. That's what we listen to. That is a part of who I am. It's a part of my experience, my background. So for that reason, I know that hip-hop music can definitely be healing. So I want to talk about a few ways that that can happen. So first, I want to talk about the the song in and of itself, like the melody, the tune, the songs— those things can be healing. But I also want to preface that by saying healing can mean, oh, right now I need to sit and relax, I need to chill, I need to get my mind together. Maybe you're anxious, you might need to sit and calm down. Maybe you're nervous or you're stressed about something. That would require that you need some music to take you down some, put you in a better space, more peaceful space. Music and the tune, the song of the music, can definitely be healing. All hip-hop is not rap or words. Some of it is just music, right? I want to point you directly to a song, um, by Tribe Called Quest, Electric Relaxation. Now it's a song where it is more of an old school song, but the beat, the melody, very catchy. It's something you could sit and listen to in your car or on your way to work, while you're home, while you're cooking, while you're hanging out with friends. It's versatile. You can listen to it anywhere. That's the type of mellow song that a person might listen to if they were just relaxing, kicking back, chilling, right? That's a part of healing. But I also want to draw your attention to another goal that could be healing. Healing doesn't always mean calm down, get peace, relax. Healing can mean achieve this goal. Let's say you're an athlete. Healing for you might be getting the motivation and the drive to work harder so that you can achieve your athletic goal. Healing— it's a new year, right? We know about New Year's resolutions. Everybody is probably going to have one. A lot of times my clients say that their New Year's resolutions is weight loss or getting leaner or eating better. So healing can also come in the form of I need to get my ass in the gym and lose weight, or I need to get my ass on the ground and do sit-ups, whatever the case is. So healing for you can mean being more motivated, someone holding you accountable, staying on target, being consistent. That can be healing as well. So for those type of goals, I also want to point you to a song that I think could be helpful for that, because it doesn't have to be, like I said, the music, the melody, the song that can be healing, but the lyrics can also be healing as well. So every time I'm on the treadmill running— and I don't run a lot, I usually do bike riding, cycling, spinning, any of that— but when I am running, the song that I always go to first would be Eminem's Lose Yourself song. For me, that song has been healing because of the lyrics, not so much of the music, but the music is quite, I would say, uplifting or hype as well. But the lyrics, what, you only get one shot, do not lose your chance, right? That's important. So you have to get yourself in a mindset. If you're an athlete, you have to get your mind ready to play a game. If you're running, you have to get your mind ready to finish the run. So the lyrics of that song say that, it speaks to you, it keeps you going, keeps you engaged, and it keeps you on target. Makes me run longer, makes me more engaged in my run. Even if I'm spinning, if I'm listening to Eminem's Lose Yourself, I'm there. I can stick with it. So it doesn't just have to be the song melody that can be healing for you, but it can be the lyrics. Lyrics can be healing. Lyrics can motivate you. Lyrics can inspire you. Lyrics can make you say, you know what, I'm going to do that. I'm going to do this better, stronger, longer. All those things. So for those reasons, it can be healing. A lot of people outside of urban communities or hip-hop communities always think that hip-hop is not a quality music or can't be valuable, but there are lots of different songs out there that can be healing for many different ways and for many different people. I just pointed to two of those songs today. There are lots more. I can also look at Drake's song Moment for Life, just The lyrics, right? I wish that I could have this moment for life. How many times in your life have you sat back in that moment, that thing was so great, that award you got, that grade you got, the new car you got, and you're playing that song in your head like, I wish that I could have this moment for life? Because it's real. That just means that you wish that you could replicate this moment, the feeling that you have in that moment. You wish that you could replicate it over and over and over again. How many of us have not felt that? I think we've all felt it. So lyrics have a powerful, powerful impact on healing. So this year, be sure to maybe this time seek out songs that are going to be more in line with what your goals are. So if relaxing and balancing is your goal this year, seek out songs that are going to be relaxing and balancing. Whether it's hip-hop, jazz, R&B. But if your goals are going to be more hardcore, like work harder, have more intense workouts, lose weight, blah blah blah, then you might need songs that are gonna help keep you on target, more songs that are going to drive you by telling you stick at it and keep going, right? So I'm Dr. Jameca Cooper. Today I wanted to give you some tips and some ideas about how hip-hop music can be healing, because we all know that it can. Right? So stay tuned for more information. Stick with us for our 30 Days of Radical Healing. You'll find lots and lots more information. I appreciate you joining and watching this video. I really do. I can't thank you enough. I look forward to seeing more of you. Please drop your ideas in the comments about what type of videos and content you'd like to see next. I'm Dr. Jameca Cooper Cooper, and thank you.