The Importance of Creativity and Keeping It Real

By: Phenomenal P.

 Humans are very diverse, coming from various cultures, ethnicities, and upbringings. Although we may be different, there are certain things that we have in common. Some of these things include; the need to communicate, connect, reflect, and our need for self-expression. I want to focus on the need for self-expression in particular. We all express ourselves in different ways, this is called creativity. In fact, I think creativity is crucial for our existence. If you are like me, you are often caught between doing what you must do and what you love to do. Often the trade-off looks like this, “I do what I have to do to get paid, but doing what I love brings me a sense of joy and fulfillment”.

That has been the story of my life for quite some time and the more I communicate with people, the more I realize that it is a commonplace many of us find ourselves in. Which got me thinking about how we all have that one thing (or a few things) we love to do for the maintenance of our mental health, and whatever your thing may be, that is you exercising creativity.

Creativity for Self

Think about what your favourite hobby is, it is usually your escape, it is therapeutic. Now I have to be clear, when people hear the term “creativity” we often associate it with the arts; writing, painting, sculpting, photography, singing, acting, etc. Although these are definitely creative avenues, creativity is not limited to these 5-6 avenues. 

Creativity is not something that you can confine to a space, creativity is something we can make happen anywhere and that is the beauty of it. 

We all have the ability to be creative in anything we do, are you a manager at work? You can be creative in how you schedule and manage your employees. Personal trainer? You can get very creative with your workouts. Teacher? You can implement creative lessons for your students. Love to cook? You can get very creative with your meals and pastries. The list is endless, even if you are stuck in a job that takes you away from your favourite hobby or where you want to be in life, you can utilize your creative nous to make that much more enjoyable for you. Remember, creativity is therapeutic, the more you are creative the better you feel, and the easier it is to attain the best version of self. 

Creativity for Others

You know that saying, hurt people hurt people? If that is the case, then individuals who are healing can inspire healing in others and since creativity is therapeutic your creativity can inspire others to be creative thus, inspire them to heal. 

How many times can you look back and look at the things you did that you wanted to do, I mean genuinely wanted to do and were happy as hell that you did it? Feels great right? It’s too bad that they feel too few and far between. This is because we do not exercise our creative muscles often enough. Creativity is not only healing of self, but it can also be very inspirational to whoever is watching or listening.

Hip-Hop and its Creative Influence

I’m using Hip-Hop in this context because it is very close to my heart. Hip-Hop has evolved into a very important avenue of self-expression for marginalized communities. The beauty of Hip-Hop is that it's born out of struggle and has gone on to inspire and influence the world on a grand scale. It provides a platform for the voiceless, a means of therapy for those who could not afford it, and some degree of relatability for marginalized communities. It is a phenomenon that has exploded from its birthplace of New York to every hood (and suburb) all over the world. 

Hip-Hop prides itself on the lyrical ability to explain how you feel, tell your story, let everyone know why you’re the MC everyone should be talking about. It comes from the need to be heard, it provides a necessary social commentary around drug use, misogyny, racism, etc.

Hip-Hop has evolved into a form of therapy for many people (myself included) that started from the human need for self and creative expression. Unfortunately, we live in a world that allows for systemic oppression and censorship. As Hip-Hop continues to grow, we are seeing it slowly moving away from its essence on a corporate level. Censorship is becoming more and more prevalent and censorship and creativity cannot co-exist, particularly in the outspoken art form that is Hip-Hop. 

It’s like someone asks you to express yourself, but there are certain things you are not allowed to do or say…

I often see Hip-Hop censored on various platforms. The tracks you hear on the radio are heavily selective. The misquoting of lyrics is very prevalent (noticed that on apple music and Instagram, a place where many millions of people have access to Hip-Hop music). I see the misquoting of lyrics a lot with “conscious rap” (using that term very loosely). For example, Common recently released an EP detailing called “The Beautiful Revolution” in that EP there is a song called “Fallin’” which provides a social commentary from the perspective of black person in the United States in 2020. In the second verse Common says: 

If you were to go on Instagram (a highly popular platform that gives people access to music) the lyrics are very misquoted and misconstrued, it does not even mention the Tuskegee experiment!

It is usually the lesser-known songs that convey a deeper meaning that get misconstrued, meanwhile many the radio hits are on point when it comes to their lyrics being documented correctly. It makes me wonder if that is done on purpose to further marginalize these people of colour for speaking on their reality, which is another form of oppression. It is very evident Common was speaking on historical and present anti-ethical and anti-black occurrences within the United States, but the message was unclear based on the lyrics found on Instagram Music.

Creativity, Stop Cappin!

You cannot put a cap on creativity, but I feel like it is something we do. Creative expression is necessary for the betterment and enhancement of your life. Whatever it is that you love to do, I implore you to explore your creativity, it is in all of us. We can be creative in anything. Remember creativity is not the activity in itself, creativity is a reflection of self, leave a little bit of you in whatever it is you do. 

 Peace and love.

- It’s P