Oh God...not this again!
Originally posted 5.06.2006 on the music board.
Quote:
Originally Posted by 2stepfan
and the meaning of "one"?
In the Northeastern part of the US (where Hip Hop culture originated and the aesthetic that hip hp purists refer to as "real hip hop" was formed) around 15 or 16 years ago, cats started saying "One Love" (like the Bob Marley song) at the end of songs or messages or letters and it soon expanded to phone calls. The meaning became expanded around 1992 to represent "One Love, One God, One Nation, One Destiny..." it became an all encompassing phrase hat represented the unification of Black people and Latinos through music, specifically urban music (reggae, R&B/Soul, Hip Hop/Rap). That meaning soon expanded to represent the unification of ALL PEOPLE through urban music once it maded serious headway into pop culture in the US as well as worldwide.
People often made variations on it like "One Hundred" (as in percent, how much they're willing to give to accomplish their goal). It got shortened it "One" around 1993 but it's been in use since at least late 1989. I've been saying it and hearing it since then. It's used often in hip hop (Nas' "One Love", Ghostface's "One", etc.) At the end of Jay Z's verse in "Crazy In Love" he says it if you pay attention. In the movie "Belly" starring Nas and DMX they use it about 50 times alone...it's a common word to me so I'm often surprised when people ask me what it means online. It's akin to "Peace", "I'm Out", "Audi 5000", "Ghost", "Swayze (EPMD's take on saying "Ghost") or "See Ya".
One is also Godspeak (The Nation Of Gods & Earths AKA The 5% Nation) for "knowledge" as all things begin with knowledge and two represents wisdom (because knowledge comes before wisdom).
One.
