Hiphop x Running and 10th Element (The alchemy that will forever change both cultures)

BY: Dawud Hasan

It was an early Saturday morning in 2016 when I was tasked to chauffeur my daughters at an event at Lincoln High School in San Diego. After dropping them off and them running to be with friends, I noticed someone who looked familiar to me in the distance. The person I was with said, "That's Stic from Dead Prez," but as I looked closer, I said, "That's not Stic, that's M1" - the other half of the legendary rap group.

Without hesitation, I approached him. "Peace, big bro, I'm a huge fan. I just came over to salute you and show you what we got going in the city”. I gave him a flier I had and asked for a drop. He held up the flier and said, “Come support the [HipHop5K], going down in San Diego! Look, the 10th element of Hiphop is health and wellness. You better know that because RBG fit club says that, Dead Prez says that, my partner Stic says that, and so does M1! See you there getting your health and wellness on!"

After he finished the drop, he looked at the flier again and said, "This is dope; you know my partner Stic is heavy into running?"

"I do; I heard about the 10th element, too," I replied.

Earlier that year, Keith Tucker, the Founder of Hiphop is Green created a document proclaiming health and wellness as the 10th element of Hiphop culture. The proclamation was signed by legends like Styles P, KRS ONE, and Stic.

We chatted a bit more, took pictures, and dapped up and parted.

Fast forward six years: I'm sitting in my living room, preparing to go live on Zoom with Aaron Potts of the 2 black runners' podcast—our conversation: Hip-hop, running, and the 10th element.

3...2...1... We are live.

Aaron begins his intro. "A couple of weeks ago, I had Dawud on. We talked about blending [the cultures] of HipHop and running. He is back on today and brought some heavy hitters with him!”

Those hitters I brought were none other than M1's rhyme partner Stic and Keith Tucker, the Founder of the 10th Element of HipHop!

“Dawud, how are you doing?” Aaron asked.

“I feel blessed; the movement is moving," I said

Stic started by saying, "Every time hip-hop culture expresses itself, we break out of the mold and the tightness of stuff. To be more free. So when you look at health and wellness and how we can approach that from a hip-hop lens, we open it up and bring our energy and creativity to it."

Aaron chimed in, saying, "[Look] what's happening in run media. With 2 black runners, since we started, many more black people have been stepping up and interviewing runners. The athletes are buying into it. We are seasoning. Whenever you add us to something, it gives a little bit more."

"We realize as a culture that we can't separate who we are from our health and wellness. Fundamentally, that will be what's most progressive for the community. That we make this our own," Stic adds.

"You see the world of running. White males or white women are the only images we see. But for black folks, this is our heritage from the oldest places on the planet, like Ethiopia. The runners were the people who took information from village to village and allowed information to spread. There was integrity in being a runner. You had to be trusted to finish what you set out to do. See how it shows up; look at Kenya. They dominate, these are African people, the best in the world, but you might see them 1% of the time in the representation."

"I'm not running to compete, and that's fine; we dominate that; we have plenty of that inspiration. A lot of us run for mental health, the recreation of it, and managing weight or emotional weight in our lives. There are so many ways we can get into running and be inspired by our own culture. We are on the cusp of something huge. I call it the Wellianaire age!"

When Stic said those words, I perked up. Everything he said rang true to the mission I had been on for 10-plus years!

"The integration of our representation on the business/promotion side in the running is what's next," I added. "Blending that with Hiphop is a healing we need as a people. As you said, it's not all about competition. That's cool, but integrating walking/running into our culture is an alchemy for us. The integration of walking/running in underserved communities is the answer to many of our problems. I believe that walking/running coupled with a good diet can cure most preventable and reversible diseases that black and brown people suffer from, like hypertension and diabetes."

It is time for Hiphop to embrace the 10th element, understanding that health is wealth. Aaron explained that the run industry is seeing the change coming, and athletes are embracing it. Now is the perfect time to blend both cultures as they both have something to gain.

This is where The Hiphop Run series enters the stage. What we have accomplished in San Diego with the Hiphop5k is the blueprint we are bringing to the table. Under the banner of the 10th element, we look forward to revolutionizing the sport of running by adding our unique flavor to the industry while also helping push hip-hop into its next 50 years, creating a legacy of total wellness.

"I want the 10th Element to be the biggest element of HipHop. If you are a rapper, you can't rap without health or dance without health. What's our planet going to look like in the next 50 years? What are the forests and seas going to look like? What will the food look like if we don't care for our planet? People don't understand that the 10th element is all things that promote life on Earth. And right now, life on Earth is in jeopardy. We have to think about that, which is why battling climate change with the 10th element is the mark I want to leave - that I created something that uses the power of hip-hop because it is the greatest influencer on Earth; that we moved that culture in a green and positive direction; and that people were able to use the 10th element and shape the future of planet earth creatively and positively," Keith concluded.

After that, Aaron wrapped up the interview. We all said peace, thank you, and bid each other blessings as we logged off with energized spirits.

When I got off the Zoom I felt power in our conversation. I sat back and thought about the next 50 years and what that would look like. I smiled, knowing that strong people are fighting for our planet's betterment. Maybe in the next 50, we will see humanity flourish in wellness and sustainability. The question is, what part are YOU playing to make that future happen?

About the Author:

Dawud is the Founder and owner of Diamond Minds, a community events organization dedicated to creating unique events and programs that stimulate growth, education, wellness, and forward-thinking in underserved communities worldwide. Some of the events and programs Diamond Minds has either created or collaborated on are San Diego Hiphop Health and Wellness 5k and Festival (Hiphop5k), 30 days of Movement challenge, The Peoples Exhibit Pop Up Art Gallery, The Ryan Bowers You Are Not Alone Suicide Prevention Run and Mental Health Fair, and The Return of the Ancestors Tours.

Aside from his background in sales and marketing, Dawud is also a writer and aspiring author and has written for local San Diego Newspapers, The Voice and View Point, and The Indian Voice. He is also an MC by nature, releasing several independent Hip-hop projects under the name True Light with his last album aptly titled Diamond Minds the EP.