Official 10th Element Proclamation

This document of one of the most important steps in the history of Hip Hop! It moves the culture towards health & wellness. 

History has recognized nine core elements of hip hop: break dancing, emceeing, graffiti art, deejaying, beatboxing, street fashion, language, knowledge, and entrepreneurship. Each element of hip hop disrupted the status quo. No matter how marginalized or isolated you were, hip hop demanded that you be seen. The elements’ echoed a revolutionary drumbeat beyond the streets where they were born and around the world — all the way to the hearts of anyone whose inner power needed to come alive. They reminded everyone that boldness, courage, and originality were your superpowers. Not many people fully realize, however, that these qualities derive from health, vulnerability, empathy, and self-love.

That’s why in 2016, together with hip hop legends at Harlem’s historic Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Hip Hop is Green audaciously ushered in the 10th element of hip hop: health and wellness. This element combats commercialization that has degraded hip hop culture into the glamorization of violence, drugs, greed, and misogyny.

We promote plant-based eating, food justice, fitness, sobriety, mental health, and more. Elevating positive narratives in hip hop will create immense cultural and systemic change worldwide.