Yoga & Gangsta Rap

6.21.21

Chance the Rapper, Kevin Hart do “Beer Yoga”

Today, June 21, 2021, is International Yoga Day. Now this blog basically has nothing to do with exercise, but plenty to do with hip-hop. While yoga may seem like some super peaceful act that many of us are not cut out for, it is actually a practice that can be good for all types of your body. Not to mention, many of your favorite hip-hop artists participate in the practice as well.

Personally, I began practicing yoga at the beginning of the pandemic. Part of me wanted to make sure I was not ganging the COVID-19 on the scale, but most of me wanted to do it to keep my mental in check. I quickly learned that if you go on YouTube, you can find a yoga session for pretty much any feeling, or part of your body. From core, to arms, to legs, to a rise-and-shine, broken heart, or stressful cool down. You can do a ten minute session, or hangout for an hour. It is all up to you, how you are feeling, and what you make out of it.

As I began practicing, I started noticing a lot of my favorite hip-hop artists that do the same. In a recent interview I watched, KXNG Crooked from Slaughterhouse mentioned he mediates everyday, and even got some of the other group members into doing so. In years past, Eminem even mentioned doing yoga, after letting go of a lot of the bad habits he once had.

J. Cole and Kobe Bryant have many times spoke about how important meditating is to themselves and their mental. Run DMC and Snoop Dogg have discussed times they would meditate. During the pandemic, NLE Choppa discussed the potential of him leaving hip-hop, as he went on to his spiritual journey, yoga, being a big part of this. It has also been very clear that DJ Khaled takes his meditating, his yoga and spiritual practices quite seriously.

On one occasion, Kevin Hart and Chance the Rapper did “Beer and Yoga." A practice where they literally drank beer during a yoga session. However, I am pretty certain that with Kevin’s workout routine and Chance’s relationship with peace and God, that they definitely both do sober yoga as well.

While it is mostly a way to ease your mind, and do good for your body, there are certainly ways to spice it up a bit, and intensify the heat. What I am speaking of, of course, is the art of Trap Yoga. Trap Yoga is another fun art form of yoga, where you take the standard moves and postures from your yoga practice, but add a bit more dance or flair to every move. In a standard yoga session, pending on what you are working on, you may have meditation music, a quite pop song in the background, or perhaps you go just in silent to challenge your mind to find peace. As you may assume, during trap yoga, the hip-hop music and on and popping.

I have done a few lessons on YouTube, and it was one of the most intense workouts I have done at home. Every move comes with more of a challenge, the way you add flare and dance to each posture. As you can imagine with postures like Downward Dog, the Trap Yoga version had me feeling a bit out of my comfort zone, or like I was dancing in the club. However, it is truly all in good fun, and a great exercise overall. I would definitely recommend when you are looking to break a sweat but already have that high energy and are ready to have a good time while doing so.

So all in all, it yoga does not have to be for the always innocent or the always peaceful. It can be beneficial to your mind and your body, and there are always ways to make it fun.