To Srivatsav Pyda (12), hip-hop is more than just a mean of entertainment as it combines the sounding good aspect of music with learning something new.

“The way that I think about hip-hop music in general is that I really want to learn something when I listen to it,” he said. “Whether that be ‘Wow, they used really cool word play’ or ‘That rhyme was really cool’ or their up bringing was difficult and that made me reflect on the way that I live, that is something that hip-hop really provoked in me.”

In a way, he thinks of hip-hop as a form of storytelling because as artists can convey an assortment of emotions through their music.

“I don’t think it’s that distinct from poetry in a lot of ways, except the edition of music and a beat and an increased focus on word play, makes it a lot more fun to listen to,” he said.

The artists he listen to are different from the mainstream artists, who focus more on consumption based trends and the entertainment aspect of it.

“The artists I enjoy listening to put their own unique mark on their music in a lot of ways,” he said. “They focus a lot more on what they say as opposed to just sounding good; things like lyricism, multisyllabic rhyme or alliteration.”