Generation after generation, music has revolutionized cultures around the globe. Each generational trend in music greatly inspires that specific era on what to wear, how to act, and what to say. We all connect with music, and as it continues to evolve, so will society. One genre has continuously stirred up conversation and sparked debate regarding the direction it is taking its listeners. Only one genre has had the gumption to speak out against the government on a regular basis. Only one genre has found a way to make every other genre cater to its style and inescapable appeal. Since the 1980’s, hip-hop has changed the way people think, but not always in a positive manner. Hip-hop has been a trend setter and guided our culture over the last …show more content…
In the RUN DMC days, Reverend Run and the gang always rapped about different life experiences. Hip-hop was fun, refreshing, and new. There are a lot of innovative artists still keeping hip-hop fresh and exciting such as Kanye West, Common, Mos Def, and Lupe Fiasco. For example, in a song entitled “Hurt Me Soul,” Lupe Fiasco says “I used to hate hip-hop... yup, because the women degraded. But Too Short made me laugh, like a hypocrite I played it. A hypocrite I stated, though I only recited half omitting the word "b****," cursing I wouldn't say it. Me and dog couldn't relate, until a b**** I dated. Forgive my favorite word for hers and hers alike, but I learnt it from a song I heard and sort of liked.” Lupe’s concern for the current state of hip-hop is in his music; he continues to spread the message in order to influence his listeners. In the beginning, capitalism had not gotten to the heart of rap, but as it became more mainstream, women began to show up more and more in videos because that’s what sold. Commercialization of hip-hop has sold out women. The majority of songs that have been on the Billboard’s Top 100 List, demonstrate that this is the case. Songs like Lil Wayne’s “Lollipop” and Ludacris’ “What is Your Fantasy” attest to the idea that sexual content garners higher sales. Such catchy songs teach listeners to accept false impressions of women, but how to push back against the profit that feeds …show more content…
Many are outraged at such portrayals. Considering hip-hop consists of mainly African-American artists, a lot of the women featured in the videos are African-American. The average African-American woman is affected by hip-hop culture the most because there is a direct correlation. When viewers see African-American women dancing and strutting in videos, many form a general idea about them and believe that all African-American women behave in that manner. When young African-American girls see these women in videos, they become negatively influenced by what they see. This is exactly how false images are spread throughout communities and society in general. Television has even taken notice and uses hip-hop as a means of reaching out to viewers. For example, shows like Flavor of Love are a product of what the media has generated from the rap influence. The show is extremely disrespectful toward women, depicting several women fighting to be with one famous man. It’s almost as if society thinks it is okay to treat women in this manner, since it is justified in many songs and other forms of media. Hip-hop has made it okay to talk about women in such disgraceful terms. Recognizing how detrimental attitudes fostered by much of hip-hop are, particularly for young women, it is time to change this music
In The Venus Hip Hop and the Pink Ghetto, Imani Perry argues that the over-sexualized, unattainable bodies of black women in popular culture will lead to the breakdown of feminism and the positive body image of the everyday black women. As hip hop music continues to become more popular, the sexist messages presented in lyrics and music videos are becoming more common to the everyday public, including young black girls developing a self-image. Instead of these girls being exposed to healthy, positive role models who encourage individuality and that there is more to a woman than her body they are given hip hop video models whose only purpose is to look sensual on screen. The strong women that do exist in the hip hop genre are pushed to sexualize themselves or their lyrics to sell records or stay relatively unknown. Although Perry’s arguments are logical, I believe that she is creating a slippery slope of logic. A genre of music cannot destroy the self-image of black women that has existed for generations.
Hip-Hop became characterized by an aggressive tone marked by graphic descriptions of the harshness and diversity of inner-city life. Primarily a medium of popular entertainment, hip-hop also conveys the more serious voices of youth in the black community. Though the approaches of rappers became more varied in the latter half of the 1980s, message hip-hop remained a viable form for addressing the problems faced by the black community and means to solve those problems. The voices of "message" hip...
Hip hop is a form of art that African Americans have been using to get away from oppressions in their lives and allowed their voices to be heard in some type of way. As soon as big corporations seen the attention hip hop brought to the scene, they wanted to capitalize on it. These corporations picked specific types of attributes that some hip hop artists had and allowed it to flourish. The attributes that these artists carried were hypermasculinity, homophobia, violence and sexism. In the book, Hip Hop Wars by Tricia Rose discusses some of these specific attributes. One of the most damaging attribute is when hip hop is used to sexualize and demean everything about being a woman. Tricia Rose writes about this issue in chapter 5 of her book
The base of each show is centered on the dramatic love affairs between the lead male characters, who typically have issues with monogamy and commitment, and their cast of female characters reacting to the situation. These leading ladies are both privileged and marginalized on this show. The “reality” of the show is understating their reality from their point of view, and comprehending their choices in a more sympathetic light. But the formula used on this show marginalizes them by making it seem like all minority women in the hip hop world are set in one type of environement, with one type of mentality, and with one type of style or look. In Love and Hip Hop, the idea that ...
Since the early to mid 90’s, hip-hop has undergone changes that purists would consider degenerating to its culture. At the root of these changes is what has been called “commercial hip-hop". Commercial hip-hop has deteriorated what so many emcees in the 80’s tried to build- a culture of music, dance, creativity, and artistry that would give people not only something to bob their head to, but also an avenue to express themselves and deliver a positive message to their surroundings.
The healthy relationships portrayed in the media are few and far between, which leaves Black women to make choices based on the options they have and perceive. For that reason, it is not complicated to understand why Black women are the least likely to marry in the environment of the over-sexed woman and a pimp. The portrayal of Black women as lascivious by nature is an enduring stereotype. To understand more fully the media’s role in shaping the culture of African-American experience, one must first examine the stereotypes projected by TV stations like, BET, MTV, and VH1. The songs and music videos created by such hip-hop artists as 50 Cent, Dr. Dre, and Snoop Dogg have built ...
The most common theme in hip-hop music videos is the objectification of females. Women are portrayed as sexual objects throughout the videos. In some videos they are seen as a type of reward or trophy for the male. Other times they are seen holding money to gain the attention of men or are even portrayed as slaves willing to do anything to please the men in the videos. According to Catherine MacKinnon, “Objectification involves treating a person, someone with humanity, as an object of merely instrumental worth, and consequently reducing this person to the status of an object for use” (1989). Her point relates to the hip-hop music videos because the idea that they transmit is that women are only objects available at anytime for men’s use. When women are objectified men feel more “powerful” or “successful” by showing the have control over women.
Hip hop has permeated popular culture in an unprecedented fashion. Because of its crossover appeal, it is a great unifier of diverse populations. Although created by black youth on the streets, hip hop's influence has become well received by a number of different races in this country. A large number of the rap and hip hop audience is non-black. It has gone from the fringes, to the suburbs, and into the corporate boardrooms. Because it has become the fastest growing music genre in the U.S., companies and corporate giants have used its appeal to capitalize on it. Although critics of rap music and hip hop seem to be fixated on the messages of sex, violence, and harsh language, this genre offers a new paradigm of what can be (Lewis, 1998.) The potential of this art form to mend ethnic relations is substantial. Hip hop has challenged the system in ways that have unified individuals across a rich ethnic spectrum. This art form was once considered a fad has kept going strong for more than three decades. Generations consisting of Blacks, Whites, Latinos, and Asians have grown up immersed in hip-hop. Hip hop represents a realignment of America?s cultural aesthetics. Rap songs deliver a message, again and again, to keep it real. It has influenced young people of all races to search for excitement, artistic fulfillment, and a sense of identity by exploring the black underclass (Foreman, 2002). Though it is music, many people do not realize that it is much more than that. Hip hop is a form of art and culture, style, and language, and extension of commerce, and for many, a natural means of living. The purpose of this paper is to examine hip hop and its effect on American culture. Different aspects of hip hop will also be examined to shed some light that helps readers to what hip hop actually is. In order to see hip hop as a cultural influence we need to take a look at its history.
Hip-hop and rap music are commonly criticized for its anti-feminist lyrics and degrading exploitation of women in music and music videos. (Sharpley-Whiting ) Many feminists have taken action against the music industry, which produces these messages in the music they release. However, in the hip-hop genre there are plenty of successful female rappers promoting feminist views, artist such as Queen Latifah and Mary J. Blige have made the choice to condemn the derogatory culture towards women. (Oliver, 382–384)
What media mostly highlights in hip hop today is the drugs,sex, and the "thug" appearance, usually that 's most music but hip hop is more blunt about it and is on the radio for people to hear. Others who don 't like hip hop have heard this type of music and found it disgusting so they go ahead and judge the artist which most artists are "black" so they just group it all together. Media is the blame for this because you only see the black males nowadays as "entertainers" like the sports players, the hip hop artist or actors.Most of these people are not near as role models as they should be but as you
From its conception in the 1970's and throughout the 1980's, hip hop was a self-contained entity within the community that created it. This means that all the parameters set for the expression came from within the community and that it was meant for consumption by the community. Today, the audience is from outside of the community and doesn’t share the same experiences that drive the music. An artists’ success hinges on pleasing consumers, not the community. In today's world, it isn’t about music that rings true for those who share the artists' experiences, but instead, music that provides a dramatic illusion for those who will never share the experiences conveyed. This has radically changed the creative process of artists and the diversity of available music. Most notably, it has called in to question the future of hip hop.
Hip-hop is moving backwards in the sense that it is regaining its revolutionary and activist voice, as more independent artists are claiming control of the spotlight. Hip-hop is moving forward in the sense that it is no longer catering to one general sound, and corporate labels are losing their grip on the images that get displayed to the masses. Hip-hop is becoming more local. Hip-hop is becoming more about the experience, and less about what is hot and on the top 100 right now. Hip-hop is catering more to the individual’s unique taste, rather than mass-producing one sound and one message. Hip-hop, in the future, will be able to truly uphold its title as “the people’s genre” again. Hip-hop is being reborn, and being returned to a state that runs on artistic investment rather than commercial
Women have consistently been perceived as second-class citizens. Even now, in times when a social conscience is present in most individuals, in an era where an atmosphere of gender equality 'supposedly' exists, it is blatantly apparent that the objectification and marginalization of women is still a major social issue. In reality, progression in terms of reducing female exploitation has been stagnant at best. Not only is the degradation of women a major problem that to date has not been eradicated, but it is actually being endorsed by some music celebrities. There are a growing number of people who purchase rap albums that support the fallacy that women are mere objects and should be treated as such. As the popularity of rap continues to climb at unprecedented rates, so too does its influence on the perception of women. In the vast majority of hip-hop songs, the depiction of women as sexual objects, the extreme violence directed towards them and the overall negative influence these lyrics have on the average adolescent's perception of women make rap the absolute epitome of female exploitation.
Misogyny and degradation of women is present in almost every genre of music, yet the one genre that completely revolves around demeaning women is rap. Over the years rap and rap music videos have continually become more sexual and degrading towards women. Rap has been criticized numerous times for this reason, and that is because rap is one of the most popular genres of music for the younger generations. It is more than a genre of music, it is a complete industry filled with clothing and other merchandise. The reason this constant demeaning of women exists is because rap as a genre that rewards the objectification of women. The excuses used to justify the misogyny in rap are incomplete and lack accurate support. The most effective way for this continuous cycle ends, is if the fight and protest comes from the women themselves. Men are the problem in the objectification of women but in order for it to stop, women need to step up and take control of the situation.
Not only is hip-hop a way of expressing ones feelings or views, but it is a part of the urban culture and can be used as a communication tool. Slang originally came from hip-hop music and has become a very popular use in today’s society, especially the urban parts. Hip-hop is a standout amongst the most compelling musical sorts on the globe. There are rappers everywhere that know what amount of an impact their music can have. Some entertainers attempt to utilize that force of impact to do great (Ruiz INT).