Rap and hip hop music have been debated many times over the years about whether or not this choice of music affects society negatively. As you will learn from this presentation, rap does not affect society negatively and is a great choice of music. It helps save lives, relieves stress, and tells vital messages to learn from.
According to dictionary.com, the definition of hip hop is defined as, “the popular subculture of big-city teenagers, which includes rap music, breakdancing, and graffiti art.” Also, according to the thefreedictionary.com, the definition of rap is defined as the “genre of African-American music of the 1980s and 1990s in which rhyming lyrics are chanted to a musical accompaniment; several forms of rap have emerged.”
So, where did it all start? Legend has it that it all started at 1520 Sedgwick Avenue in the Bronx of New York City. On August 11, 1973, DJ Kool Herc was entertaining for his sister’s back-to-school party and he felt like trying something new on the turntable. He extended the instrumental beat to let the crowd dance longer and began rapping during the extended breakdancing. Sounds innocent, right? ("Birthplace Of Hip Hop.")
Much of the modern society does not think so though. They believe that the ones that listen to this choice of music are the ones that walk around looking for trouble. Personally, I reject that opinion. I believe that many individuals take for granted the popularized opinion of almost any certain topic. Before you discriminate against hip hop and rap, you must first do a little bit of in-depth research. As Curtis Aron says, “When critiquing rap music, one has to go beyond the surface of what they are hearing and attempt to ascertain the message that the music is attempting to se...
... middle of paper ...
...le Think?" HubPages. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 May 2014.
"Rap Music THE POSITIVE EFFECTS OF HIPHOP." Rap Music THE POSITIVE EFFECTS OF HIPHOP. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 May 2014.
"A New and Positive Look at Hip-Hop." The New Radar. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 May 2014.
"Hip Hop." Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com, n.d. Web. 01 May 2014.
"Rap." The Free Dictionary. Farlex, n.d. Web. 01 May 2014.
"Birthplace Of Hip Hop." PBS. PBS, n.d. Web. 30 Apr. 2014.
"Eminem – Mockingbird." Rap Genius. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 May 2014.
Cashmore, Pete. "How Battle Rap Helped Me Deal with Depression." The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 10 Dec. 2012. Web. 01 May 2014.
"Why Rap Gets a Bad Rap." Greater Good: The Science of a Meaningful Life. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 May 2014.
"Bad Rap for Rap: Bias in Reactions to Music Lyrics." Bad Rap for Rap: Bias in Reactions to Music Lyrics. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 May 2014.
In Adam Bradley’s “Rap poetry 101” he shows us how rap is more than just songs being sung, it is poetry; it is something that has an empowering ability to make the familiar unfamiliar.In this chapter Bradley creates a new viewpoint too rap. Bradley shows us how rap and poetry has become a very similar piece of art that should be further appreciated. In the chapter poetry 101 Bradley describes how rap is a form of public art, and how rappers have become our greatest public poets. The importance of rap as poetry is shown throughout Bradley's book as well as the evidence behind the reasons rap is poetry.
This article is titled “Rap music is harmful to African American communities” and is written by E. Faye Williams. Williams is a chairwoman of the National Congress of Black Women (NCBW). The national congress of black women is a non-profit organization dedicated to the educational, political, economic, and cultural development of African American women and their families. Williams’s article “Rap music is harmful to African American communities” makes her qualified and a credible source to be writing on this question: If rap music and other media is harming the African American community? In her article, she states her side of the argument of how rap music and media are indeed harming the African American community, using the context, and reasoning,
Hip hop is both a culture and a lifestyle. As a musical genre it is characterized by its hard hitting beats and rhythms and expressive spoken word lyrics that address topics ranging from economic disparity and inequality, to gun violence and gang affiliated activity. Though the genre emerged with greater popularity in the 1970’s, the musical elements involved and utilized have been around for many years. In this paper, we will cover the history and
The second article, “Commercialization of the Rap Music Youth Subculture” by M. Elizabeth Blair, expresses the point of the use of rap music to sell a product even though advertisers know nothing of the subculture....
These articles depict the controversies of the hip hop industry and how that makes it difficult for one to succeed. Many of these complications and disputes may be invisible to the population, but these articles take the time to reveal them.
Hip-hop music is the best base form of music to invoke change because songs can be written quickly by rappers to address their communities. Hip-hop started in the early 1970’s in minority-filled neighborhoods that were surrounded with poverty, crime, and drugs. Over time, hip-hop has been changed to express different messages. At its beginning the message was positive addressing the problems of poor neighborhoods and now the message is flashy and unclear. With this change
This will then open up the discussion about the how this has influenced society, and the impact it has had in terms of race issues which hip hop itself often represents through music. Hip hop originated in the ghetto areas of New York during the 1970’s and is a mixture of DJ, MC, B boy and Beat boxing. In his studies of defining hip hop, Jeffries concluded that these mixtures of art forms do not define hip hop but rather that hip hop itself is a culture of these elements. “Hip-hop is like a culture, it’s a voice for black people to be heard. Our own style, our own music” (Jeffries). 2011; 28).
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.
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 started out as a parade of songs that were celebration-suitable, stemming from artists such as LL Cool J and Marky Mark. Eventually, there were some minor miscalculations. Whenever artists began to not compete or collaborate with one another, but to murder their rivals from particular areas of the country: the East Side and the West Side (Merino 88), hip-hop took a downward spiral. Rappers began feuding with one another, which, primarily may seem like a petty squabble, evolved into something far from minor: violence.
Hip Hop is defined as: “subculture especially of inner-city youths who are typically devotees of Rap music, graffiti, break dancing, and DJing”. If one asks a fan of Hip Hop what the definition is to them, then one might get something deeper. Some fans define Hip Hop as a culture that consist of many of its own subculture and its knowledge of the history and principles of Hip Hop. Hip Hop can also be defined as an expression of the relationship between urban ...
Rap is becoming more popular than ever, soon most of the world will have some type of knowledge of rap music. Rachel Sullivan from the University of Connecticut stated “White respondents in this survey had difficulty naming three rap artists, which indicated that they did not have a high level of commitment to the music.” This statement was produced in 2003, also seemed to be very one dimensional. Recently, rap music has been surging through the masses no matter the race. Furthermore, rap is becoming very prevalent especially in the youth of this era. Many trends, commercials, social media, etc. are revolving around rap music.
Dixon, Travis L., TaKeshia Brooks. “Rap Music and Rap Audiences: Controversial Themes, Psychological Effects and Political Resistance.” Perspectives. 7 April 2009. .
Throughout the 1970’s, the United States entered a period of tentativeness due to the upheaval of drugs, violence, and gang dominated communities, but took a huge leap and worked its way to transition into a more fair, just, virtuous, and an all together united society. Hip-Hop is a subculture that was created by African American and Hispanic teens that came from the streets in New York. Hip-Hop was a type of rap music and high energy dance style that these teens formulated to depict their African American culture, customs, and ideals. The art movement, “Hip-Hop” tremendously sparked a change as it began in the streets and underground areas of the Bronx in New York and gradually became a widespread popular and media culture worldwide. The origins
Does hip-hop music effect today’s youth in a positive or negative way? The effects of hip-hop music has been disputable following the time when its rise into the social standard in the late twentieth century, but Hip- hop music is not just one sided but can be both positive and negative on today’s youth.