Hip Hop: A Cultural Movement and Art Form

Imagine being at a concert shouting lyrics at the top of your lungs along beside hundreds of others who enjoy the same kind of taste of music as you do. The power of music connects people from all over the world. When it comes to music, people often express their views, opinions and their feelings. As of today, the combine genre Hip Hop/ R&B has taken over and is now the most popular genre. It became well known that it has entered in today’s fashion and the way we speak. Hip Hop is a form of art that can be express through rap songs, breakdancing, and graffiti art. It is a cultural movement that started in South Bronx, New York in the early 1970s in a home of DJ Kool Herc and the movement later spread across the entire borough. Hip Hop was

According to Dr. West, “rap music identifies young black women in five sexual personas: Diva, a woman who trades sexual favors for luxury; Gold Digger, a woman who trades sexual favors for basic necessities and leaves men bankrupt; Freak, a sexual powerhouse; Gangster B----, a "tough" girl; and Baby Mama, a child's needy mother” (Saengianpittsburgh, 2008). Since the 80s, hip hop artists has been accused to objectifying women. It captures the idea of controlling and demeaning women by “pimping them.” In “Why do music videos portray black women as exotic sex objects?”, the author draws attention highlighting what is put on bodies of African American women, which are “seen as inherently sexual and animalistic, with a heavy focus on body shape, particularly the posterior. The black woman’s ‘butt’ has been considered a distinct point of fascination for centuries” (Larasi, 2013). Although, rap and hip hop get more attention in popular media for sexualizing women, it is also being represented in other

Not only did Hip Hop and Rap swept through the nation, it also swept over the entire world. For many years, the youth have been known for singing their favorite songs and depending on the lyric, use it as their motto. For example in 2011, Drake released a song called “The Motto” and in one of his verses, he raps, “You only live once, that’s the motto, n----, YOLO.” This became very popular in 2011. According to Franklin B. Krohn and Frances L. Suazo in their article “Contemporary Urban Music: Controversial Messages in Hip-Hop and Rap Lyrics,” many teenagers and minority groups view rappers as their spokesmen because of their ability to speak in street language and bluntly express their frustration” (Krohn, 1995).

Specifically, teens are attracted to this music style, because it “appeals to the emotional struggles usually felt in teenage years, and for teens in lower socioeconomic brackets, the financial struggles felt by many rappers mirror their own. An escape from reality is provided for teens in the “better tommorrow” depicted by some rap songs” (Brown, 2016). The enjoyment for Hip Hop/ Rap brings people together and it brings out a creativity on those that write lyrics and produce