The 411: My Personal Analysis The major premise behind Hip Hop Information Literacy is acknowledging culture and its significance in higher education. How can we educate students if we do not try to understand their everyday vernacular, style of dress, and music? I am not here to stay that Hip Hop does not have its flaws, but it does have a sound history that can be discussed from the perspectives of it being a course, major, or minor. As I began to introduce students to Hip Hop Information Literacy, they seem to take it all in fast. I had to adjust the curriculum from 16 week lectures to 12 (though the course is still registered for 16 weeks); and hone in on the importance of understanding the reasoning behind why it is important to be a …show more content…
Moreover, it deemed important to acknowledge their place in history as poets, artists, writers, Dj’s, etc. The Hip Hop movement began out of protest just as the Black Arts Movement and the Civil Rights Movement. In addition, with firsthand knowledge it makes since to share that information with students and then allow them the opportunity to research about it, and then think critically, and share their own knowledge with their peers and instructor about their discoveries. Meeting 21st century knowledge participants where they are is the only way that we will be able to reach them going forward. This chapter was not written to give voice to a myriad of scholars and their assessment about Hip Hop. I wanted to share my own personal experience as a scholar with this audience in hopes of you understanding that Hip Hop is an educational incubator that has helped teach and train students to become intermediate and skilled researchers and learners. The unconference approach to designing this course was the most helpful model for Hip Hop Information Literacy to come into fruition. I am still analyzing the curriculum, readjusting the course, and believe that it will be sound and succinct in a few more
Watkins, S. Craig. 2005. Hip hop matters: politics, pop culture, and the struggle for the soul of a movement. Boston: Beacon Press.
Hip hop’s rise to popularity has come at a price. It has been put under a magnifying glass as a result of its commercial success. Hip hop’s critics and fans alike have commented on the current state of hip hop through opinion pieces and books. Tricia Rose’s observation that “Hip Hop is in a terrible crisis” in her book The Hip Hop Wars Rose paints a picture of a culture in a dilemma. Rose describes an example that causes hip hop’s current state of crisis: how people discuss hip hop.
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...
...nt to an African American child than Roosevelt or Kennedy. Hip-hop culture began to embrace other subversive forms of expression, such as graffiti, whose popularity soared in the mid 70s throughout the South Bronx . After a decade spent trying to gain favor with a supposedly “superior” white middle class, African Americans turned to hip-hop as a direct response to this apparent white incompatibility with black culture. No longer unequal, by the end o the 70s it had become clear that there was no reason to mold the black racial identity in an easily digestible package for America’s white middle class. This method of forgetting, which resulted in yet another decade of black marginalization, was thus largely rejected, as the America’s African American urban youth turned to hip-hop to remember, preserve, and create a new telling of the black historical identity.
George covers much familiar ground: how B-beats became hip hop; how technology changed popular music, which helped to create new technologies; how professional basketball was influenced by hip hop styles; how gangsta rap emerged out of the crack epidemic of the 1980s; how many elements of hip hop culture managed to celebrate, and/or condemn black-on-black violence; how that black-on-black violence was somewhat encouraged by white people scheming on black males to show their foolishness, which often created a huge mess; and finally, how hip hop used and continues to use its art to express black frustration and ambition to blacks while, at the same time, refering that frustration and ambition to millions of whites.
Hip hop is a culture, it is a way many people use to connect to one another, it allowed many African Americans to express their own point of view in their story. But in the early 2000’s it became commercialized and went from storytelling from many perspectives like a party, politics, self-celebration, and gangstas to consisting of mainly of the lives of hustler, pimps, and hoes. Though it has become quite profitable and a successful form of music it cause arguments in American of whether it is more detrimental than beneficial to black community. Hip hop is in fact in a crisis and critics of hip hop believe it is just angry stories of black males and females but do not see it as proof that black behavior was created from the condition of living in a ghetto.
In the words of rapper Busta Rhymes, “hip-hop reflects the truth, and the problem is that hip-hop exposes a lot of the negative truth that society tries to conceal. It’s a platform where we could offer information, but it’s also an escape” Hip-hop is a culture that emerged from the Bronx, New York, during the early 1970s. Hip-Hop was a result of African American and Latino youth redirecting their hardships brought by marginalization from society to creativity in the forms of MCing, DJing, aerosol art, and breakdancing. Hip-hop serves as a vehicle for empowerment while transcending borders, skin color, and age. However, the paper will focus on hip-hop from the Chican@-Latin@ population in the United States. In the face of oppression, the Chican@-Latin@ population utilized hip hop music as a means to voice the community’s various issues, desires, and in the process empower its people.
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 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
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.
Most people believe that they know what hip hop is. Yet, these same people are more familiar with rap music than hip hop. Rap music tends to b the music broadcasted on television and radio stations alike. Hip-Hop itself is relates to a culture and history of peoples. Hip-Hop tells the stories of people oppressed in urban ghettos in all cities, and it promotes change and a transition in those oppressed. Dr. Charles Pinckney author of The Influence of Hip Hop Culture on the Perceptions, Attitudes, Values and Lifestyles of African American College Students states that "Hip hop culture is a form of musical art in words and stories that describe critical messages that are spoken over music" (Pinckney). William Boone who has conducted research in hip hop best explains the phenomenon of Hip Hop as, " Art in "the hood". Hip Hop is the antitheses of economic discrimination and social alienation in Americas impoverished African American communities" (Boone).These origins of ...
Hip hop has multiple branches of style and is a culture of these. This essay will examine Hip Hop from the point of view of the following three popular music scholars, Johnson, Jeffries, and Smitherman. It will delve deeper into their understanding of what hip hop is and its relation to the different people that identify with its message and content. It will also identify the history of hip hop and its transition into popular music. In particular, this essay will focus on what hip hop represents in the black community and how it can be used as a social movement against inequalities faced by them.
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.
Alan, a member of the Hip Hop movement on campus, started presenting the history of Hip Hop. According to Alan, the hip hop movement group started in 2005. The movement promoted a safe environment for free thoughts and growth through the different elements of hip hop. After the Alan’s presentation, we had the pleasure of hearing Big Daddy Hothem rap to the “Egg Man” beat. Hothem also went on by pointing out some musicians like John Williams, Curtis Mayfield, Bernard Herman, and so on. Proceeding further, we got the chance to learn about the four elements of hip hop. We looked at the comparison between a DJ and a mc and we also went over how block parties became big with the help of Kool Herc. Throughout the presentation, I was able to see how different music can be mashed together to create a mash of unique and peculiar sound/music.
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).