Hip Hop Planet Summary

Hip Hop Planet
Has Hip-Hop given us a warning of change or is it simply a part of musical evolution? In “Hip Hop Planet” by James Mcbride he argues that hip hop is destructive to our society. Hip hop provides a variety of beats, intense rhymes, and yet provocative language. The author has many negative views on the genre but sees some positive influence. With this said, his warning to our future generations can be challenged. Hip hop can have a negative impact on young adults but it also provides large amounts of support to people who struggle with similar complications.
Many rappers in today’s music industry did as Drake would say “start from the bottom.” Hip Hop lyrics generally come from personal experiences that anyone could relate too. McBride states “There’s a guy I work with, when Kanye West sings about a gold digger, he can relate because he’s paying alimony and child support.” (Mcbride 792) In this is “warning”, it implies that we need to be

aware of something we have already come across in our lives. As a result of the author not being able to relate to the music himself he misses the aspiration behind it. When he warns us about the lifestyle hip hop influences on people from a young age. Generally, hip hop music has deeper meanings and hippen explanations that some people just do not understand without being in the culture of it all.
Not only did hip hop relate to people around the world but according to the author it continues to explode across the world with overwhelming force.

Mcbride later expresses “To many of my generation, despite all attempts to exploit it, belittle it, numb it, classify it, analyze it, hip hop remains an enigma, a clarion call, a cry of “I am” from the youth of the world. We’d be wise, I suppose to start paying attention.” (McBride 789). The author makes a solid statement in saying that adults from his generation need to take note of the music as a hint. As someone mentioned in the passage, hip hop can just be a fantasy. Everyone wants a significant other or a lot of money that they can spend whenever they want. How is this music we play day to day a warning to other generations? If we can singlehandedly spread a genre so fast and speak of unnecessary things, there must be something behind the popularity. There is, hip hop is popular because it rhymes, has good beats and really can challenge someone to learn the

words.
McBride made Hip hop appear like a criminal by stealing the minds of our youth. In the end the youth made it what it was today. Hip hop can have a negative impact on young adults, but it provided numerous amounts of support and diversity to our culture. As much as someone would try to numb hip hop you could not because it is the evolutionized music of our past. The authors biased opinion, molded by his privileged lifestyle, can be challenged.