“During the time hip-hop began New York faced serious problems that included hopelessness and violence” (6). Despite the issues they experienced hip-hop music made a mark on the work and is constantly expanding today (4).The first three male artist to release records from New York who made the mainstream charts during that time were LL Cool J, Kurtis Blow and Run DMC (6). Overtime hip-hop has turned into a serious investment and business (7). New York rapper “50 Cent is one the many savvy businessmen in hip-hop who fully grasped this potential” (7). He allowed Coca- Cola to use his name leaving him $100 million dollars richer (7). The commercials consisted of hip-hop music which boosted its popularity even more. “Hip-hop became a part of the uneasy space between commercial and economic globalization on from below” (7). The motto of commercial hip-hop/rap had now became “Get …show more content…
Rich or Die Tryin” (7). Rap music’s lyrics over the years really hasn’t changed because artists today still tell their stories like before (7). Each and every artist has a different story and what makes it better is that there are artist all over the planet (7). “Rappers today don’t just rap about the “ghetto life” just to be signed to a major record label” (8). What rappers rap about now has changed tremendously since the 1970’s (8). Especially now that the internet use has also expanded. Now artists all over the world use the internet to expose their talents (8). Social media has given unsigned artist and record labels a lot of opportunity (8). Artists visibility is increased and that gives labels the opportunity to look for fresher talent when needed (8). Social media has also given artists easier access to the radio stations all over (8). In the 70’s that was a big accomplishment for artist now it’s easy to be heard (8). It’s now easier to be signed to major record labels today (8). As long as the artist has a huge audience and talent record labels and people will invest into them. Hip-hop is how the African Americans have the upper hand on the world culturally. Hip-hop is considered a paved footprint on the earth. To combat the transformation of hip-hop the underground artists like Public Enemy became noticed as well (8). Especially with the “thug” persona, the group carried and their hit single “Who Stole the Soul” (8). Although they were noticed that doesn’t change the fact that social media has exposed a tremendous number of talent. “There is no longer a single theme for mainstream hip-hop artists” (8). “The more universal a song becomes the larger an audience it will reach (8)”. When hip-hop began it was not accepted for a long time (8).
It was categorized as a way to be rebellious to the authorities (8). Hip-hop’s purpose had become misunderstood at one point, entertainment to the white youth and blacks began to take pride in it. At one point as a race they had forgotten why hip-hop was created and wore hip-hop as a shirt of embarrassment through life. Artist back then didn’t share their potential with the world because they were afraid of being judged (8). There were artist who were brave enough to show the world what they're capable of which motivated others (8). It was always about becoming greater and transformation (8). Hip-hop was a way to escape your problems back in the 70’s and still is today. One of the problems with hip-hop’s development back then when it became accepted was when artist had become a part of major record labels. Artist did not recognize that their talents were being used for profit and they were being blindsided by the materialistic things. Hip-hop had become a celebration of hiding from the police, “thuggery and tantrum throwing
(10).”
Hip Hop’s according to James McBride article “Hip Hop Planet” is a singular and different form of music that brings with it a message that only those who pay close attention to it understand it. Many who dislike this form of music would state that it is one “without melody, sensibility, instruments, verse, or harmony and doesn’t even seem to be music” (McBride, pg. 1). Though Hip Hop has proven why it deserves to be called music. In going into depth on its values and origins one understands why it is so popular among young people and why it has kept on evolving among the years instead of dying. Many of Hip Hop values that make it unique and different from other forms of music would be that it makes “visible the inner culture of Americas greatest social problem, its legacy of slavery, has taken the dream deferred to a global scale” (McBride, pg. 8). Hip Hop also “is a music that defies definition, yet defines our collective societies in immeasurable ways” (McBride, pg. 2). The
It was used to express the feelings of a certain group towards another. Hip-Hop is spontaneous in that the music was free style. Artist would take up to the stage and start describing a thing of interest. The thing of interest in most cases was a bad thing being perpetrated by the other gang they are competing. They would use that opportunity to rant against and offer remedial measures. At the end of the day they would decide on who had worn the competition. The Hip-Hop culture also used drawings to spread message that was appropriate to accompany their music. Lastly, Hip-Hop has grown into a multi-billion industry that the black community took with lots of seriousness as a means of
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
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 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
When many people think of hip hop, they tend to draw on the negative aspects of it rather than focusing on the deeper meaning of it. We continuously associate this genre of music with gangs, street life, drugs, and other activities that have harmful effects on our communities. Seldom do we, individuals living in the modern era of hip hop, take the time to truly examine this style and recognize the deeper meaning that comes with it. Micheal Eric Dyson said it best when he said, “hip hop is still fundamentally an art form…” (Dyson xvii) Without a doubt, the definition of hip hop in the modern era has changed drastically from the time it first started becoming popular. Today, people typically define it as street music or symbols of gang activity,
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). Jefferies identifies hip hop as a social movement, which stems from the concept of ‘collective identity’ (Jefferries.2011; 27). This can be defined as “an individual’s cognitive, moral and emotional connection with a broader community” (Polletta and Jasper. 2001; 84). Which relate to Smitherman’s views that hip hop is a celebration of black culture uniting these individual to form a collective community. (Smitherman. 1997; 20) .These Theorists generally accept that hip hop is culture and it’s the production of its creators and the individuals who consu...
Hip Hop has been manipulated into a commercial medium and has been used to create clients that buy the music and make it popular by showing it off in clubs and to their friends. Hip-hop is arising through marketing and capital, music has become digital in our time and that has increased revenue through the roof. Marketing has become a big factor because big time artists have linked together to become better than their selves and that has helped hip hop evolve. Commercial hip-hop has deteriorated what so many emcees in the 80’s tried to build, a culture of music, dance, and creativity allowing for everyone to have fun and express themselves including that meaningful message that opens the listener’s mind and has them wanting more good
Hip-hop’s greatest gift and its heaviest burden is its legacy of urban mythology. It will be remembered as that bittersweet moment when young black men captured the ears of America and defined themselves on their own terms in doing so, they raised a defiant middle finger to a history that shamed them with slavery, misrepresented them as coons and criminals and co-opted the best of their culture.
In the eyes of the general public, all of Hip-Hop is usually categorized in the same way. Labeled as the poison of the Black community because nowadays, most Hip-Hop lyrics all sound the same generic way always talking about money, women, cars, drugs, or some type of beef that all these rappers sooner or later continuously have with one another. But what this new generation doesn’t know about are the positive and creative flows that were spit not so long ago in the 80’s and 90’s. Rappers back in the day like Tupac and Ice Cube both had times when they had to show off their thug sides but they both had reasons or a call-to-arms for that, and indeed were in tune with that era’s problems as well as the society where they were raised. Moreover, even though some new school songs actually look promising, old school songs are still always great classics that anybody in this day and age will most certainly vibe to.
The Hip-hop movement began in the 1970's in the Southern Bronx of New York City. There are endless controversies surrounding the beginning of hip-hop, as no one is really quite sure what was the defining point. However, what is evident from every critique on this movement is that hip-hop began as a reaction to the economic and social situation in New York City. Jeff Chan, the senior editor and director of a hip-hop culture website, believes that the first incidence of this new social movement occurred during the summer fires in July, 1975 when "40 fires were set in a three-hour period" ("Born"). He further notes "slumlords were employing young thugs to systematically burn the devalued buildings to chase out the poor tenants and collect millions in insurance. Hip-hop, it could be said, was born in fire" ("Born"). As people in the Bronx began to respond to the situation they found themselves in, other signs of cultural change emerged. For example, in 1972, the residents of the Bronx started to post graffiti on walls or other surfaces where the public would view them. They were defying public standards and "tagging" private buildings as a way of taking ownership of their own environment, if not literally, at least figuratively (Tate). A few years la...
Hip-hop is known as a culture movement. Hip-hop is a pleasing art form, formed by African-Americans and Latinos in the late seventies. Its formation derives from a young generation of African-Americans in South Bronx, New York. They created a beautiful, complimentary expression of melody, skill and dance from an environment of poverty. Ever since it has encouraged people from all across the world. Hip-hop is discussed as an art form and not just flowing, it typically is meant to include the four essentials: DJing, MCing, graffiti writing, and break dancing. Hip Hop helped renew the identity of these elements. In studying the history of hip hop; it has influences on many cultures. Early hip-hop was credited to help inner-city gang violence, it was a way for youths in black inner city neighborhoods to put across what they were feeling, seeing, and living and it became a shape of entertainment.
In the past few decades, as Hip hop culture has evolved, it has started having lots of influence in our society. Major artists nowadays can control their audiences to some extent, and some people argue that this is leading to higher crime and violence rates. However, it is important to acknowledge how hip hop is benefiting our society. Songs have much deeper lyrical meanings than people realize, it’s not all about drugs, crime, and violence. Hip Hop connects our youth and gives them a sense of belonging and opens many doors for them in today’s society.
Imagine a world unaccompanied by culture, expression, individuality, or style. Visualize a world without any differences or creativity. Envision how that would look, dull, and boring, a world without Hip Hop, an evolving culture, including expression, individuality, and style all in one. As a result, the popularity of Hip Hop significantly increased, over the decades. Actually, “R&B and Hip Hop are now responsible for 25.1 % of all music consumption in the U.S” (McIntyre). This implies that Hip Hop is a dominant genre in today’s society, on the other hand, dominant in what the nation calls, life. Over the decades, Hip Hop has evolved through fashion, music, dance, and other innumerable avenues. For the most part, Hip Hop’s origins remain the
Hip - hop is a melange of lyrical stimulation filled with the meticulous metaphors, tales from the ‘hood, and the ruthless truth sayings about the social and economic injustices in the “land of the free”. ( Belle, 2014). This movement which started out as a subculture in the South Bronx has now developed to become an international phenomenon, i.e. it has been taken over by mainstream media and can no longer be deemed a subculture. Over the years, since this movement started, many developments have occured for hip - hop to to attain the international recognition it now