Hip Hop's Influence: Weapon or Medium of Empowerment?

287 Words1 Page
bulb-icon

Recommended: Impact of hip hop

In the movie when the young man Tamer mentions that hip hop is a “weapon” and the “velocity” it controls is contingent on where you come from is a statement that is difficult to come back at. The reason that hip hop has an overwhelming influence on people is that they can identify with the message being sent. Over the past thirty years’ hip hop has paved the way for many artists to come out and be the voice among the people. Hip hop can be used in a negative way, but it can also be used as a medium to empower the less fortunate against political and religious assassination. I’m assuming that’s the point Tamer was trying to make when comparing Beverly Hills to a “water gun” vs. Compton as being a big, explosive “BAM!” (Slingshot Hip Hop,

Show More
Related

  • Keeping Their Own Identity in Black Nationalism

    851 Words  | 2 Pages

    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...

    Read More

  • Similarities of hip-hop and the blues

    1217 Words  | 3 Pages

    To say it lightly, Stanley Crouch does not like the hip-hop genre of music. The dreadlocks, the clothing style, and the "vulgar": gold chains are just a few things he does not approve of at all. (Crouch, 1 ) It astounds him to see how far African-American music has fallen since the days of the Motown. Stanley was quoted as saying this about rap, "It is rudeness, vulgarity, and pornography disguised as ‘keeping it real.'" (Crouch, 1) He also went on to say the hip-hop music genre has the worst impact of all music genres on our culture today. (Crouch, 2) Crouch believes one does not need much talent to become a successful rapper unlike the jazz greats he listens to all the time.

    Read More

  • Hip Hop America

    525 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • The Influence of Rap/Hip-Hop Music

    1403 Words  | 3 Pages

    It was the first time I had ever been to a party. I had just graduated high school, and did not have nor ever did have any sort of interest in going to a party. One of my fellow classmates had invited me to her party on the night of graduation, and I decided why not? I was told growing up that I would never have contact with most of my classmates after graduation ever again, so I wanted to have one last fun moment with the graduating class of 2013. I arrived at my classmate’s house around nine, and immediately was overwhelmed by the makeshift dance floor in the backyard, the loud, unfamiliar music, and the disco lights. Growing up, I had never been introduced to rap music, so I did not enjoy it as much as my fellow classmates did. It did not take long for the party to get started. Boys and girls alike started to make their way to the makeshift dance floor, immediately dancing on one another. I was absolutely taken away as girls that I had known for four years bent over and began to press their backsides up against boys, grinding on the boys as if it were an everyday activity as degrading music blared out of the speakers, as if they were not aware of the actual lyrics of the song. I was not sure what made me feel sicker to my stomach: the way the girls moved their behinds in ways that I found impossible, which I later learned was called ‘twerking’, or the misogynistic rap music that my classmates danced to. I have not been to a party since then, and I do not think I ever will go to one again. It did not take me long to understand why my parents never let me listen to rap music before: it is this misogynistic, or a hatred towards women, type of music. Rap music clearly portrays women in several, negative ways, such as re...

    Read More

  • The Influence of Rap and Hip-Hop on Music and Pop Culture

    566 Words  | 2 Pages

    Music is one of the most powerful and influential language which to many people in

    Read More

  • Racial Stereotypes Associated With Rap and Hip Hop Music

    682 Words  | 2 Pages

    A race issue that occurs within the rap and hip-hop musical genre is the racial stereotypes associated with the musical form. According to Brandt, and Viki rap music and hip- hop music are known for fomenting crime violence, and the continuing formation of negative perceptions revolving around the African-American race (p.362). Many individuals believe that rap and hip-hop music and the culture that forms it is the particular reason for the degradation of the African-American community and the stereotypes that surround that specific ethnic group. An example is a two thousand and seven song produced by artist Nas entitled the N-word. The particular title of the song sparked major debates within not only the African-American community thus the Caucasian communities as well. Debates included topics such as the significance and worth of freedom of speech compared with the need to take a stand against messages that denigrate African-Americans. This specific label turned into an outrage and came to the point where conservative white individuals stood in front of the record label expressing their feelings. These individuals made a point that it is because artists like Nas that there is an increase in gang and street violence within communities. Rap and hip-hop music only depicts a simple-minded image of black men as sex crazed, criminals, or “gangsters”. As said above, community concerns have arisen over time over the use of the N-word, or the fact that many rappers vocalize about white superiority and privilege. Of course rap music did not develop these specific stereotypes, however these stereotypes are being used; and quite successfully in rap and hip-hop which spreads them and keeps the idea that people of color are lazy, all crimin...

    Read More

  • Th Future of Hip Hop

    1612 Words  | 4 Pages

    In Total Chaos, Jeff Chang references Harry Allen, a hip hop critic and self-proclaimed hip hop activist. Harry Allen compares the hip hop movement to the Big Bang and poses this complex question: “whether hip-hop is, in fact a closed universe-bound to recollapse, ultimately, in a fireball akin to its birth-or an open one, destined to expand forever, until it is cold, dark, and dead” (9). An often heard phase, “hip hop is dead,” refers to the high occurrence of gangster rap in mainstream hip hop. Today’s hip hop regularly features black youths posturing as rich thugs and indulging in expensive merchandise. The “hip hop is dead” perspective is based on the belief that hip hop was destined to become the model of youth resistance and social change. However, its political ambitions have yet to emerge, thus giving rise to hip hops’ criticisms. This essay will examine the past and present of hip hop in o...

    Read More

  • Hip-Hop as a Cultural Movement

    1580 Words  | 4 Pages

    Hip-Hop is a cultural movement that emerged from the dilapidated South Bronx, New York in the early 1970’s. The area’s mostly African American and Puerto Rican residents originated this uniquely American musical genre and culture that over the past four decades has developed into a global sensation impacting the formation of youth culture around the world. The South Bronx was a whirlpool of political, social, and economic upheaval in the years leading up to the inception of Hip-Hop. The early part of the 1970’s found many African American and Hispanic communities desperately seeking relief from the poverty, drug, and crime epidemics engulfing the gang dominated neighborhoods. Hip-Hop proved to be successful as both a creative outlet for expressing the struggles of life amidst the prevailing crime and violence as well as an enjoyable and cheap form of recreation.

    Read More

  • Hip Hop as an Industry

    715 Words  | 2 Pages

    All of the articles dealt with hip hop as an industry and how that industry is portrayed to African Americans through the commercialization of hip hop and stereotypes in society. The articles also discuss how that portrayal influences the opinions of African Americans to others and themselves.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Hip Hop Culture

    823 Words  | 2 Pages

    The quote " .. hip-hop is successful because the music is “infectious” and because it allows people to express themselves.."(Walker). From this quote we can analyze it and say that the rap is an art form that allows oneself to express their feeling about the world or express their own feelings, etc. We can than connect the film to this quote to the film Notorious, for example the rivalry between Biggie Smalls and Tupac. We notice that they use rap in order to express how they feel about each through a rap battle, and from the quote by the author Carolee Walker, these two rappers use their rapping skills to show how they feel towards one another. This theme reoccurs throughout every rappers career, whether its dissing one another through a song or its expressing how they feel about a certain someone

    Read More

  • Effects of Hip-Hop Culture on the Youth

    1789 Words  | 4 Pages

    Hip hop culture is known for its negative reputation. It is often thought as an entrance way into gangs, illegal drug activity, and malicious behavior. In today’s culture it is important to lead kids toward a positive direction in life but the hip hop culture of today is not steering youth in that direction. This is because hip-hop has moved away from what it was supposed to be used for. This genre of music was supposed to be used to for personal expression and growth not to create negative images for the youth and encourage them to change their behaviors and beliefs. Hip hop was supposed to give hope to the youth. Give them a reason to pursue their dreams and give them a positive outlook on life. Are there artists who keep it “old school?” Yes there is, but it is never heard on mainstream radio. Hip hop culture has the potential to help the youth follow their dreams and become better people. It just needs to go back to its roots and bring those morals back up again.

    Read More

  • Hip Hop's Effect on American Culture

    3349 Words  | 7 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Bad Influence of Hip Hop on Youth

    1022 Words  | 3 Pages

    Dr. Boyce Watkins compares Hip Hop to “Adolph Hitler’s Mien Kampf as a harmless little book or the bible has no impact on Christianity” (KultureKritic). Basically he is trying to say that when you control of a few group of people’s minds you are controlling the people themselves. By corpora ting the airwaves with message serve as a blueprint for our youth to self-destruct by creating a large army of pants-sagging, Blunt-smoking, tattooed-up, uneducated, STD-infected, impoverished thugs.

    Read More

  • Effects Of Technology On Hip Hop

    1500 Words  | 3 Pages

    With each passing year, technology has become highly involved in our lives, and continues to at a rapidly increasing rate. Technology, in many ways, was designed to help people in various fields of work. However, it has also achieved the reciprocal. Where does music lie? Has technology hurt or helped the field of music, specifically hip-hop? What do these advancements mean for the genre?

    Read More

  • The Effects of Hip Hop on Today's Youth

    1578 Words  | 4 Pages

    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).

    Read More

More about Hip Hop's Influence: Weapon or Medium of Empowerment?

Open Document