Hip Hop and the Minority Culture

Introduction

Have you ever thought about how important hip-hop is? Many people thought it was a simple fad in its beginning, but it has transformed into an enormous international, money-generating business. Some might argue that the culture has become distorted from the original form, due to the “tainted” nature of the genre in the global market. Others agree that the 1990’s were the most prolific time for the art form and this period is commonly referred to as the “golden age” of the Genre. This was the first point in time where a large number of youth grew up listening to hip hop music more than any other genre; they were experiencing the genre throughout their entire lives. During this time period there were many innovative artists who constantly pushed the envelope to create new projects and styles. Creativity seemed to be everlasting, although many clichés were created because of unoriginality. Many people who are now considered legends made their debuts throughout the decade and they are now testaments to the power of the culture. The 1990’s showed people that the art forms of hip hop would be a permanent fixture in music and culture because at this point it existed for roughly twenty years. Minorities had always embraced hip hop since the beginning because they were the creators, but the 1990’s was important because this is when the music being made became more relatable. Artist such as Nas and the Wu-Tang clan embodied a lifestyle in their music that many minorities agreed with because it depicted the lives that those minorities were living. This is not to say that there was not music that was viewed as gimmicky and fabricated.

The hip-hop culture was always seen as rebellious, but in the 1990’s it developed an even str...

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...onsidered miniscule today, they were the foundation for every form of rapping that is present today. People were amazed by Hollywood because prior to him nobody thought of creating rhyme schemes that were performed over entire songs. Other cultural aspects of hip-hop, to the ignorance of most people, can be contributed to the Nation of Gods and Earths. They were a cultural organization that developed their ideas after their founder, Clarence 13X, left the Nation of Islam. They are responsible for things such as the “b-boy stance”, which was a pose where one stands with their feet shoulder width apart and their arms crosses. They also pioneered several phrases that are indicative with the hip hop culture; for example, “What’s up G(shortened for of God) and “Peace.” They have a major role in establishing the hip-hop aesthetic, at least that of the late 70’s and 80’s.