Argumentative Essay: Rap Vs. Pop

Rap music has been controversial and in the forefront of the american media now and in the 90’s. Without the frame of its social context and history rap music can not be understood. Numerous media groups, politicians, and general society are quick to place blame on rap for the growing trend in youth violence. “Keep in mind when brothas start flexing the verbal skillz, it always reflects what's going on politically, socially, and economically”-- Musician Davey D. In the 1990’s music defined the era of rap music socially ,politically, and historically.

Rhythm and blues, or R&B, is a popular African-American music style that sprang up in the 1940s. The phrase “Rhythm 'n ' Blues” has undertaken a numerous amount of shifts in message and meaning. It was frequently used to refer to music styles that developed from and incorporated electric blues, as well as gospel music. R&B lyrical themes often encapsulate the African-American experience of love, pain, and the quest for freedom and/or joy. Lyrics focus heavily on the themes of triumphs and failures in terms of relationships, freedom, aspirations, and sex.

The culture of hip hop was originated in New York and has evolved over time from the 70’s. Rap artist talked about politics, economic problems, social violence, and the struggle of making it out along with other various topics. This was a way for artists to tell their story to their fans. Multiple Mc’s can be credited to the evolution of hip hop such as Curtis Blow, Grandmaster Flash, Run DMC, NWA, etc. Listeners in this generation have lost the importance of the message behind artists’ lyrics. Today’s listeners don’t listen to the lyrics of artists but focus more on the beats of their songs. Back then the message in artist’s raps were important. Now listeners care more about how good the beat is rather than the lyrics.

What seems to us now as excessive violence and misogyny in hip hop stems from a culture that has been consumed in a continuous battle against social and economic oppression since its early days. In the beginnings of hip hop, there was an explosion of defiance against the subjugation these artists had to experience on a daily basis. For many artists, rapping about guns and gang life was a reflection of daily life in the ghettos and inner-city housing projects. Not only did rap provide an outlet to voice the struggles of black youth, it also gave them a sense of pride. Before major hip hop groups such as NWA arrived on the scene, people would refuse to admit they were even from Compton. Nowadays, everyone wears the identity with pride. The genre was a testament to triumphing over hardships, to having enough confidence in oneself not to let the world drag you down, and to rising above the struggle, even when things seem hopeless. Violence in rap did not begin as an affective agent that threatened to harm America 's youth; rather, it was the outcry of an already-existing problem from youth whose world views have been shaped by the inequalities and prejudice they have experienced.

Americans today tend to believe that hip hop has a bad message in their songs. What you did not know is that lyrics have a deeper meaning. Many people assume that hip-hop is bad for everyone. People around the world argue if hip-hop is bad or good. In my opinion, hip-hop is good because it tells how everyone has a story. Obviously, telling a story is not bad. Many blame the lyrics in songs, but they are just telling a story.

It can be seen from the analysis above that hip-hop influence media, but it also had an impact in black cinema. Films starring African American leads were rare, yet they portrayed a different points of view in the industry. Referring back to the four fundamental elements of hip hop which were major contributors to films. For instance, b-boys who were African American and Latino boys who incorporated breakdancing as part of their neighborhood. This type of dance demonstrated individuality, expression and identity among the boys. Interestingly, many viewed graffiti as vandalism, yet hip-hopers viewed their canvas as art and self expression. Likewise, rapping became one of hip-hop’s major cinematic elements. (american cinema). While on the streets

We have all heard some type of music, but have you ever wondered where some of it comes from? There are many genres of music in today’s world like pop, country, gospel, rock, electronic, and my favorite, hip hop. In this paper, you will learn about everything hip hop, including topics like its early stages, how it was invented, and its evolution throughout the decades. After the invention of the Printing Press during the Industrial Revolution, rap and hip hop music became popular due to the population of African Americans in the United States, giving people a voice to express themselves, and mainstream artists.

Many songs in the rap genre have an air of violence or sexism against women. Some of the artists who create this music sing about having sex with women, the bodies of women, violence against women, or the inability of a woman to be on her own. Women who listen to this music may find themselves believing what is said, and gaining an implicit bias against other women or men. They might begin to consider other women as ‘sluts,’ ‘whores,’ or ‘gold diggers,’ and men as ‘sexist pigs’ or ‘perverts.’ Also, when women believe what is said about them in any type of media, they may start to become somewhat like the women described in that media. The problem here is that women are not always like this, and may not want to be, but they start to think that it is normal and acceptable. However, there are many reasons why people enjoy rap music, despite what is said or the effects it can have.

No matter who you are or where you are, you will always be listening to music regardless if you’d want to or not. Though you may have different taste in music, you will always listen to some genres that you do not like. Some people will try to find themselves in other music and be inspired by the same subject. But someone had to be the first to get the idea of music and other just came along and changed it to their prospective along the journey of hundreds of musicians that made it and tons more than didn’t make it, they still pursued it because it was what they enjoyed and what they found to be what is most important to them.

“No two rappers rapped the same even when reciting the same rhyme”. (The History Of Hip Hop written by Davey D ). Rap is a style that forces each rapper to be different and that 's why the younger generation likes it.

In the early 1970s, hip hop got its’ start. It started off fun and innocent and has now dramatically changed. Now, hip hops lyrics are filled with references to drugs, violance, and sex. Some artists portray themselves as a pimp, often describing women as prostitutes and/or strippers. The negativity of women and rarely authority, show that hip hop has lost it’s way and is now extremely different from what it used to be. There is no sign that hip hop has any plans to clean up its vulgar image, it is safe to say that the industry has been put on notice (“Taking Back the Music”). This subject is often blown off, due to no one seeing it as a big deal. Music is music to most people, and can often cause people to not see issues as they really are. According to African-American teenagers, they are beset about the dangerous myths of their race. The most poisonous one defines the achievements of whites while embracing violence, illiteracy, and drug dealing as “authentically” black. The fiction appears in many films and literatures. But appears most in rap music, which now has turned into a medium for worshipping misogyny, materalism, and murder (Staples). Hip hop is causing society to negatively see black people, and positively see whites, while both can be done the same

Hip-hop is a cultural art form that originated in urban centres on the American East Coast in the 1970s (Morgan, Marcyliena, and Dionne Bennett, 2011, p.1). From the point of its conception to today, hip hop has been used as a political tool for African Americans to express their discontent with their marginalized status in North American society (Eberhardt and Freeman, 2015). Due to the large role that African Americans played in the development and continuation of the genre, hip-hop has often been described as a part of “black culture” (Ghandonoosh, 2010). By the late 1980s, however, other cultures and races had begun to appreciate and recreate the art form (Rodriquez, 2015). Most notably, starting in the 1990s, white North

The most frequent word that occurs in rap lyrics is "bitch" used equally by male and female artists, and less frequent but still widely used by male artists is “hoe” . Many active listeners to hip-hop music will argue that the lyrics should not be considered as derogatory, because they serve merely as an expressive tool and are not meant to be offensive or humiliating. However, there is no doubt that they create certain stereotypes and produce images which contribute to the further development of women’s oppression . The lyrics written by Dr. Dre perfectly illustrate this alarming occurrence: . The most derogatory words "bitch" and "hoe" are both present in the same verse. When young people hear these words uttered by their favorite artist they might begin to think that it is appropriate if they themselves use them to describe and address

While Pop is an older style of music that is said to talk about love songs, and music styles such as Jazz, Rock, Classical, etc. The term Hip Hop, is taking us back to way further past the 19th century and is interchanged with freestyles and beats and DJ’s. Hip Hop is very similar in many different aspects of music, as Hip Hop is also very much different in their own style of the way it influences people for many different reasons. Each is very driven to different people in the generation. Some of these people are stuck in the Era where Pop music is what they listen to always with artists such as Beyoncé or Christina Aguilera, and some people are taking it back and listening to Hip Hop as a cultural way of getting through to the younger generation

Rap was originally based as an expression of african culture, especially during slave privation. African American slaves would use the songs as a form of protest during slave revolts. However, in this generation it has become a form of self expression, often including harsh language and offensive sometimes illegal terms. Due to the sudden change in this genre I do believe that rap music should be censored, particularly when it is played on radios and social media outlets, where it is in reach of adolescents ears. Contrary to this I do not believe that rap is directly correlated with violence. This viewpoint is well stated in an article by Jackson Long Alicia Johnson, "The issues at hand during these hearings are far deeper than rap music and to say that Hip hop is responsible for them is ridiculous. The average street hustler is selling drugs because he needs to eat, not because his favorite rapper tells stories about dealing dope in some of his songs." Although I see no correlation between rap music and felonies I do think that it plays a small role in the behavior patterns of teenagers. While most forms of rap are harmless some do encourage violence, hate crimes and defiant behavior towards authorities which in the long run can become very dangerous.