Evolution Of Hip Hop In The 1970's

In the essay “Before Hip-hop was Hip-Hop” the author, Rebecca Walker, uses many literary tools to get her point across. This reflective piece compares hip-hop from the 80s to hip-hop today. Walker uses sensory details to help readers picture what she feels about the topic. She often uses slang which allows the text to have an informal tone. This makes the piece easier to read and comprehend. The author also provides examples of her own personal experiences of hip-hop which creates a casual mood and comes across as a story. In the first paragraph, Walker explains how kids these days are able to “spit out names of recording artists…..tell you about the songs they like and the clothes they want to buy. They’ll tell you about the indisputable zones

Chapter 1: What does the Civil Rights Movement gave to the African-Americans compared to Hip Hop as a subculture/movement.

Hip Hop was the wildfire that started in the South Bronx and whose flames leapt up around the world crying out for change. James McBride’s Hip Hop Planet focuses on his personal interactions with the development of Hip Hop culture and his changing interpretations of the world wide movement. Many of his encounters and mentions in the text concern young black males and his writing follows an evolution in the representation of this specific social group. He initially portrays them as arrogant, poor, and uneducated but eventually develops their image to include the positive effects of their culture in an attempt to negate their historical misrepresentation.

Hip-hop culture has been the topic of various academic, social, and political discourses. Rap music, in particular, has made its way to mainstream media which is evident in the numerous films and movies that centers on what was once a part of an underground culture. Scholars explain that the popularity of hip-hop in both music and films are partly due to its potential to disseminate information, address an issue, and promote social change. Tinson and McBride (2013), for example, note that hip-hop is a “…form of critical education at the intersection of, and inseparable from political engagement” (1). Scholars further note that hip-hop’s current state “…requires frequent accounting of its engagement with the social, political, and cultural climate

In the documentary about hip hop culture affecting all aspects of American culture the one scene that stood out to me the most was when the young white male was driving down the street in his truck-playing hip hop music. This scene stood out to me because it reminded me a lot about myself being an avid hip hop fan in America. It made me think about how much hip-hop really has affected my own life. I use this music to escape from reality and learn more about the life of the artist that I am listening to. I think that listening about how some of these artists came from nothing and now they are so successful is so interesting. I think that hip-hop has had a huge effect on pop culture today and it has become very hard for young people to stray away from it because it can be found everywhere in society. These artists are being looked at as icons now and that does not seem to be changing for a long time to come.

Hip Hop is seen as something inspiring, but most people see it as a way to speak out the truth about a problem. As in “Hip Hop planet” being able say the truth can sometimes worsen any situation because sometimes what we say can promote violence and whatever happens after is not in our control. The essay is about how hip hop has changed into speaking out the issues that need to be taken care of in order to maintain a proper society. McBride talked about how rappers use violent lyrics to degrade women and gays and because of this it shows how the music has evolved into something entirely different that no one would have ever expected to have changed. In James McBride's essay “Hip Hop Planet,” he argues that hip hop has a negative influence on American Culture despite people thinking of it as inspirational and how people live through different experiences in life despite of your race.

Ever since its birth in the 1970s in West Bronx, Hip Hop has been known as “Gangsta” music and most commonly associated with black culture. Since its creation it has become a fast growing genre of music and has growing fame all over the world. The popularity of it has increased to all races, age and gender. However the growing popularity of hip hop has come with several controversies among scholars. Some scholars argue that the growing popularity of the genre is very helpful to low income families who can use this as their outlet into going to Universities, on the other side some believe associating the genre to black culture is bad for the culture as a whole and they should not be associated together.

The article “Hip Hop Planet” by James McBride is about how hip hop is not his favorite type of music but, it needs to be heard. McBride shows us this by explaining that he avoided hip hop most of his life. In the article McBride says that he basically ignored “the most important cultural event in my lifetime.” James informs us that hip hop has influenced the world globally and that it has become a phenomenon. Furthermore, McBride made clear that he eventually realized that hip hop is much more than just music, it has a message. Hip hop has a message that reveals the social inequalities of our nations. In addition, McBride wants people to keep an open mind about hip hop and new thing that they may not be used to. In conclusion, he declares hip

Hip-hop culture has been identified by the lifestyles of many. Hip-hop encouraged violence throughout society. Hip-hop songs promote violent behavior and some of them drugs. And They used degrading lyrics towards women.

In her essay “hip hop’s betrayal of black women,” Jennifer McLune implies that “(h)ip-hop owes its success to the ideology of women-hating” (193). She does not agree with Kevin Powell’s article that hip-hop does not mean to “offend” black women, but instead artists are only letting out their temper throughout their music. McLune feels infuriated that many artists in hip hop (including black men) rap about their community and downgrade their own women. In the hip-hop genre, sexism is mainly used, not only by black men but also by many other race hip-hop artists. Artists assume that women-hating in their rap songs will be accepted by women, but do not realize that it is affecting all women. Some lyrics focus on success and making money. Nevertheless,

Royalty cant buy you loyalty, tell me if I lose everything would you be over me? Hip-Hop, according to Dictionary.com is defined “The popular subculture of big-city teenagers, which includes rap music, break dancing and graffity art. Kodak Black, Kevin Gates and Lil Uzi Vert greatly contributes to this genre.

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.

This movie was a broad discussion about hip-hop music (or more specifically gangster rap) and what kind of social issues the music not only showcases but seems to promote. The producer of this film, Byron Hunt, interviewed people involved in all aspects of the hip-hop industry, including famous rappers, to try to get to the bottom of this.

Even though my parents listened to KRS-One and Public Enemy, while my sisters engaged in Kanye West and OutKast, both eras of the hip hop genre purpose were to discuss economic problems and push people toward the right path of life. In Yan Dominic Searcy’s article, he says, “Many rappers grew up amid violence, police harassment, poverty, drugs and promiscuity. Rappers will tell you they rap about what they know. If the community wants to change rap lyrics, the community must change reality.” (Searcy) In this quote, the author is details that the only reason hip hop artist write about things that are real and actually going on in the world, so we should put blame on the community on violence. Searcy goes on to

Music, like most forms of art, often shares subjective views with its listeners. An individual favourite song may be the next person's most hated song. Although different factors come into play when determining if music is good or not, there is no concrete definition of ‘good music’. Society continues to label certain songs originating from genres such as hip-hop, blaming the music for violent acts committed within society. In 1994, a 17-year-old shot a cop in Milwaukee, telling police that he was inspired by a Tupac Shakur song to kill the officer (Thurtle, 10 Attempts To Blame Murder On Music).