Hip Hop And Cultural Analysis

When attending to music, two common themes tend to emerge – challenging societal norms and expressing life experiences. Hip hop, a musical genre commonly associated with people of African descent, subsists more than a form of music; hip hop reflects not only music, but cultures, language, fashions, and style. Upholding a distinct purpose to each individual, the hip hop genre reflects subjective pain and resentment, illustrated through personal expression. When considering hip hop’s reputation, it stands analytical to distinguish how music reflects the hybridity of cultures throughout the African diaspora and is evidenced through the Seattle Fandango Project and the artists in Seattle 's East African community. As discussed in Seattle’s East

While the generalized art form and purpose rest identical throughout societies, hip hop breeds a slightly altered presence, depending on the surrounding cultural challenges. For some individuals, such as Gabriel Teodros, hip hop sanctioned as a safe haven for alienated youth, who do not feel that they fit into societal expectations. To others, hip hop may exist as the opportunity to express concealed emotion, to fight back against societal discrimination, or merely to demonstrate their culture. As clarified, hip hop reflects a “literal level of travel,” meaning that while hip hop plainly travels from nation to nation, influencing diverse cultures and individuals, it retains a unique purpose (Macklin, 2013). Despite the hybridity of cultures, hip hop sanctions for individuals and a community to extend together, finding guidance and support in one another. As Teodros detailed, “Hip hop made me feel like I wasn’t alone - that I wasn’t crazy” (Macklin, 2013). Hip hop sanctions individual, who commonly experience discrimination and stigma, to uncover correspondence and strength in their

Music builds bridges across communities through constructing a sense of companionship, trust, and relatedness. The music experience disregards predisposition, labels, and stereotypes to converge on the community. By disregarding personal differences, music sanctions as a connection between the past and the present, bringing all individuals together. As discussed in the Seattle Fandango Project, music empowers individuals, not only on an individual level, but also through the ways in which these individuals pertain to a community. Through the community, musical expression raises awareness about African roots of respective musical genres by generating events that span across generations. This awareness about African roots demonstrates how dissimilar music genres flow together in society. When exploring for African roots, individuals use music to interpret how hip hop altered over time, through the impressions of other music genres, such as the collaboration of jazz and hip hop. Not necessarily how one genre manipulated another, but rather how the collaboration of two musical genres constructs a fresh, unique style of music. It subsists as the mixing of musical styles that demonstrates the respective musical genres. Hip hop does not reside as a confined musical style, but rather as a style with variation.