Hip-Hop is a cultural movement that emerged from the dilapidated South Bronx, New York in the early 1970’s. The art of rapping has been a conversation header for many years. The main topic one will hear about rap is whether the newer rappers and rap songs are anywhere as good as the older rappers and rap songs. Each age group defends the rappers of their time because what you grow up with is what you feel like is best. Rap has changed throughout the times, adapting to the different age groups so they can continue to make money.
In the 1970s Hip Hop was just mixed beats and words that hyped up the crowed at the local block parties. It was made of 4 main articles rapping, scratching, breakdancing, and graffiti writing, in the 1970-1990s rapping was pure entertainment and knowledge. Popular rappers of those times would say things that would inspire and awaken people in their time of darkness. When riots and violence were everywhere people needed the words of Run D.M.C, KRS one, Snoop Doggy Dogg, and LL Cool J to educate , direct, entertain, and inspire them to do better.
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Then became a more serious and thoughtful source of political voice. To a dark and grim excuse for letting out the pent up violence and anger. Today’s rap is more about the materialistic things that the rapper has accumulated throughout their rise to fame. The styles of today’s rap music and the intent of the lyrics have been completely molded through the changes rap culture has undergone in its past,
1 Hip-Hop is a style of popular music of US black and Hispanic origin, featuring rap with an electronic backing. “Like any style of music, hip hop has roots in other forms, and its evolution was shaped by many different artists, but there’s a case to be made that it came to life precisely on this day in 1973, at a birthday party in the recreation room of an apartment building in the west Bronx, New York City” (History.com Staff). As Hip-Hop is such a broad genre in music, there are many sub-divisions as well. I find my three favorite artist of these sub-divisions to be Biggie Smalls, Future, LL Cool J.
It’s composed of the new generation of rappers who have gained inspiration and skills from the pioneers of hip-hop and rap as well as creating new techniques in music. While classic rap focused on experimenting with themes and language, modern rap focuses on the rapper’s lavish lifestyle and boasting their wealth, fame and sexual prowess. The transition of rap is somewhat big as it shows how it went from inclusivity and community based themes into self-centeredness and looking down on others. Majority of the rappers have stopped rapping about equality and rather they are degrading women and even groups of people. The world and the lavish lifestyle of celebrities are slowly starting to take over the minds of the youth.
Very similarly to rhythm and blues, rock and roll and the Civil Rights Movement inspired hip hop in a variety of different ways, as African American artists worked to find a space for themselves in the music industry. Not many people find a correlation between African Americans and Rock and Roll, but there’s surprisingly a deep history, and it’s not just white people who developed this specific genre, but there was African American-centered and ghetto-centered versions of rock and roll. “There are enough similarities between, for instance, rock & roll and commercial rap, especially rock rap, to make a case for critically engaging them as interracial arenas where black and white youths, among others, put forward messages and advanced ideals that have been not only informed by the Civil Rights Movement and the Hip Hop Movement, respectively, but in turn, even if only implicitly, have influenced the rhetoric, politics, and aesthetics of these movements” (Rabaka 99). There was a strong transition from this type of “rock rap” music being labeled as ghetto music, into universal music that people of all races and ethnicities would listen to.
All of these techniques are fundamental parts of hip-hop. As the years progressed, more elements contributed to hip-hop. Hip-hop formed as a result of the harsh and tiring conditions of the South Bronx. This new movement combatted “the violence...and the negativity that come out of gang cultures” (Swanson, 2010). This makes sense because the people living in the South Bronx had to live through such harsh conditions and needed a break from this stressful life.
From the dark ghetto of Compton, LA to a constant spotlight in the mainstream media. We sat down with one of the most authentic rappers of our time to discuss why the Compton rapper Kendrick Lamar’s, “To pimp a butterfly” has been dubbed as the album that saved Hip-hop and how shows such as the X Factor have changed the raw original underground sound and meaning of Hip-hop into a softer more commercial sound. Born out of the Bronx, New York, Hip-hop with its rhythmic music accompanies by rap has since its origin in the 1970’s swiftly taken its place as the most listened to genera in the urban community. However with this swift rise as a prominent music genre came the commercialized sound which many of the new artists nowadays has. Though many have speculated that the drop of To pimp a butterfly, is a start of hip-hop’s the long road back to its original sound.
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.
The block parties, graffiti art, rapping, disc jockeying and diverse forms of dancing built Hip Hop by the black youth. They expressed their feelings, thoughts, but most importantly the problems they had to face, which were related to their race, gender and social positions. The rights that were given to black people during and after the Civil Rights Movement left the following generations at a lack of how to continue the fight for black rights. Hip Hop gave them this platform and with the usage of black nationalism, Hip Hop can explore the challenges that confront American-Americans in the post-Civil Rights Movement era. In the 1990’s Hip Hop lived its prime, sub genres started to appear and famous groups, MCs led the whole community, providing a voice to a group of people trying to deliver their message.
1.) Define Hip Hop. Explain its popularity. Name 3 prominent artists. Hip hop is a cultural movement that originated in African American and Latin American communities in the Bronx, New York City in the late 1970s.
¨If Hip Hop has the ability to corrupt minds, it also has the ability to uplift them.¨ Hip hop music, also called rap music, is a music genre developed in the United States by African Americans consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted. Mainstream hip hop culture is also filled with misogyny and negative images of women. These artists are unaware that sexism has been forced onto them through the brainwashing from the media, which is controlled by a patriarchal society. Conversely, feminism is the belief that both genders should have equal power.
Hip hop includes, rapping, graffiti, breakdancing, and DJing. It grew in popularity after a lot of house parties and basement parties. DJ Hollywood and DJ Afrika Bambaataa are known for coming up with the term "hip-hop". What Hip hop containes, is considered “artistic variations” of street gang competition and one’s ability to be better. Hip hop is broken down into four main subgroups Rapping or MCing
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. The relentless wave of heroic new rappers arriving on the scene formed the golden age of hip hop in the 1980s, a newfound voice which rose from the impoverished ghettos during the 1980s and inspiring a generation of black youth to fight the police brutality they faced on a daily basis.
The Impact of Hip-Hop 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.
Some of the main cores of Beat Street are the music, dancing, and graffiti art works – all of which are part of hip-hop culture. Scholars note that hip-hop as a movement originated in roots from African American traditions and are mainly used to express their culture as well as identity (Blanchard 24). Rap music, for example, comes from West Africa’s “nommo.” This idea refers to the power to deliver words to act upon objects and to bring it to life. The historical and traditional underpinning of rap, therefore, becomes representative of the rich and distinctive culture of African Americans.
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)
The birth of hip hop took place in the Bronx, New York , during a time of poverty , Initially when Hip Hop first came about no one would have imagined how vastly and quickly it grew nor would they have predicted the influence on society it has today. This particular enriched and animated, genre of music went from the local backwoods of the projects to a multi millionaire industry. If you ask most people today their definition of Hip Hop , generally they would say a cool rhyming scheme with a hook and a catchy tune, which is not too far off. But it is much deeper than that .Hip hop is a form of expression like a factory , if you may .