Originally, the meaning of the word rap was to strike or hit, which is rather ironic looking at how violence is expressed through rap today. The definition changed over time, and a few centuries later, it became a word meaning to talk or have a conversation. Around the 1960’s people from black communities began using it as a slang word in the same context, and during the 1970’s the word became a term representing a new musical style where words were performed rhythmically, often to an instrumental backing. The beginning of this new culture that we now know today as Hip-Hip was founded in the Bronx, New York. Today, rap music is undeniably one of the most popular music genres, dominating all music charts.
Historically, music has always been a medium for social expression taking the form of everything from hope to anger. Music is a form of art, introducing us to new ideas, making us think, feel and react. It is food for our minds, souls and hearts. Rap started out as a platform for the African American youth to express themselves through this form of poetry about their life experiences. Since it was founded, hip-hop has been a trend setter, but not always in a positive manner. Emerging in rap in the late 1980’s, misogyny is now a constant feature in rap music today. Misogyny can be defined simply as the hatred of women. It reduces women to mere objects to be used and abused by men as they wish. Misogyny in the hip hop culture supports, glorifies and normalizes the oppression
The media has underrepresented Hip-pop by sending negative stereotypes towards teenagers. Therefore, the hip-pop cultures and movements of the 1880s through the 2000s had a negative impact on contemporary young African American identities. This is due to the fact that Hip-pop influences the youth to do better than being negatively impacted by the society. In addition, hip hop teaches the youth that social media is going to throw negative stereotypes, in which teens could be aware of. Furthermore, hip-pop allows African Americans to overcome stereotypes through expression of the music and culture.
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.
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.
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.
Recently, misogynistic behavior has been present in rap music. Misogyny in rap music has been more beneficial than harmful to men and women by providing them with opportunities for nourishment, allowing each of them to enhance their standards of living. Misogyny came from the general belief that women have to abide by and fulfill their roles. For a period of time, men were viewed as strong and dominant people. Women were seen as weak and incapable of handling a household.
Most people believe that “lyrics should appeal to us, not degrade us” (Glidden3). There is controversy surrounding “some artists accused of rapping sexually inflammatory lyrics” (Encyclopedia4). The actions of a few is causing people to put a bad label on rap in a whole. This bias opinion is becoming the cause of listeners to believe that rap lyrics “are setting a bad example for kids and teens” (Glidden2). I can understand where this may lead to critics to misapply such distaste to the rap form, but “there are rap artists who don’t use offensive language or portray women in a negative light” (Glidden1).
So why is hip hop exploding worldwide? When listeners were asked why they listen to hip hop through a website called Genius which lets listeners interpret lyrics and engage in conversations. The audience respond, one user who goes by “the1elment” stated, “I like rap for most part because it shows the rough side of things its not talking about living in a dream world where your neighbors are awesome people and everything is just perfect…I live in such a nice neighborhood with amazing parents and family and through rap I learn more about the streets and shit that I have never really seen or gone through and even though I can’t relate i'm just fascinated by the culture of the music and lifestyles pretty deep topic…”. The user explains why he listens to hip hop, and like many other comments on the website. They use hip hop to gain knowledge of what the rappers talk about.
¨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.
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.
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.
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 .
The Hip hop industry consists of mostly African American musicians. Since blacks are often alienated in society, their music seems to be too. People often give rappers negative labels such as “gangster” or “thug”, which are discriminatory words that people have often used to describe African Americans in the media. There is an everlasting double standard in music. as people bash rap music for being sexist and violent, other genres of music such as country or alternative have the same themes, but they’re vulgar lyrics go
Since rap music first appeared in the South Bronx of New York City in the early 1970s, it has been intertwined with American culture. Rap was popularized in mainstream music and media by young African Americans using it as a way of expression. Young people all throughout the country could identify with the rapper's use of rhymes to communicate the truth about their lives in the shape of a story. A style of political rap is used by modern day rappers. Where, the songs concentrate on current political events in society while affecting one's appearance, vocabulary, and manner of life.
Edwin Rahimi Research Paper From the underground streets of New York to the global stage, Hip Hop can be seen as one of the most influential genres of its time. As a style of music that ultimately originated from black street culture, much of its context can be pinpointed to the issues of political and social equality that are often kept in the dark. When Hip Hop emerged throughout the late 70s, new artists were experimenting with an advancement in technology and used various devices including turntables to create certain beats. As time went on, Hip Hop turned the page to more of a lyrical genre where artists ultimately began using words in their lyrics to convey a certain theme or message to the public eye.