Hip Hop Music
Hip hop music is the second most popular music genre in the United States and most popular with streaming services such as Spotify and YouTube as of 2016. It has also become mainstream over the years, merging with a little bit of pop. There are those who say hip hop music is damaging to young minds and society because of the violence laced within the lyrics. Although they are others who say its beneficial to young people and society to listen to those lyrics and grasp the meaning of them. The topic of Hip Hop Music has a deep history to consider, and there will always be both supporters and critics who continue to debate this topic
Hip hop music originated in the Bronx of New York City over 45 years ago in the 1970 's. According
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Hip hop music educates, and informs people about what actually goes on in the streets. Especially urban areas filled with poverty and crime. "I think often the music is a reflection of their lives." Sara Sherr says, who has hosted monthly women 's rock series, Sugar town, for 11 years. "I don’t think it 's the sole cause of violence. Violence has always existed in our society. I don’t think it was invented by rap videos, Marilyn Mason and Columbine, metal, etc., etc. Go back further and there 's Chuck D, front man of the influential rap group Public Enemy, famously declared that hip-hop music had become the "CNN of black America" ("Hip Hop Culture"p.3). Hip hop music gives an insight to other peoples lives and can make a person thing in a different perspective possibly positive that, otherwise would have been negative. "Just as other music forms are not homogeneous, neither is rap music. It is far too simplistic to portray rap artists as perpetrators of behavior deemed socially deviant without placing the artists and their life experiences in context" (Journal Of Negro Education. p.2). Those in favor of hip hop music are the music industry itself. Hip hop music is the largest growing genre of music in the United States, and the second in popularity, rock coming in first. The more music artists make, the more people consume, the richer companies get, and the happier everyone is. Young people in their teens to mid-20 's are projected to listen to the music more than any other …show more content…
Hip hop music it 's self has an overwhelmingly misogynistic portrayal of females in particular. "Young girls are especially vulnerable to hip-hops hyper sexual message" (Koehler-Derrick. p.1). The hip hop world is primarily dominated by men. Therefor, hip hop music videos exhibit women dressed in provocative clothing, dancing or background singing, while the men rap or sing. Songs such as Sir Mix A Lot "Baby Got Back", and Nelly "Tip-Drill" are examples of such music videos. Republican Vice President Dan Quayle called rapper Tupac 's acclaimed first album "2Pacalyse Now", a disgrace to American music in 1992
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. The types of images that are accepted in hip-hop are the ones that make you look as tough as you possibly can be. If you display a soft side at all you are frowned upon by society so it is very important for these artists to keep their tough guy image on them at all
Following its birth, hip-hop promoted important social and political causes. Hip-Hop artists utilize their lyrics and videos to convey messages to their audiences. It has become common today to dismiss the impacts women have made on the hip-hop culture. Nevertheless, men have not only used hip-hop to promote important causes but also females. Since it's beginning Queen Latifah has used hip hop to promote issues important to females to an audiences who do not traditionally view females as significant leaders.
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 If you ask people who are uneducated in Hip Hop culture you’d hear things such as ignorance, violence, and pestilence. If you ask someone who’s studied, loves and appreciates Hip Hop culture you’d hear things such as aspire, desire, and inspire. Hip Hop is meant to express not to suppress.
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.
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.
Hip-hop songs promote violent behavior and some of them drugs. And They used degrading lyrics towards women. An example of hip-hop songs promoting violence and bad behavior is this song: "You heard of us, official Queensbridge murderers. The mobb comes equipped for warfare beware.
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.
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
“Beyond Beats and Rhymes” Summary 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. Some of the most prominent issues discussed in the film were the over-sexualization of women, gun violence, and anti- homophobic attitudes. Hunt would ask those involved in the industry about why they think these themes are so prevalent.
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 .