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.
Originally, James McBride dislikes the genre describing one of his most disturbing fears as having his daughter marry a rapper. It isn't until after he learns the history of Hip Hop that he respects and appreciates the music. According to the passage, Hip Hop " is not just for working-class whites, but also affluent, suburban kids who identify with this music with African-American roots." What once originated as a way to express the pain and deprivation felt
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 significance of this is to understand how people live through different experiences in life and if we don't come together and see the truth violence will be the only thing left that will bring us all
In the article “Hip-Hop Planet” by James McBride he explains first about the nightmare he has of his daughter coming home with a young reckless rapper guy with tattoos and golden teeth and McBride for a moment is taken back to the past when he was young and it comes to thought that he was in this young wanna be rappers shoes. As he goes on with life he contemplates of how his rap days are over but in time he comes to realize that he himself will still be surrounded with the cool beat sound of one rapper explaining his everyday hard life. James first time hearing hip-hop was at a party, and it escalated when one of James friend slapped a big guy who crashed the party followed by two other friends and what was strange was these guys differed
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
Chapter 1: What does the Civil Rights Movement gave to the African-Americans compared to Hip Hop as a subculture/movement.
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
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. When you take a look at hip hop artists and their music is ether a biography on their life and hardships , political statements or something anyone can relate too no matter the culture, nationality or race. For example, Eminem wrote albums on what people stories of him a unhealthy household,raising a daughter, and dealing with personal toxic flaws of his . Hip hop allows artists like him be able to put their feeling and thoughts onto paper without losing all the emotion it already has. Like stated before even
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.
Rap music is an expression of one’s feelings thorough poetry and instrumental. Although it has gained many accomplishments throughout society, it is still one of the most criticized genres of music. Rap music dose not promote violence; it only depicts the destruction that is happening all over America. Music should not be criticized based on its style.
Because the lyrics of many rap songs tell stories of an artist’s personal experience of their everyday lives growing up, urban youth can relate and connect to the lyrics because they see and experience very similar things. Listening to the artist’s lyrics about their own experiences can teach the listeners to not make stupid mistakes and if they continue to follow the right paths, they can achieve more and be successful like the rappers. Hip-Hop literacies can be applied in and outside of the classroom. Students can identify themselves through Hip-Hop culture. In the article, “You Don’t Have to Claim Her”, the author and English teacher Lauren Leigh Kelly, explains that women of all ages can use Hip-Hop to identify themselves despite the genre
Rap music has always been an intriguing topic in society. It was created in the 1970s and continues through the present. There have been drastic changes since the commercial success for the Sugar Hill Gang’s “Rappers Delight” in 1979. The way rappers convey the message is completely different
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. (Wahl, 1999)
Hip-hop music was initially developed in the late 1970s, only few people knew about its existence as it was created in the most unprivileged districts of New York City in America by African-American citizens. Hip-hop is not a bunch of entertaining words but a poetic language about issues around us, and movement within a culture interrelating ethnicities. The messages of rap music/hip hop tells stories of how life is in the streets dealing with drugs, crime, and violence. Most messages are a reflection of how the youth feels about the system, the police. Hip-hop constitutes of clothing, language (poetic) graffiti art, break dancing, Mcing/ rhyming and beatboxing.
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.