The emergence of Hip Hop and Rap took America by storm causing an overwhelming amount of controversy throughout the common American culture of the 1980s and 1990s. From several different perspectives the new genre was seen as a disturbance which created violence and was quickly rejected by fear. Some promoters refused to book the genres artist and radio stations refused to play the music. For others it was an expression of rhythm and poetry. For others it was an outlet that addressed racism, education, sexism, drug use, and spiritual uplift for the African American community. The music has called for social relevance, originality, and a dedication to art that tends to challenge the mainstream music of the common American culture.
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A dominant theme of Rap and Hip Hop being an outlet began to reoccur. In a 1989 article in the New York Times titled: “Rap as Public Forum on Matters of Life and Death,” John Leland put into perspective of how the music became the way to address problems in the black community. The article starts off by talking about the movie Colors, a film focused on the lives of gang members who died because of the path they choose. With that the theme-song of the movie was preformed by several popular artist at that time Ice-T, a former gang member who was delivering an apology for the violence that had been created through gang relations. The article then goes on to quickly evaluate the music at that time and describes records to be punctuating with gunshots, filled with stories of pimping women and using terms such as spraying bullets to convey messages to listeners. However, Leland also includes how a movement was created to stop the violence. The movement calls for an end to black-on-black violence. The emergence of rap and hip hop in America began giving young people a chance to hear other young people call for change and a chance to show others that the music is always a voice for change. In addition, the article identified lyrics in songs where the gangster lifestyle was no longer glamorized using lyrics such as, “I was known as the gangster/ but believe me, that is no fun,” …show more content…
Another article by Jon Pareles titled: “Have Rap Concerts Become Inextricable Linked to Violence?” examines the relationship between Hip-Hop and Rap with violence. He begins with describing what entering a rap concert would be like; a long line on policemen, a metal detector, then being frisked and more police and security guards lining the halls. He also explains how violence and the music has lead to hightened racial tensions among the African American communities. However, those views have been seen as racist. The violence appears to take place in diifernt ways such as, fighting, vandalizing property, and disturbances that occur when people are getting in. At a Who concert in Cincinnati, 11 death were reported due to trapmling. He then goes on to say that violence occurs when the music hypens the crowd. In addition, the article states how violent people may be drawn to the crowd and the tension in the atmosphere casued by the presence of the police builds
Lorissa Figueroa Professor Patton ENG 1A 7 February 2018 More than what Rap Portrays When we listen to rap music we don’t really pay attention to how lyrics can affect people as often as we should. Since rap music has started it always influenced violence and sexism, but not everyone notices how it influences the black community. Joan Morgan explains this in a passage of her book When Chickenheads Come to Roost: A Hip-Hop Feminist Breaks It Down (1999).
Many artists who grew up in the drug trade during the 1980s would become labeled as veterans because it was the sole option they had to strive economically. And through this time period, hip hop will alter to a medium in response to a life of drug dealing, police brutality, violence, and incarceration. The effects of this period will lead to the mass incarcerations of African Americans and the lives of people being ruined, which will be further explored. By the middle of the 1990s, the United States Incarceration rate surpassed the rest of the world, damaging a large portion of the African American community.
Hip Hop has been around for generations, but over the years the meaning behind the music genre continues to change as old artists vanish and new artist step up and take the throne. In the reading Hip Hop’s Betrayal of Black Women by Jennifer McLune explains how women are betrayed in the music industry, and how from this the world perceives to see them afterwards. Mainly the idea behind all of this is that hip hop owes it’s success to the ideology of women hating. The purpose of this article is trying to convince people that hip hop is sexist and degrading. Which in some sense is true from an african american women of myself.
The music offers insight into how different groups and cultures interacted in the United States and that in turn can explain the music’s unique sound and popularity. While the genre no longer reflects racial relations in the US today, that message still exists in other forms of music, such as rap, soul, etc., created by artists all over the
Though within recent times, some media has begun to counter these negative portrayals of African Americans such as the hit T.V show “Empire” that effectively captures the success of the people within the black community. The first piece to be examined is a song written and sung by the N.W.A. “Straight Outta Compton” in 1988 details the struggles of being an African American on the streets within downtown Los Angeles. (Sample song plays). The song is an exaggerated and loose representation of the reality of living in everyday Compton and seeing African Americans commit crimes and kill others.
Another point I think was interesting in the essay was how hip-hop constantly switches from seriousness to unseriousness. In rap and hip-hop artists can go from threatening to playful in one verse, the essay claims that this quality of the genre allows is to “push the boundaries of the political, in the process redefining the very structures of resistance” (15). This is why, the essay claims, rap and hip-hop are so influential in shaping opinions regarding resisting dominant
Hip Hop was the wildfire that started in the South Bronx and whose flames leapt up around the world crying out for change. James McBride’s Hip Hop Planet focuses on his personal interactions with the development of Hip Hop culture and his changing interpretations of the world wide movement. Many of his encounters and mentions in the text concern young black males and his writing follows an evolution in the representation of this specific social group. He initially portrays them as arrogant, poor, and uneducated but eventually develops their image to include the positive effects of their culture in an attempt to negate their historical misrepresentation.
When looking at the culture of hip hop, one must delve into the history of the South Bronx and the notorious gang wars that emerged from the suffering wasteland. In the early 70s, gang violence ruled the streets of the South Bronx. With tensions high due to the lack of help from the government, violence was a common release of pent up frustration and anger. Death encircled the area, but in a way it brought upon a necessary change. With the death of a member from the Ghetto Brothers, a crew who spoke against violence and urged the people to join forces, gangs such as Savage Skulls, and other highly organized, Latino and black gangs nearly went to war with each other in 1971.
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.
In Hip Hop Music the portrayal of women is not only negative, but it can also be extremely violent. An example of this can be seen in songs from popular artists such as 50 cent who raps in his song P.I.M.P I was born to break a bitch (cited in Rose 2008). This is furthered by Weitzer, R. and. Kubrin, C. (2009) who stated that many rappers take pride in inflicting violence against women. Attitudes like this are harmful due to the fact they are distributing negative and violent depictions of women to vast amounts of people.
To understand the complexity and influence of Kanye West, one must grasp the context of the music industry at his arrival. Hip hop has become one of the most popular forms of music of the 21st century. Unfortunately, rapping was not always considered this beloved genre of music like it is today. In the 80s and 90s, hip hop had an extremely ardent fan base because many critics considered the genre as “gangsta” or “hood” music. This criticism emerged, “with the mainstream success of gangsta rap, where drugs, violence, and misogyny became more prominent” (Holly).
Hip-hop has become an engrained aspect of American culture. The violence shown in rapping (component of hip-hop) allow for audiences to be exposed to more aggressive ideas. Nelson George, author of Hip Hop America, mentions “now we know that rap music, and hip hop style as a whole, has utterly broken through from its ghetto roots to assert a lasting influence on American clothing, magazine publishing, television, language, sexuality, and social policy…” (George, 1998). Hip Hop America, is centered around hip-hop in America and the effects hip-hop places on American culture.
Hip Hop has been a cultural icon in America since the early 1970s. Through the years, it’s changed over time. It all started with people carrying big radios and wearing Adidas to tight jeans and “mumble rappers”. Hip hop started as “just another type of music,” but as time went on, it has turned into a way for people to be vocal about their opinions. All of a sudden, people just thought hip hop was about sex and drugs.
Originating as an outlet for African-American youth in low-income areas, hip-hop has become a behemoth of the music industry and an industry in and of itself. Since then, the genre has gone through too many changes and reinventions to count. Some of the biggest changes in the scene include rapping styles and methods of production. The big names in hip-hop also vary from decade to decade with artists constantly falling in and out of relevancy. With its humble beginnings in the Bronx during the 70’s, it’s hard to say if anyone around during its formation could have known how big it would be and how much it would change in 30-40 years time.
The musical characteristics of Rap and Hip-Hop are quite dissimilar. Rap is all about combining poetry and rhyming on top of a musical beat. The subject matter of rap can cover an infinite range of topics, such as broken relationships and international politics. Sometime between the 1970s and 1980s, rappers provided public and social commentary on societal issues that were being overlooked by the mainstream media. Unfortunately, in the years that followed, rap was developed into being more focused on the monster that is consumer commercialism, so it is hard to find profound meaning within the contents of most of today’s rap music.