Evolving Dynamics: Hip Hop Music Through the Decades

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Hip hop music has gone through many changes since the 1980’s and continues to change today with new artists, styles, and sounds. Over the past forty years hip hop music has been a way for fans to relate to artist through their songs because many hip hop artist lived and experience the same things that their fans did. Hip hop has changed over the years because of changes and improvement of the average American. Hip hop music reflects on the current situation in American life and over the past forty years hip hop changes with the current times and views of hip hop fans in America. The improvement of more Americans since the 1980’s has help grow the access to hip hop music as well as the popularity of hip hop music and artists. In the 1980’s …show more content…

Many artist and groups in hip hop groups like N.W.A and Ice-T had ties to gang activities and spoke violence in their songs. Many hip hop groups during this time played songs that were considered to be “gangsta rap” songs. Gangsta rap was not only about the music but it was about the lifestyle and “thug’ attitude. “Between 1984 and 1994 the homicide rate for black males aged 18 to 24 doubled compared to years prior” (Robinson). Violence and police brutality towards blacks was big in hip hop during the 1980’s and 1990’s, like it is today. Many black hip hop artist and fans felt that they were being targeted and treated differently by police compared to whites in American because of their skin color and what neighborhood they lived in. In 1988 N.W.A song Fuck The Police came out and the song title speaks for itself in how N.W.A felt towards the police, “I’m brown and not the other color so police think they have the authority to kill a minority”. This song spoke to minorities in America who felt this way towards …show more content…

Hip hop music can been listened to anywhere and can be listen to by anyone who has the internet and is able to. Popular hip hop artist today like Kendrick Lamar, ASAP Rocky, Jay Z and Kanye West are able to have their music played and their styles, beliefs, and attitudes be heard and seen where ever a fan chooses to do so. Fans can follow hip hop artist daily through social media sites like Facebook and twitter and hip hop artists are able to gain popularity faster than ever before. Hip hop today still acts as a format for artist to show support towards problems in American society. For example hip hop artists like Kanye West and Kid Cudi have shown support for blacks in America, with campaigns and slogans like, Black Lives Matter and I Can’t Breath that are protest against police killing innocent black

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