Beginning in the 1970s as a part of the underground music scene in New York City, hip-hop was as violent in its rhythms and lyrics as the world that spawned it. Racial tensions, neglect for lower class citizens, white flight, and job loss within the city created what turned out to be the perfect blend in order for the rising generation to voice their thoughts and words of protest through music. A decidedly violent music in its performances and even more so in how the words were spoken. Although hip-hop and rap did not become mainstream until the 1990s, its meteoric rise within the United States and subsequently the majority of the world was both revolutionary and startling. Young people around the world took hold of the music, and put their …show more content…
Shabak Samech, a relatively famous rock band, experimented in rap in the 1990s but at this time it was still believed that it was impossible to make rapping using the Hebrew language sound appealing, and the band decided not to include any political or religious messages in the music, something that has since come to characterize the whole hip-hop movement of Israel. In the early 2000s with the rise of Hadag Nahash, as well as Subliminal, Israeli hip-hop suddenly became perhaps the best example of glocalization through music in the world. The influence of “Americanization” in the country was of course evident, but Israeli hip-hop quickly separated itself with its willingness to take intensely controversial issues of religion and politics that weren’t covered in the USA. In this way, today’s musicians in Israel have reinterpreted inherently American music so they may share their personal messages, whatever they may be. Delving further into Israeli hip-hop and rap, it quickly becomes evident that to the performers and songwriters, it isn’t so much about the finished product as it is about the message they share and how the journey taken toward the final product. Unlike most cultures that focus on the world around them while reinterpreting hip-hop, Israeli artists see the music as an “articulation of one’s true self.”(((()))) Despite being severely opinionated in their views, rappers goal is …show more content…
Founded as a Jewish state in 1948, religion, as well as the tensions surrounding it, has always been a part of Israel’s history. Despite this, no genre of music except those explicitly religious addressed topics surrounding it until the introduction of hip-hop into the musical landscape nearly fifty years after the creation of the country. Through this, tensions can now be elaborated upon, with Jewish rappers pressing issues such as keeping Shabbat laws and being anti-Palestine, while secular and Islamic artists stress the ways in which Judaism controls their lives and choose to use the music as a form of protest. Since religion is so tightly intertwined with everyday happenings in Israel, the fact that these religious aspects seem so political is evident. Social tensions and politics within the country are thus more personal virtually anywhere else in the world. This is what makes Israeli hip-hop a prime example of glocalization through music. Covered in such songs as Hadag Nahash’s “Shirat Hasticker” (Sticker Song), which raps various bumper sticker lines found across the multiple localities of Israel, the expression of it citizens directly affects how local cultures have such an influence over the music
Hip-hop culture has been a global phenomenon for more than twenty years. When introduced into the American culture, the black culture felt that hip-hop had originated from the African American community. The black community was being denied their cultural rights by the supremacy of the white people, but hip-hop gave the community the encouragement to show their black pride and televise the struggles they were facing in the world. The failure and declining of the movements, the influential, rebellious, and powerful music is what reshaped Black Nationalism, unity and to signify the struggle. The African Americans who suffered from social and political problems found that they similar relations to the political movements, which allowed the blacks to be able to voice their opinions and to acknowledge their culture openly.
In 21st century North America, there is a strange, seemingly-unanimous idea that, to fit the norm, one must be white, Christian and male. While, over the course of the latter 20th century and in the past decade, this has changed, the norm is very much still Christian and male; African-Americans now fit into the “All-American” stereotype, for the most part. However, there are, of course, outliers – deviants from the standard norm; these outliers make one wonder what the norm truly is, why it is so, how did it get to be that way, and what the norm will be in the future. Kanye West's 2004 single titled “Jesus Walks” is written as a ode to Jesus helping him and every other Christian through hard times in their life. Sampling the same beat and background vocals, Lupe Fiasco customizes West's song to fit his own spirituality, in “Muhammad Walks.” Finally, Matisyahu employs his gift of verse and beat-boxing to distribute a rap about his religion, Judaism, over the airwaves and on television. Both Matisyahu and Lupe Fiasco challenge the societal norm of Christianity, while Kanye West solidifies the claim that Christianity is a syncretic religion.
Popular in the united states, the rhythmic music known as rap can be traced back generations to it’s ethnic origins. Centuries before hip hop music existed, the Tribes of West Africa were delivering stories rhythmically, over drums and sparse instrumentation. Connections between tribal story telling virtuals and rap music have been acknowledged by many modern day "tribes", spoken word artists, mainstream news sources, and academics. In the 21st century, rappers rap about their lives and how the place they grew up in was very hard and that is why many people think like rap music so much, because there are many connections rapper can relate to.
“The Hip Hop Wars What We Talk About - And Why It Matters” by Tricia Rose explores what hip hop has done to society in recent years and what people think it has caused. Though it has become one of the most commercially successful genres in mainstream music Tricia Rose explains that the topics in hip hop music have narrowed. Commercial hip hop mainly consist of black gangstas, thugs, pimps, and hoes. In the book she looks into the different points of views of people who think whether hip hop invokes violence or if it reflects life in a black ghetto and if it slows down advancement for African Americans in US. The author goes back and forth with the opinion of the mass on hip hop, she says people view hip hop as a music like heavy metal which people associate with violence but she refutes most of these points by showing the positives of hip hop.
Light, Alan. "About a Salary or Reality? – Rap’s Recurrent Conflict." Rpt. in That’s the Joint!: The Hip-Hop Studies Reader. Ed. Murray Forman and Mark Anthony Neal. New York, NY: Routledge, 2004. 137-146. Print.
These articles depict the controversies of the hip hop industry and how that makes it difficult for one to succeed. Many of these complications and disputes may be invisible to the population, but these articles take the time to reveal them.
Hip-hop began in the undergrounds in Bronx New York in the early 1970s and has gradually grown to become mainstream music. According to Lori Selke a professional writer for Global post, “hip-hop is the term that refers to more than just a musical genre; it includes culture, dance, art, and even fashion” (Selke). Since it originated in the 1970’s, hip-hop has had profound influence on society, and has grown into the lives of listeners worldwide; hip-hop’s influential power is astonishing. Within the last decade, hip-hop artist like Jay-Z, Nas, and Young Jeezy helped to increase voting in the 2008 presidential campaign by informing a hip hop audience consisting of a majority of African Americans on soon to be 44th President of the United States, by using their voice and lyrics as their tool to encouraging people to stand up for a change by voting. According to Emmett Price in his book Hip Hop Culture (2006), “in the early years prior to the rise of recorded rap music via Sugar Hill Gang’s controversial “Rapper’s Delight” (1979) hip-hop was a growing culture driven by self-determination, a love for life, and a desire to have fun [through entertaining fans and expressing themself].” (Price) Although artists today accomplish the same things, the focus of the lyrics has changed consisting of “extolling violence, drug and alcohol use, and detailing sexual exploits” (Selke). If one were to observe the most popular music from artist in the 80’s until now, they would notice a definitive change in its overall message. If hip-hop continues on its current route it will become a musical genre known solely for its references to sex, drugs, and violence.
Prophets of the Hood is the most detailed and a brilliantly original study to date of hip hop as complicated and innovative literary story form. It is written with a refreshing harmonious combination savvy significance rigor as well as brave and creative narrative verve. Imani Perry’s research is an interesting analysis of late twentieth century in American great culture. Prophet of the hood is an excellent and unique book. It draws up a clear division between the negatives and positives involved in hip hop. She takes the discussions of rap to a deeper and greater levels with an insightful analysis of the poetic and political features of the art form. Being a fan and a scholar, Perry is aware the art, tradition of hip hop through an analysis of the song lyrics.
Hip hop has multiple branches of style and is a culture of these. This essay will examine Hip Hop from the point of view of the following three popular music scholars, Johnson, Jeffries and Smitherman. It will delve deeper into their understanding of what hip hop is and its relation to the different people that identify with its message and contents. It will also identify the history of Hip hop and its transition into popular music. In particular this essay will focus on what hip hop represents in the black community and how it can be used as a social movement against inequalities faced by them. This will then open up the discussion for the how this has influenced society, and the impact it has had in terms of race issues which hip hop itself often represents through music.
Hip hop has permeated popular culture in an unprecedented fashion. Because of its crossover appeal, it is a great unifier of diverse populations. Although created by black youth on the streets, hip hop's influence has become well received by a number of different races in this country. A large number of the rap and hip hop audience is non-black. It has gone from the fringes, to the suburbs, and into the corporate boardrooms. Because it has become the fastest growing music genre in the U.S., companies and corporate giants have used its appeal to capitalize on it. Although critics of rap music and hip hop seem to be fixated on the messages of sex, violence, and harsh language, this genre offers a new paradigm of what can be (Lewis, 1998.) The potential of this art form to mend ethnic relations is substantial. Hip hop has challenged the system in ways that have unified individuals across a rich ethnic spectrum. This art form was once considered a fad has kept going strong for more than three decades. Generations consisting of Blacks, Whites, Latinos, and Asians have grown up immersed in hip-hop. Hip hop represents a realignment of America?s cultural aesthetics. Rap songs deliver a message, again and again, to keep it real. It has influenced young people of all races to search for excitement, artistic fulfillment, and a sense of identity by exploring the black underclass (Foreman, 2002). Though it is music, many people do not realize that it is much more than that. Hip hop is a form of art and culture, style, and language, and extension of commerce, and for many, a natural means of living. The purpose of this paper is to examine hip hop and its effect on American culture. Different aspects of hip hop will also be examined to shed some light that helps readers to what hip hop actually is. In order to see hip hop as a cultural influence we need to take a look at its history.
Hip hop’s rise to popularity has come at a price. It has been put under a magnifying glass as a result of its commercial success. Hip hop’s critics and fans alike have commented on the current state of hip hop through opinion pieces and books. Tricia Rose’s observation that “Hip Hop is in a terrible crisis” in her book The Hip Hop Wars Rose paints a picture of a culture in a dilemma. Rose describes an example that causes hip hop’s current state of crisis: how people discuss hip hop.
In Total Chaos, Jeff Chang references Harry Allen, a hip hop critic and self-proclaimed hip hop activist. Harry Allen compares the hip hop movement to the Big Bang and poses this complex question: “whether hip-hop is, in fact a closed universe-bound to recollapse, ultimately, in a fireball akin to its birth-or an open one, destined to expand forever, until it is cold, dark, and dead” (9). An often heard phase, “hip hop is dead,” refers to the high occurrence of gangster rap in mainstream hip hop. Today’s hip hop regularly features black youths posturing as rich thugs and indulging in expensive merchandise. The “hip hop is dead” perspective is based on the belief that hip hop was destined to become the model of youth resistance and social change. However, its political ambitions have yet to emerge, thus giving rise to hip hops’ criticisms. This essay will examine the past and present of hip hop in o...
Music is an art form and source of power. Many forms of music reflect culture and society, as well as, containing political content and social message. Music as social change has been highlighted throughout the 20th century. In the 1960s the United States saw political and socially oriented folk music discussing the Vietnam War and other social issues. In Jamaica during the 1970s and 1980s reggae developed out of the Ghetto’s of Trench town and expressed the social unrest of the poor and the need to over-through the oppressors. The 1980’s brought the newest development in social and political music, the emergence of hip-hop and rap. This urban musical art form that was developed in New York City has now taken over the mainstream, but originated as an empowering art form for urban youth and emerging working class.
>. Dixon, Travis L., TaKeshia Brooks. “Rap Music and Rap Audiences: Controversial Themes, Psychological Effects and Political Resistance.” Perspectives. 7 April 2009. .
Not only is hip-hop a way of expressing ones feelings or views, but it is a part of the urban culture and can be used as a communication tool. Slang originally came from hip-hop music and has become a very popular use in today’s society, especially the urban parts. Hip-hop is a standout amongst the most compelling musical sorts on the globe. There are rappers everywhere that know what amount of an impact their music can have. Some entertainers attempt to utilize that force of impact to do great (Ruiz INT).