Ethics of The Music Industry Works Cited Not Included Hip-hop culture has been socially labeled as deviant, a counter-culture, un-American because of its lack of moral. Specifically, "gangsta rap" which glorifies guns, sex, violence, drug use and gang activity has been castigated. This type of rap promotes a nonconformist and rebel adaptive behavior. As a result, it gives hip-hop culture a deviant label. A simple definition of deviance is "behavior that does not conform to group-shared norms; behavior that (in some way) does not meet the expectations of a group or a society as a whole and is subject to social control" (Liska 2). Mr. Kirkland, along with rap entrepreneur Russell Simmons, Grammy award-winning Chuck D, Charles Fisher and the NAACP are major moral entrepreneurs of the nascent grass-roots reform movement and pillars to the hip hop culture industry. Raptivism, "At the core of their campaign is a conviction that amounts to heresy in some quarters of the rap world: Artistic images do influence behavior, especially when it comes to young people, and that the industry has a responsibility to counter the glorification that empowers kids, rather than landing them in jail" (Marks 1). The deviance label of rap music has created an atmosphere for moral panic in which big names in the hip hop culture are acting as morale entrepreneurs to counter-act and make a transformation. According to act-utilitarianism, the controversial lyrics of hip-hop artists may have a greater balance of good consequences over the bad consequences. Therefore, they create the greatest happiness within hip hop culture. The function of "raptivism" is feasible because of the potential power of this grass-roots movement to create a flux of positive m... ... middle of paper ... ...ing hip-hop's survival will be their choice. "Raptivism" aims to attain overall greatest happiness. It is a plan to overcome it's immoral image that larger society has labeled it to have. Russell Simmon's "raptivism" movement is the most acceptable choice due to the extremity of other possible solutions. One possible solution could be the censorship of hip-hop music, which has been proven unconstitutional and has never held up in court due to the constitution's freedom of speech amendment. Another solution is to leave hip-hop the way it is now. Creating this movement is an effective way to respond to the moral dilemmas and negative image that hip-hop has obtained, while not trying to censor nonconformists. Besides, it will be lead by the most influential leaders and creators of the industry, whom which also has support from the most respected and famous rappers.
In one of the chapters, ‘Where Did Our Love Go?’ the author reveals how blacks in America use the music to express their anger and commitment to emerge as great people in an unfair community. Most songs are written to educate the society on the negative effects of racism. They encourage the society to love one another and embrace unity. The human nature is founded through a social platform where philosophers claim that people were created to love one another and live with peace and unity. Through this book, it is clear that the blacks in the hip-hop generation are money minded. However, this is expected in a world where the economy is tough. The author claims that the youth are the people who are majorly affected by racism. Many of them have been arrested for pity mistakes which are magnified in the courts due to the impression that the society has on the black people. They engage in dirty activities like drug dealings that that put them on the wrong side of the
Hip-Hop became characterized by an aggressive tone marked by graphic descriptions of the harshness and diversity of inner-city life. Primarily a medium of popular entertainment, hip-hop also conveys the more serious voices of youth in the black community. Though the approaches of rappers became more varied in the latter half of the 1980s, message hip-hop remained a viable form for addressing the problems faced by the black community and means to solve those problems. The voices of "message" hip...
“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.
In the words of rapper Busta Rhymes, “hip-hop reflects the truth, and the problem is that hip-hop exposes a lot of the negative truth that society tries to conceal. It’s a platform where we could offer information, but it’s also an escape” Hip-hop is a culture that emerged from the Bronx, New York, during the early 1970s. Hip-Hop was a result of African American and Latino youth redirecting their hardships brought by marginalization from society to creativity in the forms of MCing, DJing, aerosol art, and breakdancing. Hip-hop serves as a vehicle for empowerment while transcending borders, skin color, and age. However, the paper will focus on hip-hop from the Chican@-Latin@ population in the United States. In the face of oppression, the Chican@-Latin@ population utilized hip hop music as a means to voice the community’s various issues, desires, and in the process empower its people.
Hip-Hop is a cultural movement that emerged from the dilapidated South Bronx, New York in the early 1970’s. The area’s mostly African American and Puerto Rican residents originated this uniquely American musical genre and culture that over the past four decades has developed into a global sensation impacting the formation of youth culture around the world. The South Bronx was a whirlpool of political, social, and economic upheaval in the years leading up to the inception of Hip-Hop. The early part of the 1970’s found many African American and Hispanic communities desperately seeking relief from the poverty, drug, and crime epidemics engulfing the gang dominated neighborhoods. Hip-Hop proved to be successful as both a creative outlet for expressing the struggles of life amidst the prevailing crime and violence as well as an enjoyable and cheap form of recreation.
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.
Hip hop originated in the ghetto areas of New York during the 1970’s and is a mixture of DJ, MC, B boy and Beat boxing. In his studies of defining hip hop, Jeffries concluded that these mixtures of art forms do not define hip hop but rather that Hip hop itself is a culture of these elements. “Hip-hop is like a culture, it’s a voice for black people to be heard. Our own style, our own music” (Jeffries. 2011; 28). Jefferies identifies hip hop as a social movement, which stems from the concept of ‘collective identity’ (Jefferries.2011; 27). This can be defined as “an individual’s cognitive, moral and emotional connection with a broader community” (Polletta and Jasper. 2001; 84). Which relate to Smitherman’s views that hip hop is a celebration of black culture uniting these individual to form a collective community. (Smitherman. 1997; 20) .These Theorists generally accept that hip hop is culture and it’s the production of its creators and the individuals who consu...
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.
Music reflects the times. In the 60's and 70's, musicians preached peace and empathy towards the human race. In the 80's music was a form of rebellion. Today, music has manifested itself into many different forms, one being "hip hop" more commonly known as "rap". In the early 80's, rap was about break-dancing and graffiti. Now, as we approach the year 2000, hip hop has become the most listened-to form of music nation-wide and many rap artists have adopted the new title of "pop-artists", pop. meaning "popular culture". A hip hop single recently took the number 1 spot on the Billboard charts for most sales recorded. The problem here is the message many rappers are telling the world. From the beginning, rappers have flaunted their money with the expensive cars seen in their videos and the thick gold chains they wear in public, not to mention the numerous references made to wealth in their lyrics. However, many rappers are telling tales of violence and wealth as one. In fact, there are more than 10 hip hop songs actually entitled "Crime Pays". In the chart topping single, "Money, Power, Respect", Yonkers based rapper DMX raps "hit him up/ split him up/ shut him up/ then watch him come/ get him up…CLICK, step back like I did work", portraying a beating, then murder, the "CLICK" being the sound made by the trigger of a gun. The chorus then goes on to proclaim "Money, Power, Respect,...
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...
In recent discussions of hip hop culture, a controversial issue has been whether hip hop makes people believe that money is everything they need to get respect and power. Some argue that you need to build respect and by building respect you become powerful and that will lead you to money. On the other hand, however, others argue that hip hop life helped them a lot by writing the lyrics and saying the things that they can’t do or say. One of this view’s main proponents, “money brings power,” according to this view, people who have more money will get more power and then they usually use this power to do the most disturbing activities, such as crime. In sum, then, the issue is whether having too much power is good or it’s just a life destroyer.
Dr. Boyce Watkins compares Hip Hop to “Adolph Hitler’s Mien Kampf as a harmless little book or the bible has no impact on Christianity” (KultureKritic). Basically he is trying to say that when you control of a few group of people’s minds you are controlling the people themselves. By corpora ting the airwaves with message serve as a blueprint for our youth to self-destruct by creating a large army of pants-sagging, Blunt-smoking, tattooed-up, uneducated, STD-infected, impoverished thugs.
Rap is becoming more popular than ever, soon most of the world will have some type of knowledge of rap music. Rachel Sullivan from the University of Connecticut stated “White respondents in this survey had difficulty naming three rap artists, which indicated that they did not have a high level of commitment to the music.” This statement was produced in 2003, also seemed to be very one dimensional. Recently, rap music has been surging through the masses no matter the race. Furthermore, rap is becoming very prevalent especially in the youth of this era. Many trends, commercials, social media, etc. are revolving around rap music.
Dixon, Travis L., TaKeshia Brooks. “Rap Music and Rap Audiences: Controversial Themes, Psychological Effects and Political Resistance.” Perspectives. 7 April 2009. .