The biggest difference between old school rap and today’s popular hip hop is the message. The image rappers present themselves with is a contrast between old school rap and the hip hop today. Most rappers today are going for the “thug” or “swag” image. These rappers use brand name clothes, expensive jewelry, and a large entourage to follow them around in order to reinforce the image. These things are so common today that thinking of a stereotypical rapper would include a few gold chains, a diamond grill, wearing sunglasses at night, and having their pants to their knees. Some old school rappers have gold chains, but they were not dressed as extravagantly as what we are used to today. One thing I noticed that some old school rappers wear were …show more content…
The lyrics in today’s hip hop music are completely pointless. An example of this is 2Chainz “Birthday Song,” in which the rapper says, “She got a big booty so I call her Big Booty,” the song continues with “I’m in the kitchen, yams everywhere.” The majority of hip hop songs on the radio involve three main themes: money, drugs, and women. Rappers brag about the massive amount of money they have, along with their intake of drugs. Hip hop also sexually degrades women by labeling them with offensive words, and overall all being very misogynistic towards women. The message that the new hip hop today is sending is incredibly negative for the audience as well. The negative message that the music is sending poses a large effect on the young listeners. Young listeners are influenced by the antagonistic lyrics in these hip hop songs that they are listening to. Unlike today’s hip hop, old school rap music had meaningful lyrics and when hip hop went to the mainstream media the message was destroyed. Old school rap music has lyrical significance. Rappers wrote lyrics about important subjects such as racial inequality, politics, life struggles, and police brutality. An example of a lyric with actual meaning is N.W.A.’s “Express Yourself,” “I’m expressing with my full capabilities. And now I’m living in correctional facilities.” This lyric explains how the very act communicating their beliefs will cause trouble and could possibly lead to
Has Hip-Hop given us a warning of change or is it simply a part of musical evolution? In “Hip Hop Planet” by James Mcbride he argues that hip hop is destructive to our society. Hip hop provides a variety of beats, intense rhymes, and yet provocative language. The author has many negative views on the genre but sees some positive influence. With this said, his warning to our future generations can be challenged. Hip hop can have a negative impact on young adults but it also provides large amounts of support to people who struggle with similar complications.
In Stanley Crouch's view, the only messages that rappers put in the minds of todays' youth is that they need to have sex, kill people, and do drugs all the time.
Since hip-hop has expanded from the undergrounds in Bronx in the 70’s it has grew into a popular accepted music genre. Consequently, as it progressed from the golden age it gradually grew away from its original roots. If one were to evaluate the change of lyrics in hip-hop, they would see a difference between early hip-hop and today’s hip-hop. The current state of hip-hop is in a stage where things like hey young world are outdated. Instead of broadcasting out a positive message, hip-hop sends out a message of sex, drug, and violence. The early musicians who helped solidify hip-hop, by producing music that told stories on subjects of race, respect, or even music that had a positive message.
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 most popular new music to emerge from the ‘80’s was rap music. It first developed in the mid ‘70’s in New York City, and soon in other urban areas, primarily amongst African-American teen-agers. It became very popular with the urban public that it soon began to spread throughout the United States and much of the world. It replaced rock music as the creative force in music of the ‘80’s and ‘90’s. However, as popular as it was then and it is now, the lyrics of many rap songs have caused controversy. Many believe and have charged that these lyrics promote racism and violence and show contempt for women.
Typically when we immediately think about modern hip hop and rap, we immediately de-fine it as a creative mode of expression laden with influences from its African-American roots. Of course, generally speaking, that much of it is true; although the true origin of Hip Hop isn't precisely known, according to Dr. Renford Reese and Becky Blanchard, Hip Hop scholars col-lectively hail the South Bronx in 1970's New York as the birthplace of Hip Hop. Over time, Hip Hop became a cultural phenomenon. As abrasive, succinct, and diverse as each form of expres-sion (emceeing, breakdance, graffiti, and more synonymously, rap music) gets, however, Hip Hop emanates such a contemporary appeal amongst the masses. Ultimately, Hip Hop culture embodies the inextinguishable
Hip hop culture is known for its negative reputation. It is often thought as an entrance way into gangs, illegal drug activity, and malicious behavior. In today’s culture it is important to lead kids toward a positive direction in life but the hip hop culture of today is not steering youth in that direction. This is because hip-hop has moved away from what it was supposed to be used for. This genre of music was supposed to be used to for personal expression and growth not to create negative images for the youth and encourage them to change their behaviors and beliefs. Hip hop was supposed to give hope to the youth. Give them a reason to pursue their dreams and give them a positive outlook on life. Are there artists who keep it “old school?” Yes there is, but it is never heard on mainstream radio. Hip hop culture has the potential to help the youth follow their dreams and become better people. It just needs to go back to its roots and bring those morals back up again.
Nevertheless, most of what is usually discussed in popular hip hop songs is how harsh the “gangster” life is. Now most middle class youth has no sort of experience when it comes to living a harsh life. That is what makes it so much more intriguing to these teenagers. They now have some sort insight into what that “gangster” life really is. Each hip hop artist has a very different “come up” story. Some may have encountered more hardship than others. For example, a very famous Brooklyn rapper named “Jay-Z” can definitely give insight to what one can face. In a song titled “Drug Dealers Anonymous” made by another rapper named Pusha T, Jay-Z featured on the track. In the song he says “ ‘89 in London pull the Benz up / Type it in, Google’s your friend bruh / 14 year drug dealer and still counting.” Here he is not exactly saying that he still continues to sell drugs, but now he has a different “hustle” which is the rapping. Selling drugs were a bad reality for many of these rappers. Some turned to the urban poetry to express one’s feeling, and that is when rapping comes into the picture. Once these artists are very well known and famous, they have this huge platform set up to allow others to know what they have faced in their life. The audience (middle class youth), now have a huge respect towards that person. This gives the listener an emotional connection between them, and their favorite hip hop artist. In the head of the listener, people now think that the rapper opened up to them to let them know what trials one has faced. Making the interest even stronger than it was before. Listening to their favorite hip hop artist also allows them to really experience the “gangster” life without putting themselves in actual dangers. In many of today’s hip hop hit songs, certain topics are usually discussed throughout the song such as: selling drugs to make money, having
The rappers their approach was that people listened to them and their clothes were more colorful. With the times the styles were changing already and they become more liberals they began to dress the women in sensual clothes usually the colors of their clothes is black and they teach their bodies so that the people look more their videos. The rappers use the women as a sexual object that they can handle. Rap music all women who are beautiful are the ones who come out in these videos because it is the appearances that matter to them and they want to give to understand that the women have to show their body to make money. A research by Biancawade state "A study done at McKinley Senior High School 2009 has shown that 67% of students feel that women are represented as sex objects in music videos. Eight- four percent feel as though there is more to a woman than her physical features but the media still depicts females as sexual objects." The quote state the most of the young people from high school believe the women is a sex object and that makes them think they can be used all women just as an object of pleasure. Most all women would like to have a good body and be able to dress like those models to get everything they want and is what today the rappers are no longer so popular in the lyrics of the music if not the pretty women who come
Have you ever wondered what was making that horrible racket coming from a teen’s car. The odds are that it would be some type of rap song, yet the beat was too loud for you to hear the lyrics. Based off what the mass knows about rap music, you were lucky to not hear the lyrics right, wrong. Rap lyrics have many senses of great poetry and life lessons that should be heard. At least some of rap songs relate to struggles, deaths they have suffered, or even respect of women that many do not believe that rappers would ever do. Rap music is becoming increasingly meaningful for not only adults but for older youth as well to comprehend about respect and an improved understanding of life with struggles and oppressions.
In the eyes of the general public, all of Hip-Hop is usually categorized in the same way. Labeled as the poison of the Black community because nowadays, most Hip-Hop lyrics all sound the same generic way always talking about money, women, cars, drugs, or some type of beef that all these rappers sooner or later continuously have with one another. But what this new generation doesn’t know about are the positive and creative flows that were spit not so long ago in the 80’s and 90’s. Rappers back in the day like Tupac and Ice Cube both had times when they had to show off their thug sides but they both had reasons or a call-to-arms for that, and indeed were in tune with that era’s problems as well as the society where they were raised. Moreover, even though some new school songs actually look promising, old school songs are still always great classics that anybody in this day and age will most certainly vibe to.
Rap Music, a genre of R&B that includes rhythmic poetry put over a musical background. The background consists of beats combined with digitally isolated sound bites from other recordings. The first recording of rap was made in 1979 and the genre began to take notice in the U.S. in the mid-1980s. Though the name rap is often used back and forth with hip hop. The name hip-hop comes from one of the earliest phrases used in rap on the song “Rapper’s Delight” by Sugarhill Gang. “I said a hip hop, hippie to the hippie, the hip, hip a hop, and you don't stop, a rock it to the bang bang boogie, say, up jump the boogie, to the rhythm of the boogie, the beat.”. In addition to rap music, the hip-hop subculture also formed other methods of expression like break dancing, graffiti art, a unique slang vocabulary, and fashion sense.
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.
The new age of artists is where hip hop music starts to develop more materialistic and shallow message alongside ones that socially conscience. The first artist to bring hip hop into mainstream pop industry was LL Cool J, who produced songs that were not controversial and rough like most rappers at the time. While groups like Public Enemy still made music that called for the rise of poor and less fortunate, rappers were able to join the mainstream music industry and make huge financial gains off of something that was originally meant to be for self expression. This leads to some artists “selling out” in order to get as much money as they can and abandon songs that provide positive and somewhat controversial messages to shallow messages because that's what sells the best. In modern hip hop, there are many artists who try to draw attention to the issues in this country
Hip-Hop/Rap is one of the biggest growing genres of today. From its early stages in the 1970’s to today’s pop culture, it has grown quite a lot. Unfortunately, it has developed a terrible reputation of drugs, violence, abuse, and gangs. When people associate Hip-Hop with things it is usually a negative image that comes to the person’s mind. Which is sad, Hip-Hop/Rap has a great artistic quality to them that gets so easily overlooked. There is true poetry and emotion behind these lyrics and beats, but not everyone is willing to sit down and listen to it. They quickly judge this music genre and the immediately dislike it without giving it a second thought. Rappers pour their emotions and their souls into their songs and it really speaks to people who would stop and listen to them. Hip-Hop/Rap has evolved over time. From the early stages of Kool Herc, Afrika Bambaataa, and others to today’s rap stars like Eminem and Kendrick Lamar. Each decades style is different but each style is still good. What really made Rap huge was the Sugarhill Gang’s own song called “Rapper’s Delight” the entire song is around 15 minutes long with just three emcee’s rapping, Wonder Mike, Big Bank Hank, and Master G. An emcee is another word for a rapper. Most emcees are the head of whatever event is being taken place, kind of like people that do skits in a talent show to introduce the next act. Hip-Hop/Rap today is filled with emcees and rappers. Today we find a more complex and more diverse style than what we would find back in the 70’s. There are different styles to different rappers. Each one unique in its own way and it makes that rapper stand out compared to everybody else. Also, another thing today that is different from the past is the flow of a rapp...