Rap and hip-hop is an artistic mirror reflecting society, which is violent in some places, and needs not a moral dismemberment via the glorification of fictional violence. The history of hip-hop has some sting to it, being that deaths have been caused and childhoods are under affect; the actions that younger listeners who enjoy hip-hop are not influenced by the songs or the artists, but only by perception of their surroundings. All that hinders a strong faith in hip-hop is its “gangsta rap” counterpart. Violence is a reaction, not an action. Hip-hop started out as a parade of songs that were celebration-suitable, stemming from artists such as LL Cool J and Marky Mark. Eventually, there were some minor miscalculations. Whenever artists began to not compete or collaborate with one another, but to murder their rivals from particular areas of the country: the East Side and the West Side (Merino 88), hip-hop took a downward spiral. Rappers began feuding with one another, which, primarily may seem like a petty squabble, evolved into something far from minor: violence. A great example would be 21-year-old E.J. Duncan. He and two friends were part of a hip-hop trio called Graveside. Their lyrics were composed of harsh language and gruesome violence that drew, like moths to flame, youths to their collective fanbase. The only problem that they had was their influence; Graveside comprehended that the only way to get anywhere in the hip-hop industry is to dish out the music they want to hear. And these young adults, being titular rather than a true example, threw away their lives for fame that never came. (Merino 83) The music and the musician: neither one of these can kill a human being; if the violence is as the violence does then the on... ... middle of paper ... ...those watching afar as their creations, their minions, rushing to their stores to buy their albums and purchasing as much of their memorabilia as possible, parade the roads paved by normalcy waving a flag of freedom of expression to no limits, even if those limits is to cost them their life. Works Cited Chang, Jeff. "Rap Has the Potential to Expose Social Injustice." Rap and Hip-Hop. Ed. Tamara Thompson. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2013. Copley, Jennifer. "Violent Rap Lyrics Do Not Affect Listener Behavior or Attitudes.”Rap and Hip- Hop. Ed. Tamara Thompson. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2013. Dill, Karen. "Violent Rap Lyrics Make Listeners More Accepting of Violence." Rap and Hip-Hop. Ed. Tamara Thompson. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2013. Merino, Noel. Rap Music. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2013. Thompson, Tamara. Rap and Hip-Hop. Detroit: Greenhaven Press
...ed the same fate as Tupac. What we can draw from hyper-masculinity and violence in Hip Hop is that its hyper-masculinity is a downfall for black males from across the global the characteristic of hyper-masculinity that “the belief that violence is manly” is immoral to the community to think that this way to carry yourself to be a man in the hears of your listeners we need music the uplift our people.
“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.
Hip-hop started out in the Bronx in New York City with DJ Clive “Cool Herc” Campbell. A man of Jamaica, he essentially birthed the new genre of music by carrying over the Jamaican tradition of Toasting, which “is boastful poetry or over a melody provided by a deejay.” (ROOTS ‘n’ RAP, rice.edu) Its creation can be accredited to the record spinning DJ’s of the clubs of the 1970s. From this, the Master of Ceremonies (MC) was created. He would come up with creative rhymed phrases that could be delivered over a beat or acapella at dance clubs. They consisted of boasts, insults, “uptown throw downs”, and political commentary. From there, hip-hop only grew more and more popular. Being that it was created in a dominantly African American neighborhood, it became a tool for blacks to express their problems with society and be heard by the rest of the country. Though it was a microphone for African Americans to express themselves to the rest of the country, there were some other things that happened within the black community through hip-hop as well. One of these things was a diss track.
In a article “Rap Music's Psychological Effects”, written by Suite 101, studies were conducted to assess how listening to hip hop effected teenagers and young adults, and found that overall, that listening to rap music does not cause aggressive or deviant behavior. Instead hip-hop music did cause violent actions, particularly abuse against women. Additionally, those who watched either violent or non-violent hip-hop videos were more inclined to express materialistic attitudes and favors, potentially acquiring possessions through crime. Studies also found th...
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.
The rappers within my core group are all from these inner cities, who know first hand about what the members of these communities are dealing with. Similarly, the very same way Rap music was used as a tool to aid young African Americans in their times of social oppression in the 1970s, is the same way it is now being used to assist the African American youths today, during their difficult times of adversity. JayZ, J. Cole, and Kendrick all possess the aura and integrity to create what is considered “conscious” hip hop that provides messages of struggle and liberation. In general, the difference better conscious and commercial rap music is simple; Conscious rap or hiphop is a lifestyle inspired by culture, togetherness, and social change. Whereas, commercial rap is perceived as music produced for the sole purpose of financial profit that primarily consists of the demeaning of women and popular references to buying expensive cars and
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...
Hip hop culture and its creation of rap music has been stereotypically deemed as mere violent depictions as portrayed by its black artists, and is prejudicially more criticized than white genres that also perpetuate violent language within its lyrics. They are subsequently blamed for the massive rates of homicides within the black community, as blackness is given a dangerous face and linked to criminality, as if innately part of a violent culture. However, violence must be defined through the physical utilization of certain words and actions, along with social manipulations of power and hierarchy to confirm one’s own identity (Hernandéz, Weinstein & Munoz-Laboy, 2012, pg. 595). Rap music was created in the 1970s and originated in the South
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.
Rap Music Since the late 1980's rap music has been called the Anti Christ in our culture, because of it's so-called influence in people's life. People swear up and down that the music is why people, specially the youth resort to violent crimes. I think by saying this they are trying to cover up the real truth by giving simple answers. Rap is defined as a style of popular music consisting of improvised rhymes performed to a rhythmic accompaniment. The first rap song was made in the late 70's, the songs were seven to eight minutes long and was mostly used in small clubs to dance to. It didn't really become popular until the early 80's. Over the years it has become mainstream music, everyone is listening to it. In the last four years rap made up 60% of music bought in stores in the United States. In 1989 a local group called N.W.A.(Niggaz Wit Attitudes) came from out of L.A. and changed rap, which was the start of Gangsta Rap. In their lyrics they talked about crime, street violence and killing. Once they were a huge hit, it caught on, and really that's when all this madness started. Everyone started rapping Gangsta style. More and more people started rapping about police brutality and killing people and with that crime rose to high levels. In my opinion it's not the artists or the record company's fault that crime rose. It's not their responsibility to look after every person who listens to their music. In all these years of rap though there are three people who took the most criticism from the public. Dr. Dre was one, after N.W.A. broke up he went on to do his own thing, and after he released "The Chronic" he became a star.
Across the world teens feel like they’re losing their voice. In an Independent article, a magazine I found online, Geraldine says “Rates of depression and anxiety among teenagers have increased by 70 percent in the past 25 years” With such a high percentage teens feel like no one can help them and that they have no one to talk to about their problems so they tend to start breaking away from their families and depend more on music. Hip Hop gives teens a chance to feel like they have someone to talk to or someone who understands what they’re going through because a lot of what the artists rap about are life situations that they’ve gone through throughout their lives. Not everyone will understand the message of Hip Hop. “Over the years the instruments change, but the message is the same… They’re telling us something. Our children can hear it” (Mcbride 11) Rappers all have different skills, but it’s all based on telling a story. As long as Rappers tell a story all they need is the right people to listen to those stories, in this case, teens are the people that really understand the message. Hip Hop does sometimes talk about violence but it’s not always about violence, it’s what people make it seem like and if the older generations don’t listen to rap or Hip Hop then they will associate rap with gangs but what they won’t know is that it’s also about
A race issue that occurs within the rap and hip-hop musical genre is the racial stereotypes associated with the musical form. According to Brandt, and Viki rap music and hip- hop music are known for fomenting crime violence, and the continuing formation of negative perceptions revolving around the African-American race (p.362). Many individuals believe that rap and hip-hop music and the culture that forms it is the particular reason for the degradation of the African-American community and the stereotypes that surround that specific ethnic group. An example is a two thousand and seven song produced by artist Nas entitled the N-word. The particular title of the song sparked major debates within not only the African-American community thus the Caucasian communities as well. Debates included topics such as the significance and worth of freedom of speech compared with the need to take a stand against messages that denigrate African-Americans. This specific label turned into an outrage and came to the point where conservative white individuals stood in front of the record label expressing their feelings. These individuals made a point that it is because artists like Nas that there is an increase in gang and street violence within communities. Rap and hip-hop music only depicts a simple-minded image of black men as sex crazed, criminals, or “gangsters”. As said above, community concerns have arisen over time over the use of the N-word, or the fact that many rappers vocalize about white superiority and privilege. Of course rap music did not develop these specific stereotypes, however these stereotypes are being used; and quite successfully in rap and hip-hop which spreads them and keeps the idea that people of color are lazy, all crimin...
Hip-Hop is produced on the role of coercion and power. The diversity of the culture supposes to create meaning not chaos. Social order is maintained by domination, and the power of the song lyrics. The black youth is more likely to be victimized by crime than any other group. Hip-Hop influence the music that we listen to that a new artist can directly affect how we dress, talk, dance and etc. For example, “prison inspired hip-hop styles like sagging black pants and oversized t-shirts” (Baxter & Marina 2008, 110). Sending a culture shock across the country, some may believe it could be a good thing and others may believe it could be a detriment to our youth and
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.
Richardson, Jeanita W., Kim A. Scott. “Rap Music and Its Violent Progeny: America’s Culture of Violence in Context.” The Journal of Negro Education 71.3 (2002): 175 – 192.