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UJM1 Task 3 Hip-hop and Jay-Z Nicholas Vogel A. Analysis of Chosen Genre A1. Genre Development: Hip-hop started as an African American music genre. It started in the late 1970s/early 1980s and emerged from cultural aspects such as graffiti art and Jamaican block parties that were introduced to the Bronx (citiesx, 2018). People started dancing on the break beats and break dancing came long. Lyricists started rapping over the beats in a rhyme ( Western Governors University , 2020). A2. Genre Topics or Characteristics: Early hip-hop characteristics included “call and response”, MCing, DJing, and b-boys/b-girls. By 1986, groups like the Wu-Tang Clan and NWA painted the picture of minority inner-city struggles such as poverty, drug addiction, criminal activities, and police brutality. Groups such as A Tribe Called Quest and De La Soul expanded the genre to include influences from jazz and soul which defined a new status quo. At its best, hip-hop was a dynamic and influential genre that encompassed a wide range of artistic expressions, provided a platform for artists to convey their stories, challenged societal norms, and celebrated diverse aspects of life. While present-day hip-hop still includes these topics, it can be argued that the genre has developed into “purely an entertainment product’’ (Julius Bailey, 2011-02-10) . Bailey then goes on to say, ‘On the other hand, it is an entertainment product created from our culture and that is where the connections between rap music and hip hop become complicated”. In the context of the contemporary American value system, money often equals respect. “The schools, the media, capitalism, and colonialism are responsible for what hip hop is and what it has become’’ (Julius Bailey, 2011-02-10) . A3. Influence of Diverse Cultures While hip-hop has strong ties to West African culture, major contributions came from Jamaica as well. Jamaican influence included elements such as the party-based sound system. Kool Herc transported large mobile sound units used in Jamaica to parties in the Bronx. Herc also brought a form of the verbal art of "toasting" to his parties. This quickly became known as rap. (Raymond Codrington, n.d.) . B. Analysis of Chosen Artist B1. Genre Interpretation: Jay-Z’s oral narratives reveal the complexity of hip-hop music and its often-contradictory relationship to representations of blackness in America (Julius Bailey, 2011-02-10) . “ Jay-Z has leveraged the

cultural capital of the biggest, most lucrative art form in the last thirty years and transformed his wealth of information, imagination, and inspiration into huge wealth that embodies black aspiration and the desire to eclipse poverty and surmount financial obstacles to become independently wealthy (malikycheeky, 2019) . Jay-Z created a blueprint on how to use rap to create generational wealth and to thrive in spaces that are traditionally anti-black. B2. Key Topics from the Time His album 4:44 covers modern topics such as relationships, infidelity, and the commercialization of Black America. Through the use of caricatures, jay-z lyricizes that no matter a Black person’s skin tone, social status, or level of wealth. They will always be seen as subhuman in American society. This has been internalized within the Black community about topics such as Colorism, intra-race prejudice, hypermasculinity, “crabs in the bucket” mentality. An example of this can be seen in the stanza were Jay-Z quotes OJ as he says, “I'm not black, I'm OJ. OK”. This indicates that his proximity to whiteness makes him more marketable or “better” than Black people. With Jay-Z’s short commentary of “OK”, he articulates that White America would still be dismissive of the fact that OJ is “OJ”, that he is still Black and would be seen as lesser than. ( Western Governors University , 2020) (citiesx, 2018) Bailey, J. (Ed.). (2011). Jay-z: Essays on hip hop's philosopher king. McFarland & Company, Incorporated Publishers. White, Miles. From Jim Crow to Jay-Z: Race, Rap, and the Performance of Masculinity, University of Illinois Press, 2011. ProQuest eBook Central, https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/westerngovernors- ebooks/detail.action?docID=3413906 . (2019, August 6). The Influence and Legacy of JAY-Z, According to the Author of New Book 'Made in America'. Compelx. Retrieved January 27, 2024, from https://www.complex.com/music/a/malikycheeky/jay-z-memoir-michael-eric-dyson-interview

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