Comparative Essay

American Writer James McBride, who wrote the essay "Hip Hop Planet", spent most of his life disliking the culture of hip hop, but after some research and personal experience, he had a change of heart. The purpose of his essay is to shine a positive light on hip hop culture and move his audience-- people who think it is all bad-- to have a change of heart like him, and to achieve his purpose, he uses rhetorical strategies including appeals, specific diction, and meticulous sentence structure.

Most subcultures like hip hop, started out in the low ranks of culture. They often used what they had, in order to achieve their satisfaction in their distinctive characteristics. But with Hip Hop music, fashion, and entertainment consumed across the world, it became the mainstream of American society. Rose writes, “Hip hop produced internal and external dialogs which affirmed the experiences and identities of the participants, and at the same time offered critiques of larger society which were directed to both hip hop community and society in general” (412), with few economic assets and evaluation, the youth of hip hop has designated a form of culture that competes with a style that has created counter dominant

This is a way for African Americans to use hip hop as a full-time job instead of as leisure for themselves. The benefits, according to Chung, is that now there is an “achievement of black national acceptance … to become professional, productive, labors” (Chung, 129). Given the platform, blacks want to reshape the urban poverty and improve economic situations through hip hop and widespread of black culture. Another reason for improving black’s conditions, not only comes from hip-hop, but also white behavior, meaning that blacks who grew up in rough times have been looked at in stereotypical views of pathological behaviors, and drug users. But ABDC allows these young men black men to given a new identity and inclusion through the use of hip-hop rather than the premature neoliberalism view of African Americans in which they are looked at as

In this article, the speaker must be an expert in politics, ethnicity and the music industry. There is a linkage between the above fields hence the speaker must have had a superlative background on these issues. The audience targeted by this literature were seemingly music enthusiasts to be educated on understanding what Hip-Hop entails and hoped to achieve this as it was established. The subject was Hip-Hop as a music genre that was largely developed by African American men to express their plight on injustice and oppression. The principal issue was how Hip-Hop has been used as a form of resistance and need for deliverance of the African Americans.

The documentary film “Hip-Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes” addresses some of the biggest issues of hip-hop to date. It explores why rappers feel the need to portray a thug persona on camera, why rappers choose to treat woman like sex objects, and how is this affecting our society as a whole. This results in the discussion of who is the one pulling the strings of hip-hop, who is the one giving out those big money deals? In order to understand these issues one must know the history of hip-hop and how it started and evolved.

Analysis of Hip-Hop and Youth Culture Throughout the last twenty-five years, a new form of expression has continued to evolve. Hip-Hop, once limited to urban music and dance has become a widespread form of communication exhibited and enjoyed by young people throughout the world. Hip-Hop is no longer limited to rap music and break dancing; today it represents a multi-billion dollar industry that influences everything from fashion to prime- time television programming, professional sports, mass media marketing and advertising. Today Hip-Hop is becoming a way of life, a culture that is intricately woven into every aspect of young people's daily lives.

Mass media, through its selective portrayal of hip-hop has played a crucial role in the way that it has been understood and interpreted over time. The media’s focus on negative aspects of the genre has led to the establishment of a two-class system. This brings forward the theories of Karl Marx in relation to the ‘two-class system’. The media also portrays the dominance of capitalism, and has a sensationalist view where the high powers have hyperbolized selective aspects of the hip-hop culture with the intention of increasing viewership and readership numbers. This sheds light on artists such as Biggie Smalls and his

Codrington examines the cultural significance of hip-hop and how it affects race, class and globalization. Hip-hop is a popular culture globally; its importance relates to cultural and political ideologies. The social significance of hip-hop also impacts how dialogue for instance achieves a cultural sense of ownership in society. The examination of hip-hop in various geographical and political realities challenges hegemonic readings of hip-hop as primarily style and lifestyle (Codrington 2007).

It has been 30 years since Hip-Hop was first “introduced” to the world. Whether it be fashion or politics, this musical genre/culture plays a huge role in everyday life and has generated billions of dollars across the globe. In this paper I will be discussing when, where, and how Hip-Hop was created, “old school Hip-Hop, “Hip-Hop’s Golden Age”, “Hardcore rap” “Gangsta rap”, “G-Funk”, 21st century Hip-Hop, and how Hip-Hop affects society.

In this essay, the influence of hip-hop politics, class unity and the internet will be explored to discover how the consumer became an active producer of culture. In the early days of hip-hop, particularly from its mainstream origins in the 70’s (Dimitriadis 2009) up until the 90’s, the underground scene rarely floated into the mainstream. Despite a good portion of the underground consisting of consumers, to achieve mainstream success one would need the right connections and musical equipment. Before these tools became affordable and accessible, the consumer wasn’t integrated as an active producer of culture. Thus the average consumer wasn’t capable of making major waves in the industry. In some respect, the mainstream producer carried a sense of prestige because there were only a few who garnered attention in the mainstream such as DJ Premier and Eric B and Rakim (Tom Terrell, 1998). During the early origins of hip-hop, as Josh Kun describes, hip hop was mainly a facet of African-American culture. As a result, many consumers from other backgrounds weren’t majorly included in developing the hip-hop culture. This, however, changed when icons such as Run DMC and Aerosmith broadened the scope of hip-hop and allowed more consumers to play an active role in producing the culture. The popularity of the internet rose in the early 2000’s and it allowed the consumer to actively shape the culture. The internet allowed the consumer to create their own sounds and message and deliver it

Since its beginnings, “Hip Hop has encompassed not just a musical genre, but also a style of dress, dialect and language…” (Alridge and Stewart 190). Hip Hop did not just bring music to the ears of listeners, but with it, a new culture emerged. It became a way of life for its listeners. Hip Hop influenced, the lives of urban youth, and

It is clear that the hip hop culture plays a huge role in the lives of many people. It has influenced the way people dress, the way they talk, and the way they act. Unfortunately, many big corporations have taken advantage of this and commercialized rap music in order to gain a profit (Blair, 497). Commercialization is a very complex topic; however, it is important to understand. This is because of the fact that when something becomes widely known, such a hip hop and rap have, it is vulnerable to change (Phillips, paragraph 9). An example of this is when author Nicole Phillips states, “Hip-hop became more about edge and less about the content of the message. It became about sales….” (Phillips, paragraph 9). Therefore, in order to prevent any further change, one needs to understand commercialization and how it works. This paper is going to explore the complexities and nuances of commercialization of the hip hop culture. In order to do this, this paper will consider what commercialization of hip hop culture entails. This paper will also discuss how Elizabeth Blair, author of “Commercialization of the Rap Music Subculture,” conceptualized commercialization, as well as how she discusses the situation in general. After discussing these topics, the paper will move on to discussing cultural appropriation. This discussion will include how authors describe cultural appropriation, and a debate regarding this topic.

Over the last four decades, hip hop culture has influenced the lives and identities of many youth throughout the world. Depending on their geographical location and socioeconomic backgrounds, youth have experienced this worldwide culture differently. One similarity amongst these selective groups of adolescents is the political freedom that has come with engaging in the hip hop scene. Hip hop allows Black youth in the United States, immigrant youth in France, and Afro-Cuban youth in Cuba to express criticism toward the racial marginalization that they face in order to gain the equality that society prohibits them from acquiring.

The term ‘hip-hop’ refers to a complex culture compromising of four elements: deejaying, rapping, rhyming, graffiti painting, and b-boying. These elements incorporate hip-hop dance, style, and attitude. “Hip-hop originated in the primarily African American economically depressed South Bronx section of New York City in the late 1970s” (Tate, pg.1). Hip-hop is a culture of fashion, language, music, movement, visual art and expression. The genre of hip-hop comes with a very significant history and evolution with its own heroes, legends, triumphs and downfalls. “Real” hip-hop is often stressed in the 21st century due to what is being passed off as hip hop, and it is often made clear that just because one takes a hip hop class, or listens to hip-hop music, does not mean they conform to the true immersion of hip-hop culture. Therefore, “real” hip-hop encapsulates the true essence of hip-hop culture, untarnished by impurities such as rapacious record labels, and vapid, materialistic subject matter. Due to the background of how and where hip-hop first emerged, the African American culture often feel responsible to protect what is for them, and to protect the culture of hip-hop entirely. Boyd states that even though hip-hop as a culture was created as a social movement, the “commercializaiton” of hip-hop demonstrated in film and media construes it to another form of urbanization and popularity”(Boyd, 79). However, in the two movies being examined in this essay (Save the Last Dance

The notion of the authenticity in hip-hop is that it has to do with being associated to “the street” or the urban ghetto. “The core of Hip Hop cultural activity”, a “site of originality, culture, perception, and cognizance” (Alim 2004a: 390– 91). Furthermore, The expression “keepin’ it real” is almost a repetition in Hip Hop insisting individuals to be true to their roots, and not to “front” or make-believe something they are not (Rickford and Rickford 2000: 23). Hip Hop is apparently a multiracial and multicultural movement, yet its roots and artistic strength and most of its well-known rap artists, come primarily from urban African American communities (Blake 1993). In 1999, it was dubbed “the most important musical genre in America” by the New York Times (Strauss 1999: 28), and has debatably been one of the foremost youth cultures in the United States since the early 1990s. Despite the multi-ethnic nature of the founding community of hip hop, young African American working-class, urban males emerged as the art’s central representatives. However, the centrality of African Americans in articulations of authentic, hip hop has roots that are more diasporic than popularity professed. Hip hop