Hip Hop's Golden Era Analysis

In the early 80s in South Bronx, hip hop culture was created as a way people expressed themselves to make a statement of some sort of art form that was diffused within the local community without outside influences orally and through localization. Commercialization changed and evolved these cultures making the producers not equal the consumers; globalization diffused these cultures with mass communication with the media. Spatially, hip hop used to be concentrated within a local community and it spread through relocation of the subway graffitti, while now it’s urbanized around the globe. In terms of social characteristics, rap has always been there as a way to express oneself through art forms such as b-boying, graffiti, and rapping; now it’s

Hip hop, the creation of electronic sound and enticing language is a style born from the African American and Hispanic cultures. It formed in New York City from block parties and the participation of the youth culture. This style of music began as a minimal change in rhythm to a globally popular culture consisting of graffiti art, dancing, and music. Hip hop was not only a type of tasteful music, but it also became a benchmark in history. When this style of music was created, it served as an outlet for those who did not have a voice, particularly the minority groups. These groups were given rights that they deserved just like everyone else. In the 1970’s is when hip hop began to spread, creating not just

Hip Hop: Beyond Beats & Rhymes is a documentary created and produced by Bryon Hurt. The documentary challenges the dominant discourses of hyper masculinity and the misogynist treatment of women in commercialized rap. Of the many mainstream phenomenons that are discussed by Bryon in the documentary, the issue of hyper masculinity in Hip Hop is questioned greatly. Throughout the film, the producer was able to show the wide acceptance of hyper masculinity not only in Hip Hop but also American culture as well. He defined America as a hyper masculine and hyper violent nation for the reason that using a gun to defend one’s family became a metaphor for masculinity and a tool for widespread violence. The issue of issue of hyper masculinity can be

stuff, so I don't listen to that genre all that much, but there are many

Molefi Asante is the author of It’s Bigger than Hip-Hop: The Rise of the Post Hip-Hop Generation. In this article, Asante predicts that the post-hip-hop generation will embrace social justice issues including women’s rights, gay’s rights, and the anti-war movement. To challenge these stereotypes, Asante speaks to the personification of the African-American ghetto and the need to stop glorifying black suffering. For Asante, the post-hip-hop generation no longer expects hip-hop to mobilize disenfranchised youth. Asante states, “The post-hip-hop generation shouldn’t wait for mainstream musicians to say what needs to be said…No movement is about beats and rhythms…. it must be bigger than hip-hop.” Because hip-hop is controlled by corporations, Asante says hip-hop will never be the focus of political change. Asante argues that “old white men” have dictated hip-hop, and by extension the actions of black youth, since 1991. “Allowing white executives, not from the hip-hop culture, to control and dictate the culture is tragic because the music, and ultimately the culture, as we can see today, has not only lost its edge, but its sense of rebellion and black movement- the very principles upon which it was founded.” Asante calls for the rise of “artivism,” a new social movement that uses art to improve community police relations, failing schools and the criminal justice system. Asante encourages the post-hip-hop generation to unite with Latino/Immigration Rights and Black Civil Rights

In this essay, I will be informing you, as the reader on the evolution of Hip-Hop/Rap. The key points will be where it is today, how this genre of music is not only used as music; but is used as communication to connect with the listeners, how it affects people; physically, mentally and psychologically. In other words, I will be addressing where it was created and how it is used to speak and communicate with the listeners.

From the early 1980’s into the early 1990’s, hip-hop was an integral tool in the dissemination of young people’s voices against mainstream politics. These times were tense and rather controversial. It began with Reagan’s call for the reemergence of state rights; this call was a form of political messaging which utilized coded language targeting different groups with dual messages also known as dog whistling. It allowed individual states total power and control in instituting their own policies including segregation. On top of the aforementioned and in light of the increased state regulation, intense and increased police brutality became an unfortunate reflection of the times. As a result, many people, especially those of color, lost trust in

“I want kids of this generation to see that everything is cool, that there 's some kind of unity in hip-hop. We all found something that 's really important to us, and music is all we 've really got” – Missy Elliot. Hip-Hop is a cultural movement and popular genre of music that emerged during the early 1970 's by working class Black youths in New York City. The cultural movement has rapidly expanded across different countries and ethnicities over the years, becoming one of the few markers that define a generation. Hip-Hop can be seen as “the fundamental matrix of self-expression for this whole generation” (Katz & Smith, 1993). Through music, itself, artists can express their feelings towards different events or social changes that they’ve see or have experienced in their lives. According to Frith (1986), this perspective towards writing music is similar to Mooney’s argument that popular song lyrics is a reflection of what’s missing or needed at their time, giving us a trace of America’s ‘mood’ throughout history. In return, music artists captivate the minds of people among various backgrounds who use these relatable music lyrics as a source of empowerment or as an expression of their own thoughts. While some music artists create music to uplift their audience by giving them a sense of freedom, other artists create music that separates their audience by dehumanizing one group and giving power to the other.

In this article Robert Tinajero analyzes rap/hip-hop through its Christian religious ethos and the deception of how the media attempts to use rap/hip-hop for the reason why religion ethos in lyrics can change the views of young urban adults to be non-affiliated with a religion (Tinajero, 2013). Rappers use a form of religion in lyrics that have characteristics of the common suffering of Jesus and the mistrust of society with the goods and evils in urban communities.

The hip-hop culture began in the streets of New York City during the 1970’s and has gone through tremendous changes up until now. Hip-Hop consists of four elements: rap, graffiti, break-dancing, and the disc jockey. In this paper, I intend to fully explain the evolution of rap music, from its infancy to the giant industry it is today.

In todays society there are many different types of genres of music, but the one that tops the charts is Hip Hip. There are different eras of Hip Hop, but the most popular would be the 90’s era of Hip Hop. When asked the question, “What is Hip Hop?”, many people answer it in different ways. To some, Hip Hop maybe associated with blaring music, negative language and violence, such as drug crimes and meaningless killings, but to others, Hip Hop means a lot more. Hip Hop is a way of expressing feelings as well as a way of life.

The Rap Yearbook is a book that tells you the songs in the Hip-Hop genre which are the most important rap song from every year since 1979, discussed, debated, and deconstructed. Each song from each year brings a new element that has had a major impact to Hip-Hop. Some of these artists have become iconic in the genre, and people have respect for these people telling their stories. Some iconic artists are Tupac Shakur, Notorious B.I.G., and Rakim. There are also groups who have made their mark in rap such as Public Enemy, Wu-Tang Clan, and N.W.A. These men told stories, some were depressing, some were violent, but people listened to them. You can say whatever you want about them how you either love or hate them, but you can’t say they haven’t

In the 1990’s we saw many artists sampling the work of other artists in order to make their own songs. Sampling is described “as the act of taking a portion, or sample, of one song recording and reusing it as an instrument or a sound recording in a different song or piece” (Wikipedia, 2016). Although sampling has been around for a long time, Hip Hop music was one of the most popular music genres to embrace this method and create their own style from it.

YG, an inner city black rapper within the hip hop industry, is a Blood gang member who was born and raised in Compton, California. Pitbull, on the other hand, is a Cuban hip hop artist, born in Miami, Florida, and is been more famously recognized within the music industry, in terms of fame and financial success. While these two artists come from opposite ends of the country, they do share similarities within their music and performance of hip hop culture, in that they both utilize problematic themes like misogyny, sexual objectification, and violence towards women in their lyrics and music videos, which are notorious subjects within hip hop music. They also pair this with rhetoric that glamorizes and fetishizes partying, drugs, and alcohol, as well, performing in flashy ensemble and jewelry as a display of wealth and class. YG and Pitbull also express pride within their music for their backgrounds and where they come from, as Pitbull often incorporates Spanish within his lyrics and even discusses Cuban politics in his song “Give Me Everything.” This is an important reference because Cuba is also very much much involved with hip hop culture, especially in American hip hop culture, by artists like Pitbull, who “ using body posturing and gesture evocative of U.S. rap performances, their lyrics are sung in a distinctly Cuban Spanish vernacular over rhythms often incorporating Afro-Cuban musical elements” (Neal & Forman, 2012, pg. 302). YG utilizes this same theme as he often

Hip Hop in the most popular genre of music between all African American communities, not just in America, but worldwide. Hip Hop has expanded itself into music, fashion, advertisement, movies, and it’s given many rappers, and those associated with the genre, the chance to influence their communities, societies and their culture in general, but commercial Hip Hop in the U.S. has branded Hip Hop in a negative way. (The Young and The Hip-Hop, Hip Hop Culture Center in Harlem, 2012, Web, Oct. 27, 2014) This is all due to the negative imagery and negative lyrics like the term nigga, negative implications of Hip Hop include exploiting black adolescent girls, promoting unhealthy lifestyles, and implying that the open use of the word nigga is not harmful. Hip Hop has become a global phenomenon where it has evolved from a genre of music to a lifestyle for the African American community.