It was not to long ago when Nas said that he believed that Hip Hop was dead which left people offended and confused by his views of Hip Hop music. Nas album “Hip Hop is Dead” was the eighth album by the American Rapper , which was dropped during the year of 2006 and successfully charted at No. 1 on the U.S Billboard 200 chart, which sold over 350,00 copies in its first week. “Hip-hop has had many deaths,” he said during his interview with VH1. “First was when it changed from the park jams and went to corporate America. It became a business, then there was an element lost” ( VH1, Bene Viera). Hip Hop has transitioned to a place where it has lost its originality or in other words we can say that it isn’t what it used to be due to the fact that …show more content…
“The music industry seems to allow very minimal Black cultural contribution to even do that, as opposed to the history of American music has told the same story over many times whereas African Americans creates a musical style or genre, only to later be replaced by white artists with more “mainstream” appeal. This trend can be seen in everything from Rock n Roll, Country music, Pop music to more recently Hip-Hop and RnB where white artists like Iggy Azalea, Macklemore, Robin Thicke and Justin Timberlake dominates today’s Hip-Hop/R&B charts. White people may be able to participate in or appropriate “Black” styles, but they rarely innovate or enhance them, so the genre slowly withers away ( Clutch, 1).” This act all ties in with commercialization and the “Whites” using Hip Hop as a source of income to stay on top, and this goes back to back in the early eras when Euro- Americans came to the Americas and took control of everything driving the Native Indians, using Africans as slaves, and cultivating everyone to their
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 is one of the most prominent component in life and culture today. Today, it is often affiliated as being a musical genre and style that is debatably the leading factor in music today. But hip hop is far more than that. It is a culture and a way life. It has helped form most what we know today. It has greatly influenced many ways that we choose to define ourselves. Clothing styles, all forms of art media, storytelling, and many other canvases that we typically use in our everyday life has been tremendously impacted the culture form of hip hop, and this trend is on a steady constant growth.
Hip Hop was birthed in the neighborhood, where young people gathered in parks, on playgrounds, and neighborhood street corners, to verbalize poetry over spontaneous sounds and adopted melodies. Hip Hop was not just the music; it was also a way for the young to show their skills in break dancing, gymnastic dance style that was valued, and athleticism over choreographed fluidity. Hip hop was also fashion such as: hats, jackets, gold chains, and name-brand sneakers. Hip Hop was a form of graffiti, to a new way of expression that engaged spray paint on the subway walls as the canvas. In addition, today’s hip hop have changed as where the DJ was once is now the producer as the key music maker, and the park is now a studio.
Thesis: the paper’s focus on hip-hop as a music genre that has changed the lives of the black Americans
To begin, in Tricia’s Rose’s Hip Hop Wars, the author goes into great detail about the current state of hip hop. From reading this book, one will see that Rose feels worried about this new generation of hip hop. This can be seen when Rose states, “Hip hop is in a terrible crisis” (Rose, 1). Rose feels concern for this culture because of the messages that are coming from hip hop (Rose, 1). For instance, Rose states “… the most commercially promoted and financially successful hip hop…. has increasingly become a playground for caricatures of black gangstas, pimps, and hoes” (Rose, 1). It becomes increasingly clear that Rose feels that these messages are responsible for the “dumbing’ down of hip hop’s imagery” (Rose, 3). The reason for this being that these messages are so prevalent in hip hop music. Rose states, “relying on an ever-narrowing range of images and themes, this commercial juggernaut has played a central role in the near-depletion of what was once a vibrant, diverse, and complex popular genre” (Rose, 1). In other words, when certain messages are delayed over and over again, it becomes hard to focus on anything else. This is one example of why Rose is concerned about hip hop. Overall though, the author is concerned with the messages being sent from hip hop and how it is affecting what hip hop use to be. Further into her book, it is also clear that Rose is concerned with the negative outlook that people have on hip hop. For example, Rose states “…the increased profitability of the gangsta-pimp-ho trinity has inflamed already rile critics” (Rose, 4). Therefore, not only are these new messages changing hip hop, but they are
It’s a culture that has gotten so big that its influence can be seen everywhere from movies, commercials, and even pop songs. “We live in a popularity contest now,” says the rapper Chuck Inglish. The genre has become so recognized to the point of over saturation, in addition the music industry has monopolized the radio to dumb down the masses with homogenous rap songs made by a handful of people. So it’s up to the listener to “Put our money where our ears want to be,” and support fresh, creative, and unique hip hop. If the listeners become intent with such sub standard expectations, then the authenticity of Hip Hop will die
You’re standing in a crowd amongst thousands of fans at an Eminem concert, people from all over, shoulder to shoulder in a massive stadium, singing along every word of their favorite song for hours. People from all over are connected to each other through the power of music. When it comes to music, the life experiences, inspiration, and current events play a tremendously significant role. Hip hop is a form of art which can be expressed through rap songs, break-dancing, and graffiti art. The culture has become so popular that it has entered today’s fashion and modern language. Hip hop music is an extremely large part of today’s generation and a global genre, which influences the generation all over the world.
Something that affects every genre of music, and is almost always agreed upon, is the fact that music is evolving Hip-hop is no exception. Unfortunately, it is not always a whole consensus that the music comes out better. In J-Zone’s article of “5 Things That Killed Hip-Hop,” he writes with poor academic tone, atrocious grammar, and non-cohesive paragraphs structure. He tells the readers his opinions of the change in hip-hop. His argument that hip-hop is dying is legitimate, and is backed up by his statements about social media, clans in the music industry, and copyrighting.
Hip-hop culture began to develop in the south Bronx area of New York City during the 1970s. It had a significant influence in the music industry. Hip-hop music generally includes rapping, but other elements such as sampling and beatboxing also play important roles. Rapping, as a key part in the hip-hop music, takes different forms, which including signifying, dozen, toast and jazz poetry. Initially, hip-hop music was a voice of people living in low-income areas, reflecting social, economic and political phenomenon in their life [1]. As time moves on, hip-hop music reached its “golden age”, where it became a mainstream music, featuring diversity, quality, innovation and influence [2]. Gangsta rap, one of the most significant innovations in
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.
Hip Hop culture has come from a inner city expression of life to a multi-billion dollar business. At the beginning of the new millennium it was the top selling genre in the pop charts. It had influences not only on music, but on fashion, film, television, and print. In 2004 Hip Hop celebrated its 30th year anniversary. It wasn’t big for the fact that it was still kicking. It was big because the once Black/Brown inner city culture had grown into a multi-billion dollar global phenomenon (Reeves). Hip Hop culture has provided a platform for all walks of life to speak their mind. Over the past 36 years it has provided us with both entertainment and controversy alike and had a huge impact on our nation’s history. `
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.
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
The beauty of hip hop is that it is malleable. It is not defined by strict boundaries but by multiple characteristics. Young artist J. Cole (2013) explains this best by stating in an interview, “I think there’s no rules [in rap]. You can say what you want. That’s your poetic license: to test people’s boundaries.” (p.1) The results of such malleability and the need to experiment within the unwritten boundaries of hip hop are the birth of different styles and sectors/scenes in America. These sectors are represented by the geographic location of the artists and the distinctive sounds and styles that the artists utilize. For years the genre of hip hop was found primarily in the United States in these particular scenes. In the past few years,
Hip Hop music became one of the primary constructive outlets for Black Americans to release their thoughts, pain, and anguish about the injustices and mistreatments of Black people. Even though most of the pioneers in Hip-Hop either were not born in America or are 2nd generation immigrants that proves that common oppression can lead to unity. The fact that that these individuals were impoverished and felt marginalized is what brought them together and lead to the culture today. Deep rooted racism in the United States kept the genre of music suppressed for a while before it was allowed to even be played on the airwaves. Now, in 2011, the main consumers of byproducts of hip hop are White Americans.