Hip-hop artists have acquired more and more power through social media. As artist’s popularity grows across the nation so does the audience they have the ability to reach. Even during hip-hop’s origin, it had the power to move a nation. We have seen what a driving impact celebrities can have on bringing forward social changed. In the late 1980’s N.W.A was formed in Compton, California. Members of the group included Ice Cube, Dr. Dre, Eazy-E, and more. Many of these members still retain their fame today and continue to be social activists within there community and on a national level. The formation of the group was ultimately derived from circumstantial anger and outrage at Los Angeles law enforcement at that time. As seen in Straight Out of Compton directed by F. Gary Gray, police wanted to have an overbearing power and went as far as trying to take away freedom of speech. In the film, we are able to see the confrontations between N.W.A and the law enforcement agents. The most prominent was when the group was set to preform in Detroit. The group was not supposed to preform F**k the Police due to a previous arrangements with law enforcement, (if N.W.A preformed they would be arrested) however, …show more content…
Tupac was a member of the New Afrikan People’s Organization (NAPO) (Stanford). As stated in Keepin' It Real in Hip Hop Politics: A Political Perspective of Tupac Shakur, through an interview with Tyehimba, Tupac’s mentor, “…Tupac’s decision to joing the New Afrikan Panthers, the youth organization of NAPO, is a reflection of his political orientation” (Standford). Tupac did not only show his activism through involvement in organizations such as NOPA, he also showed it through poetry and lyrics. “Tupac’s Lyrics underscore his refusal to accept economic inequality and inadequate employment opportunities” (Stanford, 2011). Tupac was seen and is still seen as one of the most influential activists of his
N.W.A (an abbreviation of Niggaz Wit Attitudes)[1][2][3] was an American hip hop group from Compton, California, widely considered one of the seminal acts of the gangsta rap and west coast hip hop sub-genres, sometimes credited as the most important group in the history of rap music.[4] Active from 1986 to 1991, the rap group endured controversy due to the explicit lyrics that many considered to be disrespectful to women, and glorifying drugs and crime. The group was subsequently banned from many mainstream American radio stations. In spite of this, the group has sold over 10 million units in the United States alone.
had gained all throughout Los Angeles, California. During the 70’s-90’s, racism was still at huge. Nobody knew what was going on behind closed doors because we did not have social media back then. High tech phones/cameras and technology that advanced were not accessible at the time to actually view the rawness of what was going on in the field. Ethos is demonstrated by N.W.A. by their status. By status I mean that N.W.A. was a famous and well known rap group which featured only African Americans (Ice Cube, Dr. Dre, Eazy-E, MC Ren, DJ Yella). The five were originally big known rappers/producers prior to them coming together to form the group. So people already knew about them from a musical/hip-hop perspective and throughout the Los Angeles community, which is where they all resided from. N.W.A. had already gained that trust/credibility (ethos) from the community because of how high their status was at the time (famous
The success the N.W.A group artists consists of avoiding being taking advantage of by managers who do it because artists know less about paperwork, transactions and which type of business to do at the right point of time. O’shea Ice Cube Jackson got into a financial dispute between him and the N.W.A manager, Jerry Heller. The dispute was settled in-court in 1990. After the fact, Cube continued a successful solo career. After that the N.W.A continued working on the same path, despite of the obstacles by being criticized by politicians, Ban of sales from few retailers because it was the purest form “Gangsta Rap” full of violence, misogyny, but also a lot of humor, and pathos. Politicians spent amounts of energy to stop it from being something, it was simply wild. The politicians might take the side that says this specific type of music influence young African Americans to do crimes and do what gangs do as described in the songs yet, the beauty of it is that it’s purely honest, and making Compton visible on the world
Tupac is just one of the many artists that talked about social justice issues. He along with many others gave a voice to people that were scared whilst expressing themselves. Even though Tupac did not have the best life he still found a way to express himself through music. Social justice issues are something that we can left untouched that is why artists talk about them throughout
Bambaataa used Hip-Hop to positively influence gang life. Bambaataa believed the values of Hip-Hop were “peace, unity, love, and having fun” (hiphop.sh). The creation of Zulu Nation was a product of Bambaataa's quest to turn gang life into a positive aspect of the community. Zulu nation encompassed a group of “socially and politically aware rappers, B-boys (break dancers), Graffiti artists, and other people involved in the Hip-Hop culture” (hiphop.sh). Through DJ Kool Herc and Afrika Bambaataa Hip-Hop culture became defined as Deejaying, Emceeing, Graffiti, and Break dancing.
Tupac’s mother , Afeni Shakur was a member of the black panther party.Nine months before his birth , his mother was incarcerated and released a month before and three days before his birth. His mother was a strong black woman ,who raised him and his brother as a single parent .Fighting the drug and police life , his family moved from New York to Baltimore where he fell in love in love for the arts .He was enrolled to the Baltimore Performing Arts School where he met and became friends with Jada Pinkett Smith.Living there for a while , his mother became an addict and he had to move to California with his cousin.
Tupac Shakur is a person who isn’t just a Hip hop musician, he’s a legend who changed the world. Tupac Shakur was born on June 16, 1971 East Harlem, New York City, NY, In 1984, his family moved to Baltimore, Maryland where he became good friends with Jada Pinkett Smith. His family moved again in 1988 to Oakland, California. His first breakthrough in music came in 1991 as a member of the group Digital Underground which was a month after his mother was acquitted of more than 150 charges of “Conspiracy against the United States Government and New York landmarks” in the New York Panther 21 trial his mother Afeni Shakur and his father Billy Garland were active members of the Black Panther Party in New York in the late 1960’s and early 70’s. His
Nearly 30 years ago, five individuals formed the controversial, highly opinionated hip-hop group, N.W.A (Niggaz Wit Attitudes). Like the vast majority of collaborative success stories, N.W.A was not without its share of inner and outer strife – courtesy of hot button issues, including money, police brutality and discrimination, and other personal struggles.
Tupac’s mother Afeni Shakur and his father Billy Garland were members of the Black Panther Party which were in New York, it was from the late 1960’s and early 1970’s. Tupac was born a month after his mother was relieved from more than 150 charges of the New York Panther 21 trial. Lots of people in Tupac's life were involved in the Black Liberation Army. The closest people to Tupac that were also involved in the Black Liberation
Even though those are just some of the past historical facts surrounding the negligence that justice and liberty have provided, Tupac Shakur's fast forwarded interpretation of key moment's in history give light to the obvious review that need dedicated time for amends to be underway. Despite all that has occurred throughout the span of history in the name of justice and liberty, whether it being honest or manipulated, steps have been taken withing communities which offer hope for those whom justice and freedom do not visit. In the Journal for Social Action in Counseling and Psychology, pertaining to Addressing Social Injustice with Urban African American Young Men Through Hip-hop, it states: “Since its inception, hip-hop has been and continues
Besides being a DJ, Bambaataa was also a member of a Bronx street gang called Black Spades. Bambaataa came to believe that the gang was destroying his beloved city. Gangs sold drugs and killed people, and Bambaataa believed they had to be stopped. Bambaataa later formed a peaceful organization called the Zulu Nation that aimed to popularize and promote the developing hip-hop culture. It adopted the motto “Peace, unity, love, happiness, and fun.” Once Bambaataa got his life straight he quickly established himself as one of the premier Djs of the improved hip-hop culture with a reputation to rival Kool Dj Herc. Bambaataa later became known as the Godfather of Hip-Hop. With Herc and Bambaataa becoming celebrities in their neighborhoods, competition between DJs began unofficial rivalries with each other to see whose sound system was the loudest and whose sets were best received by the
Singers often get asked how they feel about their songs, when they respond with a “well it’s a selling hit” they tended to forget that all of those people are youth members and we need to teach them to love and not to rebel. Most hip hop singers make millions of dollars on there albums and don’t really care on what the words say or how it makes people feel. This can make a minor insurgent against older and more responsible people. Since the 1980’s, hip-hop has changed the way people think, but not always in a positive manner. Hip-hop has been a trend setter and has guided our culture over the last couple of decades. Unfortunately, corporate sales have taken over the content of hip hop music, motivating artists to take different approaches to
Tupac Shakur is one of my favorite rappers the reason is because he is so lyrical and you understand his message in his music. His music sums up Black oppression to being treated differently and problems that happened back then that are happening to this day. Tupac had a song called “Brenda’s got a baby” where he was trying to make a political statement. In the song Tupac said that, number one, when this song came out, no male rappers at all anywhere were talking about the problems that females were having. Number two, it talked about sexual abuse, it talked about child molestation, it talked about families, it talked about families taking advantage of families, it talked about the effects of poverty it talked about how one person’s problems
Since Old School’s Hip Hop conception, the genre has gone way beyond what the genre’s originators could have imagined. Each period since the founding of Hip Hop has added to the evolution of the culture and have altered it into something that is more than just a hobby, but a mindset and a part of life that cannot be separated from many different cultures globally. In 1977, popular Hip Hop MCs and Djs lived in poverty in New York and in 2016 artist like Sean Combs, Dr. Dre, and Jay-Z are worth $2.07 billion combined (Greenburg, 2016). A genre and culture that stemmed in a way of healing and release in the black and latino community in New York is now an international commodity and has proven that Hip Hop is not going anywhere. Several of Hip Hop’s characteristics have guided the evolution in these past 40 years, like the value of being family-oriented, authentic and the content of the lyrics, have made Hip Hop into a genre that has a large enough variety to have something for every any audience that enjoys music.
Many of ours parents or adults got the impressions of hip hop from a hypersexsed and commercialized music videos, but they can find an underground movement that promote and empower hip hop with a more socially responsive rap music. Artists like Queen Latifah and Public Enemy (from the period where hip hop evolved from the political and conscious rap) make popular “probings connected to Afrocentricity and the Nation of Islam” creating criticism of America around the world. Rap music and the expressive culture of hip hop (graffiti, breaking and deejaying) produce a big impact in the world with the desire of young people, their social rebellion and their confrontation to sociopolitical discrimination in international communities. African youth can take advantages thanks to the technology and as a result they are connecting the African continent through hip hop in ways they parent couldn’t imagined. The media (or journalists) has the power and the ability to decide what artists will be exposure and what messages they should transmit to the audience. For example, in the classic of Public Enemy: It Takes a