How Hip Hop Connects With Many Different Real World Problem

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

When Tricia Rose speaks to the concept of “hip hop wars” in her writing, she is referring to a broad range of different conflicts that are taking place in all areas of hip hop. In the introduction to her book, she begins to explain her multitude of concerns surrounding certain topics in hip hop. She begins by saying that the most financially successful hip hop has become a way of caricaturing “black gangstas, pimps and hoes” (p. 1). She goes on to explain that homophobia, hypersexism, antisocial behavior, and violent tendancies seem to have become defining characteristics of hip hop as a whole. Essentially, Tricia Rose’s definition of hip hop wars can be summarized as: the pushing and pulling between the forces of good and evil within a movement that has begun to develop undesirable qualities. She offers an array of critical analyzations in support and in opposition of hip hop.

In the past 2 years alone, more than 3 dozen criminal prosecutions have had rap lyrics be presented by the prosecutor as a vital piece of evidence in the case. [Manly] In many of these cases the prosecutor will use violent lyrics created by the defendant to prove that that person is inherently dangerous and in other cases, will use the lyrics as a direct confession to having committed the crime in question. If you read into these cases you will notice a common theme between them; the defense will claim that the lyrics are freedom of speech and should be considered artistic expression, while the prosecutors will claim that the song is either a criminal threat or has too many similarities to the actual crime that it should be considered a confession. The primary basis for this debate is that hip-hop music is a misunderstood cultural practice because of the racial divide between the defendant and the criminal justice system.

If we look back at the origins of hip hop it is clear that rap began as a form of expression that allowed black people to stand up to prejudice. The soul that hip hop music communicates is rooted in oppression and marginalization from white people as far back as slavery, to the long time fight for freedom and equality. Hip hop is a

Dr. James Paterson explains, “the culture and the energy that came from that was very improvisational energy, a very sort of reclaiming energy that young folks, through dance, through rapping and DJ, so on and so forth, that is how the culture took hold. It was a (fill in the blank) __________________________________. And when I say violence, I mean like destroying homes. Imagine somebody putting a highway through your neighborhood, then you can understand hip-hop.”

The phenomenon of Hip-Hop has reached every corner of the globe, due to its easy form of express emotional or sociopolitical thoughts in a new and creative way, throughout its four elements:

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.

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

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. `

Before Hip Hop became the phenomenal mainstream success it is today, it was born struggling on the streets of New York. Pioneers like DJ Kool Herc and Coke La Rock laid down the foundations, and then crews like Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five, The Sugar Hill Gang, Afrika Bambaataa and Universal Zulu Nation came along to cement the culture. They organized block parties, had emcee and break dancing battles, sold mix tapes out of the trunks of their cars. They’d hustle anything they could to make it big on the cold mean streets. You had to be tough, you had to be bold, and you had to risk everything in order to gain anything.

Bolivian youth have used hip-hop music for expression with political issues as well as the social issues the young people of Bolivia face. In Latin America, hip-hop helps tell the stories of the struggles. It is described in the article to be a “Hip-hop revolution” because of the criticism and examination of the social political, economic structure, and the inequalities. In El Alto, Bolivia is where youth are using hip-hop as a way to “spread education as a cultural action of freedom”. It is about making sense of their economic, social and political situations.

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

Hip Hop Culture As I was growing up in the late 1970’s, it has always been common knowledge that hip hop music and its culture originated in the South Bronx section of New York City in the early 1970’s. Since this time, hip hop has become a multi-cultural fusion of many different contributions made by several ethnic groups like Caucasians, Asians, blacks, and Hispanics, to name just a few. Hip-hop has definitely exploded within many cultures and subcultures throughout the world and within the past decade or so; it has been getting widespread exposure. When hip-hop music and the whole culture of the movement first came onto the scene, it incorporated many different art forms. These art forms include deejaying [cuttin’ and scratchin’], emceeing or rapping, beatboxing, breakdancing, and graffiti art. In today’s society, hip hop still incorporates these different art forms, but it also includes the way you dress; the language or terminology you use; and the way you walk, act, and look. Hip-hop music on a whole has always been a form of self-expression – depicting a person’s lifestyle; their pain; their struggle; and the realities of street life. For some rappers or singers today in the hip-hop game, it’s still a form of self-expression. But for others, it’s all about the money, clothes, jewelry, or the “Bling-bling. Ka-ching. Ka-ching.” (Liu, Pg. 1) Since the early to mid 90’s, hip-hop has undergone so many changes that it has actually lost its culture. Hip-hop has become,

Hip-Hop is a culture involves more than just music, it contains art, dance, dress style, verbal communication and many other elements. Both Rap and Hip-Hop originated in the Bronx in the mid 1970’s; this culture, believed to have been first created by a Jamaican DJ Kool Herc, who repeated rhymes over instrumental music at functions. Hip-Hop spread through the borough of the Bronx, taking ideas, and motivation from the rhyming used by folk poets in West Africa. Hop-Hop is a culture with components like graffiti and rapping. Once the culture got embraced, it became a battle, a new form of competing with one-another that’s when we started to see more of rap battles. Hip-Hop culture got defined by the late '70s, early '80s beat-box style. The artists flowed in cheerful tones that told people to get up from their seats and dance to the music. The significance is more optimistic, and brighter future type of song. Rap is Hip-Hop; it’s just not everything that Hip-Hop has to contribute.

Hip- hop has become a phenomenon throughout youth culture. Many believed hip-hop was only a phase of music like disco, but as the genre continued to expand and evolve, it became clear that hip-hop was here to stay. (History of hip- hop: past, present, future) Hip- hop is made up of 2 main elements, DJing and rapping. DJ is short for disc jockey, which is a person who usually uses turntables to make music, and rapping is talking and chanting in an easy and familiar manner. (Hip-Hop: A Short History) In writing this research paper, I will explain the most impactful years of hip-hop, and the events surrounding them, starting from 1979, when Sugarhill Gang released “Rappers Delight”.