Indigenous Hip Hop and Performance as Resurgence by Frank Waln tells his story on how hip hop impacted and changed his life. He begins by discussing his first interaction with hip hop music from a scratched CD he found on the road by Eminem’s Marshall Mathers LP. Surprisingly, that was his first time ever hearing rap or any other form of different music compared to his traditionally music. He stated that used to hearing music country music from the radio stations and the ceremony/pow wow songs from his reservation*. The express the way he felt when he first heard Eminem rapping “My mind was blown… I felt like Eminem was telling my story and getting all his pain out through music. I wanted that for myself” (Waln 2015). Waln explains how and why urban Indigenous youth relate and identify themselves with hip hop*. Its stated that his peer can easily connect to hip hop because of the cultural elements and similarities seen in Indigenous culture. Likewise, to hip hop there’s is a storytelling, a strong bass or drum and powerful voice, Waln states these elements are all similar, to the Indigenous culture. Waln believes aboriginal people could relate to Hip …show more content…
This caused many years of built up colonial rage. Resulting into Waln peers using substances abuse and violence to mass their anger and frustrations (Waln 2015). Political Indigenous artists used hip hop as an outlet to express their colonial rage and to build a “framework for resurgence” (Waln 2015). Waln states that this is the same way African American use it to express the racist discrimination they face daily. It also states that hip hop has helped many Aboriginal youth in finding their “self-agency” which is allowing them to slowly heal (Waln 2015). Giving positivity enforcement, encouraging them to express themselves and their story to the world (Waln
Rap music has become one of the most distinctive and controversial music genres of the past few decades. A major part of hip hop culture, rap, discusses the experiences and standards of living of people in different situations ranging from racial stereotyping to struggle for survival in poor, violent conditions. Rap music is a vocal protest for the people oppressed by these things. Most people know that rap is not only music to dance and party to, but a significant form of expression. It is a source of information that describes the rage of people facing growing oppression, declining opportunities for advancement, changing moods on the streets, and everyday survival. Its distinct sound, images, and attitude are notorious to people of all
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.
In your article “Hip Hop Planet”, you write about the global impact of hip hop, and the powerful message it contains. You first came across hip hop at a party, and didn’t like it much. In fact you seem to hate it, until 26 years later, when you started to regret that you have missed a very important and cultural event. A vision is going through your head about your daughter falling in love with a rapper, which caused you to think twice about hip hop. Although, you don’t seem to like the sound and the beat from hip hop, you begin to realize how the lyrics contain powerful and meaningful messages. In the article, you talk about your first experience with hip hop, and your thoughts about it. You also describe the stereotypes of hip hop, and how
Hip Hop has been a thread of music that is deeply rooted in the struggle within the black communities of America. It acted as a window for people outside of the black community to acknowledge and experience, to an extent, what endeavors those communities encounter. Although Hip Hop’s central purpose is to denote the subjugation that was implemented on the black community, Hip Hop began as a mere offshoot of 1970’s jazz, funk, and soul.
The misunderstood subculture of music that many have come to know as “hip-hop” is given a critical examination by James McBride in his essay Hip-Hop Planet. McBride provides the reader with direct insight into the influence that hip-hop music has played in his life, as well as the lives of the American society. From the capitalist freedom that hip-hop music embodies to the disjointed families that plague this country, McBride explains that hip-hop music has a place for everyone. The implications that he presents in this essay about hip-hop music suggest that this movement symbolizes and encapsulates the struggle of various individual on
Since its conception, hip hop has been a very necessary and influential art form in the way that it gives a voice to people who would normally not have one. The fact that it was often the sole voice for a marginalized community meant that the genre has often shouldered the “burden of being a genuine political force.” Hip hop’s role in addressing the concerns of urban Black Americans has led people to refer to it as “CNN for Black people.” However, in recent times, the commercialization of the genre (and growing popularity with white audiences) has generated a lot of criticism from many who feel that the essence of hip hop is being destroyed and it does not have as much of a meaningful effect on dispossessed Black youth as it used to have.
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
Hip-Hop isn’t just four elements combined within a culture, it is also “ a way of life, a language, a fashion, a set of values, and a unique perspective” (Efrem 2), the hip-hop basic and sub-elements have a strong impact in the American society mainly on its
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.
In order to understand hip-hop dance, it is important to recognize hip-hop music and where it came from. Many scholars of rap music relate the founding of rap to African and African American oral and musical traditions, specifically African griots and storytellers. They link the rhythm of rap to the use of drums in Africa and to African American music in the United States, from slave songs and spirituals to jazz and R&B. Scholars have found very interesting connections between rap music and Black nationalist traditions (traditions historically practiced by black people that serve as part of their racial identity). Rap is similar to the “call and response of the black church, the joy and pain of the blues, the jive talk and slang of the hipsters and jazz musicians, the boasting of street talk, the sidesplitting humor of comedians, and the articulateness of black activists.” All of these African American oral traditions, including rap, can be traced back to West African oral traditions. In traditional African societies, the spoken word and oral culture included poetry, storytelling, and speaking to drumbeats. The links between rap music and African American oral and musical traditions demonstrate that hip-hop music represents more than just sound. It represents history. This aspect of it, in my opinion, makes this type of music very unique and makes it carry more value.
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
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. `
The music videos that show a disturbing mix of rap and hip hop dance styles and profane language leaves us many people wondering if hip hop is harming our generation. Some things that said through hip hop and rap are a young person’s desire. The hip hop culture is an instant route to take to live the considered “good life” to our young generation. Many of us
The genre of hip hop has a positioning in the African American identity because it has helped people to form connections and builds powerful statements with tunes, lyrics and ciphers. In the case of Dred Scott v Sandford (1856), in which a slave, sued for his freedom because his master had taken him to a free territory and believed it made him free slave. The Supreme Court ruled against Dred Scott. With this decision it was clear that a compromise would not be reached, and so war was the only resolution, this lead to the Civil War. In Dred Scott v Sandford case, the court ruling had a huge influence on politics also the 14th Amendment prohibited all violations of citizenship. The Civil War made a huge impact and equal civil rights to African Americans who had been liberated after the American Civil War.
Even though, hip-hop is viewed as primarily of promoting negative message, however, it has reveled the pain behind the lyrics. “Hip hop music, had for over three and half decades, delivered a resounding message of freedom of expression, unity, peace, and protest against social injustices”. (Anderson & Jackson) As hip-hop continues to grow it has continued to remain a strong influential social impact. Hip-hop created a way for many individuals to express themselves on controversial issues seen throughout society.