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The Cultural Impact Of Hip Hop

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The Cultural Impact of Hip-Hop Hip-Hop is often mistaken solely as a genre or style of music, but it is more than that, it is an entire cultural movement born out of the ghettos of america where underprivileged and impoverished youth created a culture that would take not only America but the entire world by storm. Many people think of Hip-Hop as a historical phenomena that was created through a capitalistic economic system and a very racist government that was trying its best to segregate and oppress the minorities (mainly Black and Latino youth) in our country. DJ Kool Herc, a pioneer of hip hop music and hip-hop culture, could not have said it better when he said “Hip-hop is the voice of this generation. Even if you didn’t grow up in the Bronx in the ’70s, hip-hop is there for you. It has become a powerful force. Hip-hop binds all of these people, all of these nationalities, all over the world together” (Chang, Intro). Hip-Hop and Rap music have deep roots dating back from as early as the 15th and 16th century but since this culture and genre of music has made its way into the mainstream in the mid 1980’s and early 1990’s this culture has greatly impacted American society and nearly every part of the world. Due to the increased popularity of hip hop in the american culture, the corporate music industry has commercialized and capitalized off of this gaining popularity, which has diluted the content of the music changing the whole initial intention behind the music and

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