Turino's Music As A Social Life

Black and white teenagers listen alike to rock music on the radio and attended clubs to hear it, together. Rock ‘n’ Roll’s roots helped accustom white teens to black music through the lenses of white, male vocalists—a normalcy to ground these drastic changes in race relations. The stars, like Elvis Presley—know for his sexual and riveting performances—began to blur the line between different forms of music and more importantly, black and white music.3 Rock ‘n’ Roll music was a blend of these two different cultures, demonstrating the enormous consumer power of this emerging youth culture and giving it the power to unite an entire

White rap artist like Mac Miller, Hoodie Allen, Action Bronson, Macklemore and G-Eazy have all been able to secure a foothold within the industry thanks to the many doors which Eminem opened for them. While many opportunities have been given to white rappers, and while it is true that they are becoming more popular as more white artist enter the mainstream world, there is still no doubt that white rappers are almost always at a disadvantage. Ever since the industry acknowledged in 1991 that white, suburban teenagers consume 80 percent of all hip-hop, mainstream rap culture’s emphasis on characteristics appealing to white men has resulted in the gentrification of the genre. In order to make money, hip-hop shifted from its earlier focus, mainly political and social commentary to its more current form, emphasizing sexuality and violence, because that stimulates white listeners. This sexuality and violence was exactly what Eminem was able to capture, but is what many white rappers are struggling to capture today. The hip-hop industry has been forced to adapt to the tastes of a wealthy, white population of fans that adore its music by creating music characterized by carefully enunciated flow, catchy beats, and relatable stories. As a consequence of this shift in the way current rap and hip-hop has been presented, white

“…the appropriation of hip-hop cultural forms suggest not that whites want a black identity: rather, they want characteristics of blackness.” (Perry 2002, 109). This is quote by Pamela Perry, a sociologist as University of California Santa Cruz, from her book Shades of White:White Kids and Racial Identities in High School. Pamela Perry is a sociologist from University of California, Santa Cruz, throughout her book she touches on the idea of white children developing a sort of identity crisis depending on their environment. This quote helps put the appropriation of African American culture in its simplest terms. In most cases people associate Hip Hop culture with African Americans. With that being said, many artist of different genres who attempt to have a more hip hop vibe, fall subject to appropriating African American Culture. Various artist have been appropriating culture in several different ways whether it’s through dance, sound, or even image.

For as long as mankind has walked on this earth, music has been an important part of our culture and lifestyles. Each walk of life beats to a different drum. Different cultures use music for many aspects of their lives; for religious purposes, for celebrations, for comfort, for sorrow, for relaxation, for sports, for dances, for energy, for learning, for sleeping, and for sexual experiences. Everyone uses music for something. Music connects with people and reaches them in ways that words simply cannot. Music is a representation of what feelings sound like. It expresses emotion and brings that characteristic out from within us; it tells us a story. Every generation has its’ own sound and different music styles have emerged and become

The origins of hip hop started in the late 70’s as a pastime that brought all the impoverished people of the projects together to have fun through. But decades later in the 90’s, people began to rap about many subjects ranging from the crack epidemic, hard life in the ghetto, or just having fun, but the underlying motive of rappers in this era was to reflect on their rough lifestyle through clever lyrics. The motive wasn’t for money, but recognition for their unique wordplay among the rap community. However, that all changed when record companies saw a financial opportunity in rappers, and rappers saw a financial opportunity through music. Due to the commercialization of hip hop, authenticity is rare to find in the mainstream

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 and race have had a complicated relationship in the past two decades. It has been commonly referred to as “black music” and a reflection of black culture. However, recent studies done by the Mediamark Research Inc. showed that 60% of rap music buyers are white. With the emergence of white, Latino, Asian, and other rappers with diverse backgrounds on the Hip Hop scene it is important recognize the changing color of the genre and the stereotype it holds as “black music”. Black culture has also been subject to appropriation because of the popularization of Hip-hop music. However, much of the discourse on the topic confuses cultural appropriation and cultural appreciation, and states that hip-hop music is strictly for African Americans or that it doesn’t belong to anyone at all. Hip-Hop is a black art form that transcends cultural boundaries and can be appreciated through the lenses of different cultures as long as those who enjoy it acknowledge its roots. The genre’s growing number of non-black rappers is not due to the appropriation of the genre by other cultures but as an expansion of it due to it’s growing popularity across the world.

Some may say music is just music; a song is just a song. However, music plays an enormous role in our psychology, because a single song has the ability to bring about many kinds of thoughts and emotions in the listener. Music is subtly one of the main factors in which people identify with certain groups and establish their belonging in society. It shapes people’s perspectives on how the world functions and the roles they play within it. Music can function the same way in a culture; it can reflect many of the culture’s values and ideologies. Music can have many effects on culture and the people’s idea of who they think they are within that culture. Music can serve in a way that promotes cultural identity and pride, yet it could also play a

The influence of rap on black urban youths has become a major part to the modern day music industry. Berry uses the article to show that through rap music, low income black youth are able to develop empowering values and ideologies, strengthen cultural interaction and establish positive identities. This is done by describing different components of urban black culture associated with rap which enhances the struggle for black significance in pop culture. His beliefs are supported by using rap artists and their music to show how significant it has grown to be a dominant form of expression but also a controversial issue for urban black youths. The thesis that rap music as cultural expression is

For example, in the Oxford Dictionary, slang is defined as spoken by people of “low or disreputable character (“Slang”)” and “considered as below the level of standard educated speech (“Slang”).” While artists like Iggy Azalea gain success by using slang to sound cool and knowledgeable about hip-hop, black people are shunned for their supposed lack of intelligence and linguistic ability. Furthermore, hip-hop becomes victim to cultural appropriation when white audiences actively listen to the genre of music. In Rodriquez’s article, his findings conclude that from sales figures of more 17,000 American music stores, approximately two-thirds of the hip-hop music buyers were white (Rodriquez 650). Audiences feed into cultural appropriation by listening to hip-hop music, buying these albums, and going to concerts without having a clue about the hidden political meanings. This proves to be problematic because hip-hop is supposed to express the social and political struggles of blacks. Therefore, how will messages of racial inequality be acknowledged if most listeners are white people born on the top of the racial ladder? These evidences show that white hip-hop artists and audiences enjoy the privileges of black culture while not being subjected to the negative stereotypes or racism that comes with it (Rodriquez 646). While hip-hop is in danger of becoming westernized, this would not be the first time

Hip hop has, since its creation, been a form of music that has been very prominent in the African American community. However in the two essays, one written by Baruti Kopano, the second by Carlos Morrison and Ronald Jackson II, they make the argument that white community is appropriating hip hop and African American culture through certain actions.

Kembrew McLeod (1999) proposes that an increased emphasis on blackness as a major point of hip hop authenticity – along with other characteristics like being “underground,” “from the street,” and “staying true to yourself” (1999, 139) – occurred in an effort to preserve hip-hop’s identity in the face of mainstream absorption (see also Decker 1994). Two significant aspects of McLeod’s contributions are (1) his acknowledgement of the broad nature of all authenticity claims – as opposed to arguing for an authoritative Truth about what hip-hop is, McLeod bases his research on how the genre is discussed by artists, fans, and the press; and (2) his binary framework which pits “Black realness” against “White fakeness.” Others have since used this

Hip-hop’s claims to authenticity take a variety of forms in a multitude of contexts; therefore, it is virtually impossible to clearly define what

debated throughout society, but the genre’s complexity makes it difficult. For decades, the hip hop culture has grown into one that is heavily dominated by black people. With its flood into mainstream music, other races have taken the genre and have used it for their own purposes and pleasure. This has ultimately caused a shift in the way people of color and Caucasians interact with one another in this country, especially since privileged youth and seniors get to learn about minority hardships and struggles along with a catchy beat. Although this proves to be beneficial for American society, it has also caused

The popular culture of music has changed dramatically over the course of sixty five years. Since this time, new genres of music have been introduced, existing genres have changed, and fixed stereotypes have been associated with certain genres of music. Music has become a major part of popular culture, and is portrayed almost everywhere in first world societies, including on television, radio, at shopping centers, sporting events and in every area of popular culture. Music has become a major part of popular culture, and continues to strive and develop into more and diverse areas of culture.