Backspin Technique In F. Gary Gray's 1980s Hip Hop Music

1980s Hip Hop music plays a big role is everyone life. Some people hate it and some people love it. We all have that opinion based on our experience from it. 1980s music was not accepted from the beginning. From the movie Straight Outta Compton by F. Gary Gray, it explicitly shows that rap music was not accepted because it was too explicit and contained vulgar lyrics that kids were getting ahold of it. McWhorter mentioned that in his article Hip Hop Holds Blacks Back by John H. McWhorter, that rap music “teach [es] young [African American] to take thuggish stand” (McWhorter 1). However, I simply disagree with McWhorter because rap music does not advocate young boys to take thuggish stand but aware them about their surroundings. Hip Hop music was not originally targeted for young kids but for the …show more content…
He was not only an artist but a Dj as well. He began djing as teen “in his bedroom, eventually developing and mastering three innovations that are still considered standard Djing techniques today” (Wikipedia). The three techniques are Scratching, Punch Phrasing, and Backspin Technique which are still used today. Flash earned a name for himself as a Dj with his group referred as Furious Five. Furious five included Cowboy, Melle Mel, and Kid Creole. They were impeccably very good which led them to playing many locals gigs. Grandmaster Flash and the Furious five “pioneered MCing and freestyle battles” (Wikipedia) which is still used amongst rapper today. One of the most popular and hit song by Grandmaster Flash is “The message”. The message became a hit in 1982 because it vividly showed the life in the ghetto. In one of the stanza it states” Broken glass every, people pissin on the stairs and you know they don’t care”. Not only is Flash expressing his frustration but awarding the world of the poor lifestyle of the ghetto. Even though Grandmaster Flash came from the ghetto he made a name for