Tricia Rose’s “The Hip Hop Wars” commences and entitles the first chapter as “Hip Hop Causes Violence.” Before furthering on with the chapter, one may intuitively develop a bias supposition that what is titled is based on an actual fact without having any valid evidence to prove why it is the way it is. Tricia Rose, whom is an author, a scholar, and a public speaker presented an argument stating “a key aspect of much of the criticism that has been leveled at hip hop is the claim that it glorifies, encourages, and thus causes violence (Hip Hop Wars, pg.34).” Although several critics may agree that hip hop promotes violence, Tricia Rose covers the significant aspects of the controversy whether hip-hop indeed causes violence.…
In conclusion, Bennett wraps Hip Hop up in metaphors and imagery and gives it to his readers to interpret. Is Hip Hop good or evil? As it changes we can only hope it will choose a side that perhaps does not encourage the dropouts and gang bangers, but then Hip Hop isn't that, Hip Hop. It is a culture and represents such a huge margin of our population, perhaps it can be used as a teaching tool, and that of a learning tool as…
This music educates people about several issues from different perspectives. Artists use Hip-Hop music as a platform to voice their opinions, share their stories, and simply state current issues. An article called, “How Hip-Hop Music Has Influenced American Culture and Society,” by Kathleen Odenthal Romano discusses the key contributions Hip-Hop has made in American culture. The author writes, “Hip Hop culture stands as a poignant and historically significant factor of society as it represents a reflection of socio-political woes and widespread sentiment of traditionally marginalized and oppressed communities” (Romano). This statement readily explains the role of Hip-Hop in American culture as it portrays the social and political issues as well as the perspectives of minority…
“Oswaldo was flummoxed by the fact that his friend could be so quiet, almost embarrassed, about his academic acumen, yet so damn loud and proud of his status as a premier campus drug dealer.” (Hobbs 167). Within this quote from the unforgettable story “The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace,” written by Jeff Hobbs, lies an illustration of the influence of the Hip Hop Culture subgenres that has been located throughout many life stories in the past half century told by famous singers such as Eminem, Lil Wayne, Nicki Minaj, Kanye West, 50 cent, Dr. Dre and many others. The Hip Hop Culture is described as individuals being prone to detail the struggles of life in the course of a brutally honest point of opinion. In “The Short and Tragic Life…
Teen’s death was a tragedy born of hatefulness I was puzzled and saddened by the story of 13-year old Megan Meier that Leonard Pitts wrote in his Sunday commentary in the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer. The parents of an ex-girlfriend of Megan, who lived a few doors away, created a MySpace page and kept sending messages to Megan using the name of a fictitious cute boy called Josh Evans. After befriending Megan and calling her pretty, Josh unexpectedly broke up with Megan and kept sending her mean and hateful messages. He had also been sharing her messages with the online community; describing her as a “fat slut.” In his last hateful message, Josh told Megan that she was a bad person, everybody hated her and the world would be better without her.…
At the peak of the West coast versus East coast beef many people on both ends began to feel a personal connection to the issue and for Jenee Desmond-Harris that was exactly the case. The situation between both rappers, Tupac and Biggie, brought out the violence within the African American community to the forefront and the influence it had upon many on both ends. The essay I decided to evaluate was “Tupac and My Non-thug Life” by Jenee Desmond-Harris. The article entails Ms. Desmond-Harris’s experience of hearing the news of late rapper Tupac Shakur’s death. Ms. Desmond-Harris explains how she and her best friend Thea were huge fans of Tupac and the effect that his death had on their lives.…
In the article “Rap Music and Its Violent Progeny: America's Culture of Violence in Context” written by Jeanita W. Richardson and Kim A. Scott, the authors search to see if rap music is causing an increase of violence amongst its listeners. The authors observe music from a more hypothetical angle and the essence of rap music. It is addressed that contents of rap music during the time of the study was largely the honest confessions of the artists; from financial status and police…
But as time went on, it has also perpetuated and contributed to the reestablishment of certain social issues in black spaces. With sexism and homophobia being perpetuated along with violence, it still raises the question of whether black spaces have improved or worsened as a result of hip-hop. Hip-hop has always been a form of resistance from ‘normative’ American culture, but it backfires when that same normative culture uses the implications of hip-hop to justify wrongdoing. American culture sees hip-hop as something that afflicts the black community with violence and causes occurrences such as “black on black” crime. That is exactly what happened with “Don’t Shoot”: its message was overshadowed by the existence of “blacks killing each other all the time” and the rappers who promote such violence in their music.…
Book Review The book called Hip-Hop Revolution The Culture and Politics of Rap by Jeffrey O. G. Ogbar was a very informative, historical source for learning about the background of how hip hop came to be. Jeffrey O. G. Ogbar is an associate professor of history and director of the institute for African American Studies at the University of Connecticut. With his skills, Jeffrey Ogbar writes a book that examines genders in hip hop, authenticity of hip hop, and races that had an influence on hip hop. The book goes into the historical side of things and it gives the reader words like minstrel, jezebel, Nigger Heaven, Black Power Movement, Black Panther Party, and many more.…
Modern hip-hop has started to embody the earlier roots of hip-hop, transitioning into the politicized art form it once was. Due to the ongoing and continuous violence and systemic racism perpetrated against the black community, as well as increased access to media, the United States has become increasingly polarized, creating a black community that feels betrayed and dejected. Subsequently, hip-hop artists have turned to the microphones to take a stand. Jasari X, and Mick Jenkins, both exemplify the ongoing and systemic oppression perpetrated against black people by demonstrating the tremendous affect prejudice and discriminatory violence has on a group of people.…
Cathleen Rountree author of “In Defense of Hip-Hop” issued her article of the Santa Cruz Sentinel, May 19,2007. She believes that hip-hop shouldn’t be the scapegoat and blame of the violent acts that goes on. Her rhetorical tools such as evidence makes her argument very effective. It is not just negative music, without credibility never judge a book by its cover.…
One was bound to encounter the songs of artists such as Ice-T, Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, and Ice Cube. During the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, hip-hop music West of the Mississippi River was dominated by the gruesome realities of gangster rap and g-funk. Rap at the time was intense, authentic, and unbearable, because it served as a reflection of the gang violence, poverty, drug abuse, and police brutality that existed in many underprivileged…
As a young Black woman in America, my love of Hip Hop is linked to the revolutionary nature of its existence. Consequently, the genre as I know it is critical of American society and is American in origin. From this perspective, I unwittingly narrowed the geopolitical confines of the culture. Moreover, the reach of Hip Hop is as expansive as the reach of Blacks across the diaspora. Morgan and Bennett suggest that while black and brown, and American in origin, Hip-Hop is a global entity.…
Morrison states, “Marketing messages of hate and violence to children sends the signal that violence is widespread and normal, that it is acceptable to abuse women, and that there is glamour in lawlessness” (Morrison). Teens are listening to music that sends the messages that it is okay for men to beat their wives and girlfriends because they are above the law. This has had an extremely negative effect in the black community. As stated by McWhorter, “Rap music is harmful to the black community because it links to racism, violence, and misogyny ” (McWhorter). In “Rap Music and Rap Audiences,” it states that “many scholars note that some rap lyrics attempt to objectify, devalue, or subjugate African American women through insults and name calling” (Dixon).…
Hip Hop is seen everywhere, in movies, shows, soap operas, fashion, works of art, and hundreds of other forms that have been embodied in modern society. According to Carl Taylor and Virgil Taylor in Hip Hop is Now: An Evolving Youth Culture, “Hip Hop culture has a proclivity towards violence and self destruction” (210-213) and they believe it is the most disturbing aspect of Hip Hop culture. The media and parents would see Rap and Hip Hop as if it was promoting gang, violence, drug use, and other negative things so they saw this music as a destructive influence on the young. At one point in history Hip Hop lingo did regard acts of violence, heard frequently in the streets by young individuals. As Hip Hop grew it started to become known as Rap.…