Violence In Hip Hop Culture

Violence is a large aspect of the Hip-Hop culture that many people look down upon it for. Originally, Hip Hop was formed to escape the violent nature of the cities through connecting people in an artistic way. Violence was not created from Hip Hop, but rather Hip Hop was created as a way to deal with the violence. It allowed the youth of the city to express what was really going on in these areas of social distress. It was a positive and healthy way to escape the dangers that many young men and women felt were placed upon them in a world of violence and uncertainty. Yet, as this violence was being portrayed and reflected through a variety of artists, it began to formulate “gangsta rap”. This form of rap made artists feel powerful through expressing their masculinity in a physical and dominate manner. Through hyper-masculation of members in the Hip-Hop community, competition and violence began to arise again. In a sense, this form of rap music did not just bring awareness to the troubles of the cities, but glorified the violence occurring in them as well ("Gangs and Hip Hop"). …show more content…
It is used as a way to display power and authority which symbolizes America's idea of manhood. In songs and music videos we hear and see a lot of gunplay. Especially in music videos from artists such as Cheif Keef, we see an excess of gun usage. In Keef’s music video for the song “Sosa Chamberlain”, Keef sits around a table in his home with members of his mob, Glo Gang, all holding guns. As Keef is rapping about “being on that gang shit” with “a pistol to your ear” (Keef) he is bopping around a rifle and pointing it at the camera. This type of attitude from mobs such as Glo Gang makes many people question if there is actual gang violence occurring within these rapper’s lives or if they are just making a scene for the entertainment of