Hip Hop Culture Essay

formative years, both Hip Hop and Rock and Roll have risen to become the two of the most widely consumed genres of music in present day America. They can both be traced back to similar origins ans each emerged during notable periods in history. However, through active development of these genres over the years, the core/base demographics of Rock and Roll and Hip Hop have moved to opposite ends of the colour spectrum. This essay seeks to compare and contrast Rock and Roll and Hip Hop according to…

The new generation of Hip-Hop set an example for the rest of America to show how another man “struggle” is another man “gain.” Through out history, they have been a number of cultural expectations that evoke the merging of youth cultures of organizational conformity and deviance. African Americans are the jewels of the nation. They have been the chosen ones to show their pain, power and strength through music, culture and politics. According to Bakari Kitwana, African American’s were the “first…

It goes without question that Hip-Hop has played a large role throughout America’s popular culture in recent decades. Aside from the entertainment aspect, there is more to the rap industry than meets the eye. For example, Hip-Hop is traditionally dominant in black, working class populations, or rather, populations that have historically faced systematic inequality from lack of opportunity. Many Hip-Hop tracks have touched base on these issues racism, poverty, and crime along with the structures…

The introduction of female emcees into hip hop masqueraded itself as a major paradigm shift in the world of hip hop. Finally, a male-dominated genre infamous for its misogynistic lyrics was being infiltrated by the very women the music affected the most. From MC Lyte, the first solo female rapper to release a full album in 1988, to today's female emcee megastars like Nicki Minaj, women in hip hop have been celebrated for breaking barriers and using the very genre that oppressed them to reclaim…

meaning to us, but it can be said they have a significant effect on how individuals dress and even act. It is in the issue of VIBE magazine from December 1994 to January 1995 that we see this work in an interesting way for those immersed in the culture of Hip-Hop: African-Americans. The images here appeal to both African-American men and women in a way that idealized the adult life of celebrities and even pushed for the unity of all African-Americans, just as Afrika Bambaataa spoke of with his…

The influence of hip hop on the African American community is very much so prevalent that many wonder why, but after examining socially conscious hip hop and the influences it has on the African American culture you may have a better understanding as of why the importance is so strong and why Chuck D of Public Enemy stated rap to be the “black CNN“. First I want to look at hip hop and how hip hop was started and the messages pertaining to police brutality, cultural, political, and depictions of…

community has resulted in the inclusion of many different cultures across North America. As a result of this cultural mix, people from different ethnicities have come to meld different cultural objects such as beliefs and values into their own identities. Although this inclusion of cultural objects from different cultures can be seen as signs of an inclusive society, it can also be regarded as cultural theft. For example, the theft of hip hop culture by white Americans is evident from their…

Hip hop culture can be traced all the way back to the 1930’s when African American men would retell stories, sometimes of World War I, using rhythm, rhyme and poetry for entertainment. This process was often referred to as “signifying” or “playing the dozens.” These soon were passed on and became what we today know as rapping. Telling a story was still a prevalent part of rapping but improvisation was introduced around the 1970’s. During this time, there were block parties around New York and…

actively, and importantly implicated within hip-hop culture and rap music because both dynamics, are a “self-defense mechanism that counterattacks the system of white world supremacy” (Chang, 2005, pg. 289). It was also “the first popular form of black music that offered little or no hope to its audience,” and like the Black Lives Matter movement, continues to cross many dominant, social boundaries. (Forman & Neal, 2012, pg. 486). Since hip hop culture has existed, and become involved with…

popular culture review. The title of the article “From the Fringe: The Hip Hop Culture and Ethnic Relations”. Reading this article I felt very enlightened, because I knew about Hip Hop music but not the background of Hip Hop music. The quote that enlightened me was, According to Geneva Smitherman, the foundation of rap music is rooted in “Black oral tradition of tonal semantics, narrativizing, signification, playing the dozens, Africanized syntax, and other communicative practices.” Hip Hop is…