African hip hop

and fashion icon when most of his peers from back in the day are still stuck on that same talent they discovered. LL Cool J which is the short for Ladies Love Cool James was born January 14, 1968 with the name James Todd Smith. He is an American hip hop recording artist and actor from Queens, New York. LL Cool J is also known as one of the forefathers of pop rap. It is known that James Todd Smith was creating demo tapes in his grandparents' home. Just like so many artist, LL had some form of…

or not, the question of how we came to be has crossed your mind. What is religion? It is defined as the belief in a god or gods, but does it mean something different to you? If you think about it today, or even 10 years ago, how often did you hear hip hop/rap songs talk about God? You might be able to count exactly on one hand; I know I can. The one song that I can think of is Kanye West’s “Jesus Walks.” The well-known philosopher Aristotle…

given a negative connotation seemingly out of nowhere. This thing could have helped someone through hard times, something that spoke to them or something that has significance in their lives. This is something that people who are fans of rap and hip-hop have to face on a regular basis. In somewhat recent times people have given this genre of music a bad reputation and placed blame on it for many things, the most prominent of which is it’s vulgar lyrics having a bad influence on children. Rap…

The Golden age of rap and hip-hop is a name that was bestowed unto mainstream music, between the late 1980’s and the early 1990’s. This time period was shaped by popular figures such as Tupac Shakur, Biggie Smalls, NWA (Niggas with Attitude), Rakim, Slick Rick and MC Hammer. This era revolutionized “gangsta rap”, changing it from sub-conscience music to pro-violence music; however political issues and criticism of the African-American community was still prevalent in their music. Between the…

relationships with the media and political figures; activist and author, Kevin Powell, commented, “…The hip-hop community organizing around politics is not a new phenomenon, nor did it begin with the Obama presidential campaign.” The power and glorification of many rap artists mirrored national political figures, and in many ways artists in a microcosm are political figures in their own communities. African-Americans in urban communities used rap and its artists to engage civically…

Kanye West is an artist whose works can never be replicated. If you start with his first studio album, The College Dropout, West brings an entire new style of rap to the genre of hip hop. This album focused on topics such as consumerism, religion, and family instead of ordinary rap subjects like drugs or crimes. In his song “All Falls Down,” West scrutinizes the problems with college using lyrics like this: “She has no idea what she doin' in college/That major that she majored in don't make no…

self-images of people and express emotions within a group of people. Hip hop and rock and roll are two types of music genres that are capable of describing their own way of style in their lyrics whether it is the beat, instrument they use, or the rhythm. However, these two types of music have become popular and share a variety of differences and similarities. Hip-hop was originated in the 1970s’ in Bronx, New York, and was practiced by African Americans and then influenced by Latino Americans.…

Every kid when they were little wanted to become a pop star, rock star, movie star, or sports player. Not every kid starts out listening to hip-hop or hardcore rap. Not every parent wants their kids to know about SOME struggles expressed by the hip-hop culture or the lifestyle of a different culture. It is perceived that rap is for thugs and bad people, but once Iggy Azalea come into it or Ryan Maclemore got into it, it become more of an art. There is a fine line of racism in everything that…

Abe, Daudi J. 6 'n the Morning: West Coast Hip-hop Music, 1987-1992 & the Transformation of Mainstream Culture. United States: Over the Edge, 2013. Print. Daudi Abe is a Seattle-based professor, writer, and historian who has taught courses on culture, race, gender, communication, education, hip-hop, and sports for over 20 years. In his article, he discusses how west coast hip-hop during the late ‘80s and early ‘90s heavily impacted societal views on hip-hop and music entirely. In addition, he…

Rhetorical Analysis of “Don’t Cash Crop On My Cornrows” Amandla Stenberg utilizes the internet, Youtube, to educate a global audience on cultural appropriation and black and hip-hop culture. Stenberg defines cultural appropriation as the moment when an a outside person completely disregards another culture’s history and allows their actions to lead to racial generalization and stereotyping of the culture the aspects originated from; thus allowing the appropriator to be addressed as trendy…