Evolution from singing and dancing to musical instruments such as bongos and zithers, to blues and barbershop harmonies then after sweet Jazz came hip-hop. From creating wars Eastcoast vs Westcoast to controversial confusion of how hip-hop music came across the world. Questions asking; who created it? and Who was the audience intended to be? The perspective of hip-hop was and still is a way mainly for African American and Latino culture, to learn what was going on in their communities and world.Over time there has been controversy of how hip-hop influence American Culture. Hip-Hop has an immense influence on today’s generation it has changed but for better or worse?There has definitely been a change in music as new generation rappers start to come out, they rap about the lavish ways they live and the dangerous lives as well, instead of rapping about the real world problems. It is the way society takes the information being said in the lyrics.
What is hip-hop and where did it evolve.
“Hip-hop is a style and/or genre of music(Dj and MC), dance or “B-Boying”, graffiti and fashion (Greg & Tate).” In the early 1970s in the Bronx, New York Clive Campbell known by his stage name DJ Kool Herc, an African American man who migrated from Jamaica, founded hip-hop at a birthday party. To come up with beats he incorporated the style of Jamaican Selectors by “toasting” records he spun. Finding a better way to transition the music smoothly Campbell used turntables and scratching records naming this method “Mary-Go-Round.” Three years later the summer of 1973 it had been six years before the term hip-hop even entered the vocabulary, the name hip-hop credited Keith Wiggins.Editors,history.com.(www.history.com/this-day-in-history/hip-hop-is-born-at-a-birthday-party-in-the-bronx)
With the emergence of hip-hop came a new term Disc Jockeying(DJing) and hip-hop began to spread around the state of New York like trends from an icon. Disc Jockeying began to advance music as DJ Kool Herc asked two of his friends Coke La Rock and Clark Kent to handle the microphone duties, later known as DJ Kool Herc and the Herculoids. As time passed DJ Kool Herc opened many opportunities for newcomer Grandmaster Flash.
To hip hops, society, and https://open.spotify.com/artist/1JfnADNz5yYEq3hrzlZHLk Grandmaster Flash and the Furious 5 was hip-hop's greatest innovators. Born Joseph Saddler in Barbados, West Indies in his earlier life he had grown up around sound and it brought him closer to the foundation for the rap revolution. Later as his life became physically and emotionally unstable Flash would use music as an escape from the negativity. While in this musical escape Flash pioneered DJ techniques known as “cutting”,” scratching”, and“phasing.”He later received the name “Flash” by setting the pace he worked at because it was so rapid.According to https://www.biography.com/people/grandmaster-flash-060716 In 1977 the group Grandmaster flash and the Furious 5 launched his career and made music history.
A whole new sound approached the rap industry encompassing MC standing for microphone controller,a person who raps lyrics to a DJ’s beat unionizing DJ and MC. As Grandmaster flash and the Furious Five acquired a name for themselves they also put out a positive message through their music. Songs by them such as “The Message” and “White Lines (Don’t do it)” anti-cocaine and providing knowledge of political stands. In the year 1982 emcee battling the battle of two rappers or a group of rappers became a part of hip-hop and in 1983 gangsta rap was partly pioneered by Ice T on the west coast.
The late ’80s and ’90s was very influential time in hip-hop rap artists such as Will Smith, LL Cool J, and even N.W.A put out message about real-life situations. While on the other hand from the starting year 2003 hip-hop music became more about the making of fast money and luxury items.
So the next question asked is, how does music influence our behavior? Conflict and the way people conduct themselves has always been influenced by the music we listen to. The author from the website www.spinditty.com/generes/hip-hops-influence-on-America states “Hip hop represents social subversion, chauvinism, aggression, vulgarity, profanity, and little else” (Odenthal, Kathleen). This expression is based upon a disposition felt by someone. Behavior from “music interpret with the variation of age and gender. Females and males listen to music for different uses. Researchers have shown that female teenages use music to calm and reflect their emotional state of mind. While male teenagers use music to invigorate their energy level.” (American Academy of Pediatrics)
A survey was conducted with male offenders from different ethnicities (ages 17-21)found out that their preferred genre of music was rap. This study also has proven that 72% of these men believed that music influenced the way that they feel, and only 4% shows a connection between music listening and deviant behavior. While most studies cannot prove if media is sharpened to people’s attitudes, or whether people shape media consumption.
Music intake is dependent upon the way it is presented. “Lyrics from 1993 to 2003 thats 10 years has become more explicit in references to drugs,sex,and violence.” (American Academy of Pediatrics) In Hip-hop/rap music the lyrics being taken in by consumers are referring to violence,the use of drugs, racism, homophobia, and hatred towards womenwwww.pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/124/5/1488
Elaborating on this point hip-hop rap does deminomize women stating that we are bitches and hoes these songs “I don’t f with you” by Big Sean, “Ooouuu” by Young M.A, and “I love it” by Kanye West, Lil Pump ft. Adele Givens all say how women are only for sex. These lyrics are also giving off negative ideas of the world and earning quick money vs in the day that made you want to dance and have fun. Songs like “Brand New Funk” by Will Smith and DJ Jazzy Jeff, “Changes” by Tupac, and “U.N.I.T.Y” by Queen Latifah all gave messages of positivity, bringing communities together instead of dragging them through the dirt. Women rappers did not refer to themselves as bitches but as women.
According to http://smhp.psych.ucla.edu/pdfdocs/youth/youthhiphop.pdf “Both positive and negative influences of hip-hop are acknowledged.” The example of Taylor and Taylor (2005) acknowledge that “Early hip-hop has often been credited with helping reduce inner-city gang violence by replacing it with physical violence with dance and artwork battles.”The emergence of crime and commercial grew in the 1990s, an emphasis on violence was incorporated when rappers boasted about drugs, weapons, misogyny, and violence.”
The Positive effect
Did you know? That when African Americans started uniting to peacefully protest in the ’60s and ’70s, Hoover sent FBI agents to infiltrate the movements, loot, incite riots and commit other acts of violence. The program is called Cointelpro.
Hip-hop has positively affected society by providing programs, support, social awareness, hope and education, and entertainment.
According to http://impactofrapmusiconyouths.weebly.com/positive-impact.html
“Rap-music in-spite of the negativity and controversy that often surrounds it,can have a positive influence on listeners and expand their consciousness and musical horizon.”
Hip hop is compared to be the underground railroad for enterprising minds from the lower class in this community and country,to use their minds and creativity to escape that poverty and create enterprise to build themselves and a community. By supporting the community the hip-hop world is supporting the youth and creating social awareness in society. Because rap music is a great platform to bring messages to great masses, rappers could use this to send positive messages. Artists usually write songs of violence and or criminal activity because it is what they have seen or experienced. Rappers have admitted to being involved with these crimes and try to promote positive messages to raise social awareness.
Overcoming what they seem to have been a part of. Many rappers rap about how they came about in the world. Many rappers came up from a struggling home and rap about poverty. Once overcoming the the struggle of poverty they talk about how they made it out. “Artist such as TI ,Snoop Dogg, Kanye West, Jay-Z, Ludacris,Jadakiss, and Akon provide a lot of commentary and attempt to participate in political dialogue.”(Umaymah Rashid) These messages can put out a positive mindset for youth because for people who do live with those circumstances it gives hope that they can make it out to instead up “dead or in jail” as my mother would say.
On the other hand although rap is a way of entertainment rappers do speak of things that are not actually good also. Over time artist such as Left Eye and Sean Paul rap about safe sex. As
today it is perceived as as a thing to do with multiple women. The lyrics promote sex, violence, and dangerous behavior because once it has been done once it was what was popular. Just because they claim they do it does not mean they really do it, they would not have time to do
those things anyway it is just a form of entertainment. You may ask Well why has the lyrics in songs become more vulgar? Back in the day of our parents growing up (70s-80s babies) the music promoted positivity. Then somewhere along the lines 2006 more vulgarity started to be put into songs “selling sex”. Disputes had become more out as rappers deminomized each other in song. Messages became more and more disrespectful because it is what is popular. So when critiquing rap you would have to dig deeper than the surface saying it is degenerate. Think. “Is it
degenerate when the church uses Christian rap to send positive messages? Is it degenerate when teachers,police officers, and lawyers spread their messages attempting to connect with adolescents?” information is coming from http://impactofrapmusiconyouth.weebly.com/positive-imapct.html
The Negative Outlook
Although there are very enlightening points about the positive outlook of hip-hop there are also negative impacts. Artists tend to take what they have been through and glorify it and it is based around violence,sexualisation,drug use and being egotistical...and the list goes on as the main themes of rap.
Promoting Violence
According to www.impactofrapmusic.weebly.com “ ‘Gangsta Rap’ is a hip hop sub genre that focuses primarily on the negative aspects of inner-city life.”As I stated before lyrics of songs are always taken the wrong way. Lyrics in songs now degrade women, and this specific genre of hip-hop has been often cited as the cause of the increase in violence within communities, especially those of the African American community as they see it is “cool” to act as the lyrics say. “According to federal statistics cited by the “Charlottesville Daily progress,” homicides are the leading cause of death for men with black skin between ages of 15-34. It may be the way many artist have loved their lives on the street, many young men and women idolise this artist and their behavior , which is one prime example of how hip-hop is not benefitting society.
Sexualization
Today women usually think they can not get anywhere successfully without exploiting their bodies. In music videos of all kind, even R&B hip-hop women show their bodies off as a way to make money. Music videos such as Barbie Dreams by Nicki Minaj, Taste by Tyga, and PettyWap by Young M.A showing the overt sexuality found in hip-hop music. According to www.impactofrapmusiconyouths.weebly.com “Young women are surrounded by these negative images,and have many have adapted their lifestyles to fit it.” and in these music videos, women are barely clothed while the camera is zoomed in on their boobs, shaking their butts, showing little respect for themselves. In some ways, it is true mainly in the African American women's department. Sought for as angry when speaking with authority or messy for when we wear our natural hair black women find themselves with dead end jobs and having to struggle.
Drug Use
The rap verse of the song Mask Off by Future encouraging people to do drugs with the lyrics “Molly Percocet” constantly and Coco by O.T Genasis stating “I’m in love with the coco I got it for the low low” These songs are stating that is okay to do drugs,while failing to provide consequences from the use. Multiple songs state how they hustled on the corner to live large, and this is quite impressionable for young minds asking questions like “Could I make it out?”,”If he did it why can’t I?”. In a 2008 article on www.sciencedaily.com found that drug references increased had evolved from get lucky stories to idealize illegal drug use.
Egotistical
We have gone from sticks and stones may break my bones but words may never hurt me to I am the best, toughest, and hardest, driving by someone’s house and actually committing a homicide. It is mentally contagious when These homicides are usually not aimed to hit them but their loved ones girlfriends, children, and other families. According to www.impactsofmusiconyouth.weebly.com they have given an example of from public health officials saying “ African-American girls who’ve been exposed to rap videos were 3 times likely to have hit a teacher;more than 2.5 has already been arrested; 2 times as likely to have had multiple sex partners and use drugs.”
My last sub-topic for my ultimate question is “What Does Hip-Hop Culture Represent for Black Boys?”
From reading Journal of Curriculum Studies about Affiliation and alienation: Hip-hop,rap,and urban science education by Emdin,C(2010) his study unveils how and why black boys develop close associations and collaborative identities with given the themes of hip-hop culture. Stating this shows the momentum because hip-hop enables African American young men to resist the predominant culture they are exposed to in public schools.
In forethought, Emdin (2010)concludes by suggesting incorporating hip-hop into schools curriculum, so if can beneficially inspire positive learning outcomes for African American young men in grades K-12 schools and centers. African American young minds ages 4 to 13 and by the time students get into high school their minds are still developing relating to the music because they are the physical embodiment of the lyrics.
Hip-hop has an immense influence on young minds especially on African American young minds. It represents the same lifestyle being lived and by examining the deeply complex nature of hip-hop, studies have shown how most rappers are of African American ethnics and male. These men become role models as African Men are missing in their lives; black boys rarely see black teachers, doctors, firefighters, and lawyers. The conclusion is that Hip-Hop does have an influence on black boys and the way they act an intake life because there is a lack of role models and they can relate to songs as that is how they live their life.
People ask if Hip-hop influences minds?, How has it changed? Is it changing for better or worse?
There has definitely been a change in music as a whole. As new rappers approach the audience rapping about the lavish and dangerous ways of living. Old rappers rapped about dancing and having fun while also being serious about real-world problems. It is the way society takes the information being stated in the lyrics.
The evolution began with old musical instruments such as bongos and zithers, to singing in barbershops blues and harmonies, then came the sweet symphonies of Jazz to hip-hop.
Hip-Hop created the Eastcoast vs Westcoast war that came across the world. This specific genre of music has an immense influence in American Culture.
In Spite of the negative controversy that surrounds this topic there are also ways that rappers come and give back to the community such as Chance The Rapper disguising himself as a uber driver and driving people around in his hometown or him giving money to help rebuild his community.
Hip-Hop is empowerment on the black community because it allows people to relate to what is being said about poverty and social injustice.
Over time there has been a controversial dispute asking If Hip-hop has influenced society in a negative way? This essay has explained both positive and negative influences and has focused on a specific ethnicity. Hip-hop is a great genre of music as it relates to real-world problems but the way society takes it in and what is being said has changed over time.