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As Can’t Stop Won't Stop continues to progress to the 1970’s, Jeff Chang addresses the developments, changes and increasing influence of hip-hop. Hip-hop’s influence and popularity seemingly spread globally overnight. Hip-hop culture took on new aspects and the motives for expressing the art continued to grow and change for artists. Throughout the chapters, Chang highlights the evolutions of hip-hop, hip-hop’s new audiences and the increase in drugs and violence in hip-hop during a rebellion ear. In the late 1970s, many citizens in the Bronx began to see a dramatic change in hip-
This music that once made visible the inner culture of America’s greatest social problem, its legacy of slavery, has taken the dream deferred to a global scale” (McBride, 3). McBride reveals how hip-hop talks about a nation’s social issues and makes people aware of them. This demonstrates that hip-hop is powerful because it educates people on both past and current issues that their nation has faced. Finally, hip-hop is stimulating and commanding because even though it has evolved, it still urges people to put an end to racial
“Beyond Beats and Rhymes” Summary This movie was a broad discussion about hip-hop music (or more specifically gangster rap) and what kind of social issues the music not only showcases but seems to promote. The producer of this film, Byron Hunt, interviewed people involved in all aspects of the hip-hop industry, including famous rappers, to try to get to the bottom of this. Some of the most prominent issues discussed in the film were the over-sexualization of women, gun violence, and anti- homophobic attitudes. Hunt would ask those involved in the industry about why they think these themes are so prevalent.
Hip Hop is seen as something inspiring, but most people see it as a way to speak out the truth about a problem. As in “Hip Hop planet” being able say the truth can sometimes worsen any situation because sometimes what we say can promote violence and whatever happens after is not in our control. The essay is about how hip hop has changed into speaking out the issues that need to be taken care of in order to maintain a proper society. McBride talked about how rappers use violent lyrics to degrade women and gays and because of this it shows how the music has evolved into something entirely different that no one would have ever expected to have changed. In James McBride's essay “Hip Hop Planet,” he argues that hip hop has a negative influence on American Culture despite people thinking of it as inspirational and how people live through different experiences in life despite of your race.
Hip-hop culture has been the topic of various academic, social, and political discourses. Rap music, in particular, has made its way to mainstream media which is evident in the numerous films and movies that centers on what was once a part of an underground culture. Scholars explain that the popularity of hip-hop in both music and films are partly due to its potential to disseminate information, address an issue, and promote social change. Tinson and McBride (2013), for example, note that hip-hop is a “…form of critical education at the intersection of, and inseparable from political engagement” (1). Scholars further note that hip-hop’s current state “…requires frequent accounting of its engagement with the social, political, and cultural climate
In her essay “hip hop’s betrayal of black women,” Jennifer McLune implies that “(h)ip-hop owes its success to the ideology of women-hating” (193). She does not agree with Kevin Powell’s article that hip-hop does not mean to “offend” black women, but instead artists are only letting out their temper throughout their music. McLune feels infuriated that many artists in hip hop (including black men) rap about their community and downgrade their own women. In the hip-hop genre, sexism is mainly used, not only by black men but also by many other race hip-hop artists. Artists assume that women-hating in their rap songs will be accepted by women, but do not realize that it is affecting all women.
Most people believe that “lyrics should appeal to us, not degrade us” (Glidden3). There is controversy surrounding “some artists accused of rapping sexually inflammatory lyrics” (Encyclopedia4). The actions of a few is causing people to put a bad label on rap in a whole. This bias opinion is becoming the cause of listeners to believe that rap lyrics “are setting a bad example for kids and teens” (Glidden2). I can understand where this may lead to critics to misapply such distaste to the rap form, but “there are rap artists who don’t use offensive language or portray women in a negative light” (Glidden1).
Censorship is the form of blocking entertainment for people of all ages. Adults and authority figures like to ban/censor books, music, and TV because they do not like what is being shown. The most common form of censorship is music. The music that the artist puts out there may have cuss words and sexual references. People do not want young ears to hear that type of music so the radio stations bleep the songs.
Even though my parents listened to KRS-One and Public Enemy, while my sisters engaged in Kanye West and OutKast, both eras of the hip hop genre purpose were to discuss economic problems and push people toward the right path of life. In Yan Dominic Searcy’s article, he says, “Many rappers grew up amid violence, police harassment, poverty, drugs and promiscuity. Rappers will tell you they rap about what they know. If the community wants to change rap lyrics, the community must change reality.” (Searcy)
Ladies and gentlemen, Rap music is often stigmatized as violent and degrading, but it is so much more than that. It is a powerful form of self-expression and storytelling that has the ability to inspire and uplift its listeners. First, rap music provides a platform for marginalized communities to share their experiences and perspectives. It allows them to speak truth to power and brings attention to important social issues that may otherwise go unheard. It's a form of resistance and self-empowerment for the historically oppressed.
Nowadays, everyone wears the identity with pride. The genre was a testament to triumphing over hardships, to having enough confidence in oneself not to let the world drag you down, and to rising above the struggle, even when things seem hopeless. Violence in rap did not begin as an affective agent that threatened to harm America 's youth; rather, it was the outcry of an already-existing problem from youth whose world views have been shaped by the inequalities and prejudice they have experienced. The relentless wave of heroic new rappers arriving on the scene formed the golden age of hip hop in the 1980s, a newfound voice which rose from the impoverished ghettos during the 1980s and inspiring a generation of black youth to fight the police brutality they faced on a daily basis.
It is true that most artists use explicit language in their music. However, the purpose of their music is not to emphasize the profanity, but rather, to focus on the meaning behind the lyrics. Some may argue that rap and Hip-Hop music encourages violence and vulgar language through the lyrics the artists use and the background the artists come from. A popular problem with rap music is that rap music tend to demean women and show violence and drug abuse through the words used (Krohn). However, the artists focus more on the overall message the song portrays rather than the individual lyric used.
The explicit sexual language used had significant influence on the teenagers and youths in the major areas surveyed. The research proved that the lyrics have significant influences on the student behaviors in their schools. The lyrics are associated with alcohol and marijuana abuse. Most of the rap music portray images whereby youths and teenagers use guns, feel violence, and create gangs to terrorize and become popular. The negative lyrics create impacts on the listener, making him/her have negative perceptions and fantasies in life.
The number of drug references in songs have increased almost 600 percent over recent years. A study showed that 69 percent of rap songs mentioned the use of drugs. It has become a trend in today’s music scene as almost every song makes some type of reference. As an effect of this teens are more likely to take part in drug activity because it has widely spread among the youth. When asked about their opinion on the situation a lot of artist replied that “it is a type of fashion or way of life”.
Music has been an object of miracle, amazement, and even fear since the start of its presence. It has been used as a tool to shape culture and society through history. Music and its people influencing the lives and activities of society. Is this a good thing? Most would say yes.