'Hip Hop And Rap Are Extensions Of African Americans' Oral Traditions

Music is the complete package for improving our souls and minds equally. Hip Hop and Rap are extensions of African Americans' oral traditions because they work as messages. Music was a way for slaves to express their feelings whether it was sorrow, joy, inspiration, or hope. Songs were passed down from generation to generation throughout slavery. These songs were influenced by African and religious traditions and would later form the basis for what is known as. Although Rap and Hip Hop don’t share secret messages anymore they shared experiences they have heard from their ancestors. Hip Hop and Rap both share emotions, feelings, and power through their instruments, movement, and voice; all of these are similarities with blues (slave songs).

Slaves would in some cases exchange sentiments of their songs and narratives to oppose the real meaning of their lyrics. When singing about oppression or the unfair conditions of their slavery, slaves would use tunes that implied that they were singing songs of joy (Sundquist, 2006). This made sure that only the slaves identified with their true emotions since they all share deep cultural backgrounds and had a good understanding of the situation they were facing. Hip-hop uses the same strategy in passing its message. Hip hop, just like most of the 20th and 21st centuries music genres, it identifies with loud beats and controversial words. This is often met with a lot of controversy and since most of the words used are deemed inappropriate by the society, people often fail to decipher the real emotions that are attributed to the

Music based on slave trade was used as a symbol of the oppression that slaves used to undergo, and as African –American music continued to grow in the music industry, it transitioned to how their ancestors and prior generations had fought to rise above slave trade into an independent community that identified with its own culture. The trend continued to grow as black Americans continued to identify with each other as a community. The allegiance that existed during the slavery era continued manifesting itself through the black American culture and music. Slavery narratives and songs represented the fight and endurance that slaves had portrayed while hip-hop today represents a culture of power and money, especially for the black community. The slavery era represented an era of communism which was manifested in the way that different communities identified with each other. Currently, the society is a representation of capitalism more than communism. However, much the society has changed in terms of communism and capitalism, the African American music still represents