A game-changing artist and an impervious celebrity, Lil Wayne began as his career as a near-novelty — a preteen delivering hardcore hip-hop — but through years of maturation and reinventing the mixtape game, he developed into a million-selling rapper with a massive body of work, one so inventive and cunning that it makes his famous claim of being the “best rapper alive” worth considering. Born Dwayne Michael Carter, Jr. and raised in the infamous New Orleans neighborhood of Hollygrove, he was a straight-A student but never felt his true intelligence was expressed through any kind of report card. He found music was the best way to express himself, and after taking the name Gangsta D he began writing rhymes. Combining a strong work ethic with aggressive…
“Rappers – I monkey flip them with the funky rhythm I be kickin’. Musician – inflict the composition” are the first words heard off of one of the most influential hip hop albums of all time. Nas’ debut album Illmatic is considered to be one of hip hops foundational documents and has earned itself a large number of awards, recognitions and record breakers. However, Illmatic was only the start of the icon known as Nas. Nas would go on to selling 7 U.S. platinum records, being featured numerous singles and becoming a household name for fans of hip hop. Nas is known for his intellectual rhyme flow, while being an outsider who rhymes about many things he has witnessed (Sewer 3). Besides being an iconic rap artist, Nas…
Mickey Hess looks at the use of multiple identities by rap musicians to obscure the conflicting contradictions between authenticity and marketability. Hip hop, having budded from a culture of oppression against African-Americans, grew as a medium of resistance. Hess cites Tricia Rose’s words, stating that hip hop, in the context of resistance, wages an “ideological warfare with institutions and groups that symbolically, ideologically, and materially oppress African Americans” (pp.298). Therefore, the experience of oppression and life in the projects is central to most rappers’ identities as hip hop artists.…
The song “Seminole Wind” by John Anderson has a very country vibe to it. The song…
Kendrick Lamar’s beginnings in his troubled youth in Compton, full of gang violence and poverty, would eventually lead to his monumental success as a hip-hop recording artist, and voice of a generation. These series of obstacles and trials within Kendrick Lamar Duckworth’s life have crafted him into who he is as a music icon and a human being. From witnessing a murder at the young age of 5, to winning five Grammys in a single night, Kendrick’s life journey has progressed steadily into unforeseen success. However, all journeys, full of obstacles and failures, begin somehow. Kendrick’s begins in the concrete jungle of Compton, California, littered with intense gang activity, police brutality, and injustice, all aspects swirling into the byproduct…
African American hip hop culture gained popularity in the decades following the Civil Rights movement that ended in the 1960s. In today’s society, we refer to the music of the 1970s and 1980s as “old school” hip-hop. These songs are notable for the simple rapping techniques used as well as lyrics that primarily focus on party-related subjects. The song titled “The Message” by Grandmaster Flash and The Furious Five is an example of an old school hip hop song that strayed away from the typical party-related lyrics and focused on telling a story about life in the ghetto. This song ultimately changed the content and tone of hip hop forever by accurately proving Ralph Ellison’s three-step process as part of the blues music, portraying the harsh life in the hood, and ultimately becoming one of the most successful rap songs of all time.…
In the first review from the NY times they were comparing Kendrick Lamar and Meek Mill and their new albums “good kid, m.A.A.d city” and “Dreams and Nightmares”. The two artist are very similar yet very different. Kendrick is from Compton and is one of the most daring rappers of the day. He is changing the rap game of his home town. Meek Mill is from Philly and he is been one of the most exciting young hip-hop artist the past couple of years signed with Maybach Music Group under Rick Ross. Kendrick is an anointed-by-acclamation savior and a reluctant hit maker while Meek Mill is an excitable star with a firm grasp on what makes people move. They both have stories that are told in their debut albums. The albums also demonstrate how two artist with the same valued fundamentals can choose very different ways to express them. Mr. Lamar’s is the bolder route. His is a totally unhurried album, easily the most ambitious in hip-hop this year. His songs unfold at the speed of life as it’s often lived slow, meandering, and often unremarkable. Every time some action threatens to accelerate the pace of Mr. Lamar’s album, in comes a voice-mail message from his mother killing the buzz. That’s part of this album’s narrative strategy, which includes, on top of Mr. Lamar’s tremendous verses, prayers and conversations and different voices and recollections and interludes, all in service of one overarching story: Mr. Lamar’s tale of ducking Compton’s rougher corners to find himself artistically. In the abstract, Meek Mill — a Rick Ross protégé, preserver of big-money triumphalism — is exactly the sort of artist Mr. Lamar is pushing back against. When he raps, Meek Mill sounds as if he’s calling home-run highlights on “Sports Center.” His flow is all jabs, nothing smooth about it. His songs sound about 50 percent louder than anything else on the radio. What Meek Mill wants to do is tell stories, unfashionable though that may be. On “Dreams and…
Hundreds of thousands of adolescents listen to Eminem’s music either for enjoyment or when they have a bad day. Slim Shady wanna be’s are prominent figures in the rap culture either they rap or are just look alike. Among the younger generations Eminem has become a huge figure head of the rap industry.[Eminem 1] Young adults are a huge part of his sales some say it accounts for almost 50% of all sales. Eminem helps people get through their personal struggles through his music.[“Eminem Biography”…
Hip hop is a cultural movement that began its journey during the early 1970s, among African American young children’s residing in the South Bronx in New York City. Afterwards, became popular outside of the African American community in the late 1980s and by the 2010s it became the most listened-to musical genre in the entire world. Furthermore, it consists of four fundamental elements, which represent the different manifestations of the culture: rap, turntablism, b-boying, and lastly graffiti art. The term hip hop is often used in a restrictive fashion as synonymous only with the oral practice of the rap music genre. The origin of the hip hop culture stems from the block parties of the Ghetto Brothers.…
In the late 1970’s a new, popular form of urban youth culture emerged in the Bronx, New York that changed the face of popular music and American culture. Throughout its development, hip-hop has become a vastly commercialized component of popular American culture; however, it took the efforts of many pioneers and innovators to shape modern hip-hop culture and music. By exploring hip-hop’s origins, one can better understand its evolution and its influence on different social groups throughout the United States.…
Hip hop is one of the most controversial and beloved genres of music amongst the youth and working class culture of the 20th century (Aldridge et al. 2016). Even though it is popularized as just a form of music, some would argue that it is a lifestyle that transcends borders. It is an art form that has been driven through the social, economic, and cultural realities that individuals face on a daily basis while sampling jazz, rock, blues, and soul to compose a breed of its own (Aldridge et al. 2016, Rice 2003). The imbedded realities within hip hop create a social consciousness that reflect the ideologies of the Civil Rights Movement and serves as a positive outlet that lets the youth express their frustrations while pushing towards a solution…
Binfield, M.R. (2009). “Bigger Than Hip Hop: Music and Politics in the Hip Hop Generation.” Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of the University of Texas at Austin.…
Over the past four decades, Hip Hop has evolved as a culture and art influencing the youths’ culture all over the world. Many youths in different parts of the world claim that Hip Hop reflects their economic, social, cultural, and political aspects of their lives because it communicates to them in a manner they understand. Therefore, it has cogent messages for many youths worldwide. “Hip Hop cannot be dismissed as a youth obsession or movement that will fade with time. Instead it should be considered as a social, economic, cultural, intellectual and political aspect that deserve academic attention similar to other African American arts and cultural movements such as Jazz, Blues, and Black Power movements,” (Alridge and Stewart, 190).…
Nowadays, many rap and hip-hop songs have evolved, or rather devolved, to simple beats with lyrics that encourage violence and drug use and lack a true meaning. Logic, on the other hand, is ?distinguished by [his] confidence, passion, versatility, raw lyricism, intellect, and a Frank Sinatra-like swagger? [footnoteRef:1]. Logic?s identity is evident through not only his lyrics, but also the musical composition of his songs. His style mimics the old school style of rap, and has drawn the praise of many in the hip-hop community, including stars such as Lupe Fiasco and Nas. In all, Logic's unique use of rhythm and timbre throughout his mix tape "Young Sinatra Undeniable" reveals his thoughts,…
It is a common belief that hip hop has served as the medium for healing racial tension in the 21st century. Although the hip hop industry has seen a subtle wave of successful white American rappers over the past couple of decades, this is not enough to suggest a racial merge in the predominately black American world of hip hop. White Americans are not typically welcomed into the hip hop community. The few white American rappers that have made it big in the hip hop industry must be viewed as exceptions to the idea that the rap community is solely interested in the creative narratives of African Americans.…