Hip Hop Planet

For as long as mankind has walked on this earth, music has been an important part of our culture and lifestyles. Each walk of life beats to a different drum. Different cultures use music for many aspects of their lives; for religious purposes, for celebrations, for comfort, for sorrow, for relaxation, for sports, for dances, for energy, for learning, for sleeping, and for sexual experiences. Everyone uses music for something. Music connects with people and reaches them in ways that words simply cannot. Music is a representation of what feelings sound like. It expresses emotion and brings that characteristic out from within us; it tells us a story. Every generation has its’ own sound and different music styles have emerged and become extremely popular. In the 1950’s Rock n Roll came to the scene and shocked everyone. The new sexual language and sex appealing dance moves had people thinking it was the end of all innocence. Then in the 1980’s Hip Hop Rap became increasingly popular. Many people viewed this new music as stupid and disgusting. It was seen as a ghetto, spoken word, vulgar, type of music. An example of this stereotype is the views of Hip Hop/ Rap through James McBride’s perspective. In James McBride’s essay “Hip Hop Planet” he shares with us his views on hip hop/ rap music and how hard it was for him to appreciate it. Overtime people began to appreciate this new genre of music more. They started realizing that this is not just a bunch of ghetto people cursing and speaking; it has meaning. Hip Hop/ Rap is truly an artistic genre and expression of real talent. This genre of music depicts peoples’ lives, tells us a story, and expresses their emotions. Some songs can be inspirational and can move you in a way that other genre’s cannot. An example of an artist that can convey this in his music is Eminem. James McBride tells us his views on Hip Hop Rap and shows us how difficult it was for him to come to terms with this new music. James grew up in the