hiphop

Is Hip-Hop Culture Really Dead?

From Jamilah Evelyn’s “The Miseducation of Hip-Hop-Discrimination in Education”, Jason Hinmon talked about his personal experience as an African American student. As a senior in college he transferred to University of Delaware. Here, he felt abandoned and out of character. Hinmon felt that people, including the professors at University of Delaware, judged him of his dark skin and dreaded hair. Though the teachers thought he was some hip-hop criminal who is an unmotivated student, in which is not the case.
Hip-hop has been accused of elevating violence, misogyny and hyper sexuality. Such controversial disputes over systems of perception can be boiled down to a simple case of wrong versus right. Instead, they are complex and multi-layered, and must take into account the larger cultural context. The term hip hop has been misrepresented in the media, which has tainted the reputation of its sub-cultures to the extent at which the majority generalizes hip hop to a negative image. The reason to this is because the media chooses to focus on these negative aspects, degrading the culture of Hip Hop from the different types of media (T.V. shows, radio, music, newspapers, etc.) the messages that the society convey expanded and are exposed throughout the world. But exactly what is Hip Hop?
Hip hop takes on many definitions. It can be used define a person or describe a person. However, it is often assumed with the word “rap” the music genre. Sometimes it is used to describe attires, language, attitude, and morals. To sum it up, Hip hop is more than just music, it is a culture. It all started with Latin and African-American youths from Bronx, New York who were “graffiti artists, break-dancers, turntablists, and emcees.” (Fresh in Hip Hop, Nelson George) the main elements of Hip hop. As these components became more and more known in New York, the term hip hop defined the overall culture. Although, the word "hip-hop" did not yet exist until a legendary DJ have invented it a few years later, “when an already grown-up culture needed some overall title” (hiphophistory.com)
“On August 11, 1973 DJ Kool Herc, a building resident, was entertaining at his sister’s back-to-school party, and tried something new on the turntable: he extended an instrumental beat (breaking or scratching) to let people dance longer (break dancing) and began MC’ing (rapping) during the extended breakdancing.” (pbs.org)
This, believed, marked the birth of hip hop. Not only did the music influence the old generations, but it led to entire cultural movement. “Beat boxing was also a hip-hop movement that broke from the machine-oriented DJs, replicating their sounds and breaks with the human vocal apparatus.” (wisegeek.org). such element was stemmed from early drum machines that were also referred as beat boxes. Eventually this developed into a more complex art form including “the human vocal system mimicking even the most complex of instruments and often even layering beats over one another by using a form of overtone singing.”(wisegeek.org)
Along with the musical scene of hip-hop, the culture also originated its own form of dancing, called breakdancing. It began in the South Bronx, along with the music of hip-hop, and today it is known as Bboying. “Breakdancing is the style of dancing that takes strength and dynamic movement of the body.” (Foundation, Joseph G. Schloss) Often, breakdancing is matched with the precise of beats played by DJs or beat boxers. What gives people hype is its battle format. Various competitors face off by presenting their skills and show each other they are worth being the winner.
Graffiti art is in many ways viewed as the visual manifestation of hip-hop, in the same way breakdancing can be viewed as its physical manifestation. Graffiti also became an important foundation of the hip-hop scene as well. It gave the world a visual-stimulating way to view the culture. “This element was widely spread in the United States among activists and gangs during the 1960s.” (Graffiti world, Nicholas Ganz) Eventually Hip-hop culture took hold of it and redefined it to create a visual characteristic style. It is very common to see graffiti writings in bubble letters and wild style of writing. Misogyny is very dominant in the Hip hop culture. For women, specifically African American women, misogyny is a common stereotype. Some people blame such controversy on sexist music videos for taking a view of women of color that’s not very different from the views a slaveholder back in the day. Women in rap videos are placed in positions of sexual ways to their male counterparts. Still today, female rap artists use their music to show their state of opposition to hip hop misogyny that are expressed with lyrics, favoring women. People should value fighting misogyny and violence against women because it is associated with racism and inequalities. People often do not understand that African American women themselves are so victimized. It is obvious that the Hip-Hop community specifically, and the African America community, lacks the desire to see the world through the lens of the “ghetto queens.” Even the most inspiring study shown in Hip-Hop has often ignored the voice of its female artists. “Black women’s speech and expressive culture have been limited in the public sphere due in part to circumstances…such as maintaining community, promoting Black manhood at the expense of black womanhood, and constantly vindicating Black womanhood against misrepresentation.” (That’s the Joint! The Hip-Hop Studies Reader, Neal & Murray) For centuries, the experiences of the Black female have been pushed aside, often to boost up a man’s ego.
No one can deny that Hip Hop music has a large amount of violent previews, lyrics, and character. Many songs are about men killing other young men. A large number of the music videos show the artist as someone that is involved in war instead of a musician. This type of imagery tend have a very destructive effect on the mind of a child who is unable to differentiate between what is supposed to be entertainment & what is reality. As a result, children may try to handle real life situations with make believe ideas from what they perceive. Once again the question must be asked is Hip Hop the blame for this. The artists must take responsibility for the content of their lyrics. However they are not the sole blame for the “violence” that exists in the Hip Hop community. To clarify, there is not one specific cause for the violence in Hip Hop. “The social and economic conditions that many Hip Hop artists are exposed to during the formative years of their childhood are violent. The current state of America’s international affairs and foreign policy are also violent. Thus, “Hip Hop is only a reflection of the violence it is surrounded by.” (news.infoshop.org). What can be done to help eliminate some of the violence in Hip Hop? Instead of focusing on what is considered negative Hip Hop, the media should give more attention to the positive and progressive Hip Hop artists that promote community development and peace.
Though, why is it important to know Hip Hop? Most people look at Hip Hop as music where a person is beat boxing a stage or battling through their passion in dance. But why is it important to know Hip Hop or to even be associated with Hip Hop? Most of time, people will notice that most “knowledge in the world tries to either dismiss human suffering in a logical sense.” (daveyd.com) Hip Hop is at the highlight of it. Not only does knowing Hip Hop relieve human suffering, but knowing it or having the sight and awareness that Hip Hop has, gives you the ability to predict what's going to happen in the inner cities before it even happens.
The media transmits cultural identity and the negative representation has a direct impact not only on the overall public perception but it also impacts self-image of the culture as well This has dangerous implications for the hip hop generation in the formation of their self-image. To prevent the negative feedbacks of the media, writers should look out for the way their lyrics or any of their frameworks can be perceive to their unintended audience. There are a numerous amount reasons why these types violence, for example, can occur at any site since it is not always because the fans or artists. Today Hip hop has a huge influence on the generations. Such influence is impossible to disregard. It echoes the values and ambitions of young in children many of significant ways. It also offers a number of experiences that form the young people’s lives and attitude.
Work Cited
"Foundation: B-boys, B-girls and Hip-Hop Culture in New York [Paperback]." Foundation: B-boys, B-girls and Hip-Hop Culture in New York: Joseph G. Schloss: 978019533406
"Hip Hop America [Paperback]." Hip Hop America: Nelson George: 978014028022
"Graffiti World: Street Art from Five Continents [Hardcover]." Graffiti World: Street Art from Five Continents: Nicholas Ganz: 9780810949799
"That's the Joint!: The Hip-Hop Studies Reader [Paperback]." That's the Joint!: The Hip-Hop Studies Reader: Murray Forman, Mark Anthony Neal: 9780415873260
"Pop Culture.”: "The Miseducation of Hip-Hop.
"History of Hip-hop Style." History of Hip-hop.
"Birthplace Of Hip Hop." PBS. PBS, n.d. Web. 14 May 2013.
"What Is Hip-Hop?" WiseGEEK
"Violence & Hip Hop." - Infoshop News.