How Does Hip Hop Influence Popular Culture
Hip Hop Culture began in the South Bronx, New York in the late 1970’s. In the beginning, Hip Hop music was the artistic expression of the black teenagers living in the South Bronx or inner city. Back then, the genre has been considered representative of the voice of the black community. Over a short amount of time, Hip Hop music has become an industry, and a major influence on mainstream culture in the United States. Commercialism dilutes its messages so that the genre no longer truly represents the voice of the black community toward the social meaning.
In today’s commercial industry, Hip Hop has even gone so far as to represent various companies and products. Historically, Hip Hop music talked about rappers’ frustrations of a society in which …show more content…
urban blacks were oppressed, powerless, vulnerable, and underrepresented. These genres of Hip Hop music were later commercialized and expanded to wider audiences. Classical example, the Sugarhill Gang’s “Rappers Delight” became the first rap record to become a top 40 hit in 1979. In an instant, Hip Hop music became commercially viable, and major labels started to invest on it. As a result, Hip Hop music represents far more than the black community.
While the major labels established Hip Hop music as a true commercial force, there was a noticeable shift in the lyrical content and music video of Hip Hop.
Before the commercialization of Hip Hop music, the lyrics focused on social, political, and cultural issues. In contrast, the lyrics now were becoming more hyper-violent and hyper-masculine. Eventually, a new genre emerged known as “Gangsta Rap” which being heavily promoted by the major labels and rose in popularity in the Hip Hop music industry. Through commercialization of Hip Hop, the major labels had more control and influence of Hip Hop music content. In order to appear more marketable, they created music videos to become what it is called “quasi-cinematic, sensationalized illustration of the persona of the artist”. The industrial standard of Hip Hop videos of this modern day often displays the contents of wealth and power. One will often see hot women staying in the rapper’s mansion, entertaining the rapper and his posse. It has gotten to the point where it’s all about the hot girls; and the social and political messages behind the lyrics have taken a back seat. Once again, hyper-masculinity and violence were major genres present in the music videos produced by the major labels. In Byron Hurt’s documentary Hip-Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes from our class discussion, Hip Hop appears to have faded away from the culturally, socially, and politically critical messages to a themes of wealth, power, and
hyper-masculinity.
Hip Hop has ultimately lost its original meanings throughout the years from being heavily commercialized to represent countless companies, brands, products, fashion lines, and more. In modern day, Hip Hop has grown, becoming the voice of a variety of communities and peoples, as well as products and companies. It is true that there are some artists that still believe in the art form as an expression of social change; however, commercialism impacts the evolvement of Hip Hop to a level by which an influx of Hip Hop music produced is devoid of any social meaning.
In today’s commercial industry, Hip Hop has even gone so far as to represent various companies and products. Historically, Hip Hop music talked about rappers’ frustrations of a society in which …show more content…
urban blacks were oppressed, powerless, vulnerable, and underrepresented. These genres of Hip Hop music were later commercialized and expanded to wider audiences. Classical example, the Sugarhill Gang’s “Rappers Delight” became the first rap record to become a top 40 hit in 1979. In an instant, Hip Hop music became commercially viable, and major labels started to invest on it. As a result, Hip Hop music represents far more than the black community.
While the major labels established Hip Hop music as a true commercial force, there was a noticeable shift in the lyrical content and music video of Hip Hop.
Before the commercialization of Hip Hop music, the lyrics focused on social, political, and cultural issues. In contrast, the lyrics now were becoming more hyper-violent and hyper-masculine. Eventually, a new genre emerged known as “Gangsta Rap” which being heavily promoted by the major labels and rose in popularity in the Hip Hop music industry. Through commercialization of Hip Hop, the major labels had more control and influence of Hip Hop music content. In order to appear more marketable, they created music videos to become what it is called “quasi-cinematic, sensationalized illustration of the persona of the artist”. The industrial standard of Hip Hop videos of this modern day often displays the contents of wealth and power. One will often see hot women staying in the rapper’s mansion, entertaining the rapper and his posse. It has gotten to the point where it’s all about the hot girls; and the social and political messages behind the lyrics have taken a back seat. Once again, hyper-masculinity and violence were major genres present in the music videos produced by the major labels. In Byron Hurt’s documentary Hip-Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes from our class discussion, Hip Hop appears to have faded away from the culturally, socially, and politically critical messages to a themes of wealth, power, and
hyper-masculinity.
Hip Hop has ultimately lost its original meanings throughout the years from being heavily commercialized to represent countless companies, brands, products, fashion lines, and more. In modern day, Hip Hop has grown, becoming the voice of a variety of communities and peoples, as well as products and companies. It is true that there are some artists that still believe in the art form as an expression of social change; however, commercialism impacts the evolvement of Hip Hop to a level by which an influx of Hip Hop music produced is devoid of any social meaning.