a rapper would use their imagination in many distinctive ways to paint images of their reality and to also open their audience’s eyes to what they are blind to.
Many artists use their music to paint a picture of their lives, the struggles they have been through or even world problems. In an interview following the threat of censorship by the US government due to explicit content, the famous and “most dangerous” hip-hop group, NWA, affirmed that “our art is a reflection of our reality”. They further explained that when they would look outside their community they would see violence and crime everywhere, while their white critics did not have the luxury of being exposed to. Not time too. The fact that drugs and guns were infiltrating black communities through the government’s hands, but African Americans who took part in its destruction didn't have many other options; as the result of systematic oppression and institutionalization. Ice cube in particular continues to explain that when people hear rap music, they automatically associate it with violence and criminal activity within the black community when in actual fact, the messages they create in their art are direct reflections of their lives and surroundings.
Rap is most often considered a genre of music.
while Hip-Hop is considered the lifestyle. Russell Simmons, the co-founded Def-Jam Records, once said that “art allows people a way to dream their way out of their struggle”. When people get frustrated or are in hard times, they can use art in whatever form to help them emotionally or socially. Many musicians manipulate their music in order to serve as a reflection to what's happening in their lives or in other parts of the world. Music is an outlet for musicians to imagine a better place aside from the hardships that they have been through. Dr. James Patterson, a Hip-Hop scholar, said that “the culture or the energy that came from that was a very improvisational energy, a very sort of reclaiming energy that young folks, through dance, through rapping and deejaying and so on and so forth, that is how the culture took hold”. Hip-Hop is also a culture with many different aspects.
Hip-Hop is one of the greatest and most effective forms of expression and a big form of art. Hip-Hop is not only a genre, but also a lifestyle and culture not just to the black community but all people who can relate to the themes of experiencing oppression and finding joy in a struggle. With over 20 billion tracks, Hip-Hop is the most listened to genre of music in the world and also the greatest way for people to express themselves to their
audience.