James McBride’s essay “Hip Hop Planet”, initially published in the April 2007 edition of National Geographic magazine, was written to indicate hip hop’s true societal function as a “warning” and an outcry fabricated by minority cultures. Utilizing a clear and relatively uncomplicated dialect, McBride is able to connect with an audience of general readers who are merely marginally educated on the topic. He compiles credibility by citing an assortment of anecdotes of his past experiences with hip hop music and culture, and punctuates this with the mentioning of his education at Columbia University’s journalism school. To a point, McBride constructs a well-founded argument as to why hip hop is a “warning” by elaborating on both the narrow and…
This article is a response to Kevin Powell’s article “Notes of a Hip Hop Head”. In his article, Kevin states “just as it was unfair to demonize men of color in the 60’s solely as wild-eyed radicals when what they wanted, amidst their fury, was a little freedom and a little power, today it is wrong to categorically dismiss hip-hop without…
In the article, entitled nHip Hop Planet," by James Mcbride, he explains that the planet we live on has become a hip hop planet. Hip Hop dominates this world. Hip Hop represents for more than the stereotype of gold chains and foreign cars. Hip Hop represents for different ages and cultures. Music is a big part of the average person's life but hip hop influences their music playlist. Hip Hop also allows people to be creative and express themselves while possibly making a living off of it because of the Hip Hop planet we live on. Hip Hop has created sub cultures. Every continent and every city is filled with hip hop. Every age and race is listening to hip hop. Every genre of music has a form of hip hop, therefor this is a hip hop planet.…
In your essay, “Hip Hop planet”, you claim that our world is getting over run by Hip Hop and that the music is a cry for help. I understand that your past encounters with Hip Hop made you want to write your essay. In your essay you state that Hip Hop is a cry for help and that it is something that we should listen to. You also talk about how you used to be against Hip Hop and how you changed your opinion, you then explain why you changed your view on the music. I interpret that the reason you wrote this essay was to express to us why we should listen to the music and more importantly, the message behind the lyrics.…
The advanced evolution of technology began in the late 20th century with the cell phone, marking the turn of the expectations of technology (Sailus). Since then, the new generation developed with technology designed to be individualistic (Bump 2014). This exponential growth is aligned with the fast pace life Americans live today. Media has been no different. In order to maintain the fast pace of society, media has become commercialized and diluted, lacking substance and morality. This is important because this change in pace has impacted society in its entirety. Consequently, it appears as though people no longer care to take time to digest knowledge associated with true hip hop, devolving the genre on a mainstream scale. This has left current…
In this magazine, the author explains the negative effects hip-hop has on the society and states his bias with strong argument. More kids are taking the…
It has been a quarter of a century since hip-hop first made its mark on the American music scene. Hip-hop has become a popular trend that is echoing around the world. By definition, hip-hop refers to a culture that embraces a particular music, language, attitude, and dress fashioned after disadvantaged urban youth. Born out of the ghettos of the South Bronx, New York, and created by black and Latino youth in the late 1970's and early 1980's, this music genre closely identified with the spoken rhymes of rap. When it first emerged, it was considered "ghetto music", a music variety which had no cultural worth or value. Yet its popularity grew with the Internet and MTV reaching millions of homes around the world. Hip-hop music has successfully been exported from the United States to the entire globe; however exporting the hip-hop culture itself remains a challenge.…
Hip-hop is the latest expressive manifestation of the past and current experience as well as the collective consciousness of African-American and Latino-American youth. But more than any music of the past, it also expresses mainstream American ideas that have now been internalized and embedded into the psyches of American people of color over time.…
As hip-hop culture evolved and entered mainstream American culture its focus shifted greatly; however, regardless of the general trends of the genre, hip-hop – specifically the rap music component - continued to express the concerns of an otherwise overlooked portion of America. Today, rap music stands in the forefront of popular music, and the effect of hip-hop culture on the American public is blaringly evident. Yet, despite its commercialization, hip-hop has maintained its status as a highly valid method of…
First of all, Yvonne Bynoe in her article, “Getting Real about Global Hip Hop,” describes global hip hop as something that should not be looked at as related to the hip hop from America (Bynoe, 78). Bynoe describes global hip hop in this manner because she firmly believes that hip hop is not really hip hop if it does not relate back to the culture from which it came (Bynoe, 78). According to Bynoe, “Hip Hop culture is indeed based on improvisation and adaptation, but…are based in turn on a Black American perspective and understanding of the world” (Bynoe, 78). Bynoe also states, “Hip Hop culture also revels the political ideology of young Black Americans and their general acceptance of American ideals…” (Bynoe, 80). For this reason, Bynoe believes…
Media often paints a different picture than as seen by the eye. Often heard on the headlines are the bad and the ugly never the good. One picture that is often skewed by the media is that of hip hop. It is often heard that this genre is a negative influence on children, as the message put out by these rappers is not appropriate for today’s youth. The lifestyle is too violent and the lyrics are too harsh. All this is skewed in the wrong direction. As the hip hop genre is impactful and helpful for the youth of the world.…
In James McBride article “Hip Hop Planet”, he introduces the reader to many issues that are affecting society, including violence, social class, and racism. McBride ensures that he includes hip-hop’s history, in order to explain that the musical genre began as an attempt to avoid or prevent teen gang involvement. Additionally, social class is present in hip hop culture because many of the artist's success determined by the resources that they have when beginning their career as a DJ. Lastly, race is revealed to play a large role in hip hop culture due to the fact that many rappers include lyrics about racial injustices, as well as tension between people of different cultures. Although McBride introduces different arguments throughout his essay,…
Despite heavy debate whether or not Hip Hop is regarded to have the ability to empower a nation, the fact remains that Hip Hop culture has truly influenced Americans nation wide. Hip Hop culture stands as a poignant and historically consequential factor of society as it represents a reflection of socio-political woes and widespread sentiment of traditionally marginalized and oppressed communities. Hip Hop will always provide a voice to a group of people endeavoring to send a message. For many generations to come, Hip Hop will influence and uplift…
“Hip Hop has always been bragging’ and boasting and i'm better at this than you and i'm better at that than you”(Eminem). Hip Hop will forever be a competitive activity. Hip Hop is the streets. Hip Hop is a couple of elements that it comes from back in the days… that feel of music with urgency that speaks to you. It speaks to your likelihood and its not compromised. Its blunt. Its raw, straight off the street from the beat to the voice to the words. Although hip hop may seem to encourage adolescents to engage in destructive behaviors , it inspires young people to connect to their cultures ; therefore hiphop should be recognized as a powerful art form.…
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…