Summary: The Art Of Breakdancing

"From the school yards of the South Bronx to the tops of the Billboard charts, rap has emerged as one of the most influential musical and cultural forces of our time" (Yale University Press). Rappers and hip hop culture are often criticized for advocating violence, misogyny, and crime. However, rap is actually a form of self-expression for African Americans that is available and accessible to just about everyone. The music and culture that stem from hip hop, "emerged from a uniquely African American disposition, and like the blues, jazz, and soul before it, give voice to those who tend to occupy the lowest rungs of the American social ladder" (NPR). It is one of the most influential and ubiquitous art forms of the past few decades because of
its power to share experiences and messages through music, language, and culture.
Music has often been used as a vehicle for promoting social awareness and sharing a message throughout history. People in poverty have turned to rap to as an artistic expression to convey their message to the public. "More than simply entertainment, hip hop is a major part of contemporary identity circuits –networks of philosophies and aesthetics based on blackness, poverty, violence, power, resistance, and capitalist accumulation" (HubPages). While subgenres of rap range from gangsta rap to crunk, a subgenre of rap, political hip hop, often addresses tough issues facing many people in poverty. It covers a wide range of topics such as religion, crime, violence, Afrocentrism, the economy, and everyday struggles. This can commonly been seen in lyrics from the rap group N.W.A., which details conflicts that they had with police. In the song, Fuck the Police, members of N.W.A. rap about how the police officers in Compton often targeted them through racial profiling of young black men, assuming that they were violent or drug dealers:
"A young ni**a got it bad cause I'm brown
And not the other color so police think they have the authority to kill a minority
…
F*ckin with me cause I'm a teenager with a little bit of gold and a pager
Searchin my car, lookin for the product
Thinkin every ni**a is sellin narcotics" -Ice Cube
Racial profiling by the police is an especially common topic that is rapped about. Songs such as 99 Problems by Jay Z addresses racial profiling by cops that would pull him over for minor infractions. Rap music is an "art form that draws not only from the folk idioms of the African diaspora but from the legacy of Western verse and the musical traditions of jazz, blues, funk, gospel, and reggae. These young artists commandeered the English language, bending it to their own expressive purposes. Over time, the poetry they set to beats would command the ears of their block, their borough, their nation, and eventually the world" (Yale University Press). This poetry is "inherently political…It uses language as a weapon — not a weapon to violate or not a weapon to offend, but a weapon that pushes the envelope that provokes people, makes people think" (NPR). Through music, artists have used rap to convey their messages to a broad audience, as well as bring awareness to issues in their community.
The language used in rap lyrics and slang terms that have developed in hip hop culture are seen in everyday conversations because of its influence in our culture. Various terminologies popularized by artists have become part of our everyday life. The use of slang term from hip hop culture is especially prevalent in the younger generation. Because rap " emerged out of an underground scene, at first relatively heedless of commercial considerations, rap was free to stick more closely to the ways people actually speak" (Yale University Press) making rap extremely commercially successful. Since rap artists were typically from impoverished upbringings, being able to express themselves the way that they normally talk allowed them to really express their feelings. In his memoir, 50 Cent said that he "wrote about the things I had seen in my life and what was going on in the ’hood. I was able to express myself in rhyme better than I ever had in a regular conversation" (Yale University Press). With recent music, the lyrics have especially glorified materialism and the desire to be extravagantly wealthy. In turn, these lyrics have "transformed young people’s attitudes toward wealth and power. As modern rappers become extremely wealthy, their message has transformed from class discontent and demands for justice in African American communities, to a declaration of amazement at the rappers’ ability to escape poverty and fulfill their desires for the American Dream" (Academia). Lyrics such as one seen in the song Ni**as in Paris have "combined traditional rap, ghetto language and a new elitism, based on affluence which has profoundly influenced the sort of English found in American youth cultures" (Academia). People who are not from the same background as these artists, such as youths from middle-class suburbia often adopt the slang and model the way that they speak after the artists. While slang terms often go in and out of style, more and more idioms from rap music make their way into our everyday language. The language, slang, and authenticity used in rap music has largely influenced how young people communicate as well as become deeply integrated in our culture.
While hip hop culture used to be enjoyed by a small group of mainly minority adolescents, it is now one of consumed and enjoyed by people worldwide.
A recent documentary by Adam Sjöberg in collaboration with rapper Nasir “Nas” Jones , chronicles the influence of breakdancing, a subset of hip hop, on young people in the slums and ghettos of Uganda, Cambodia, Yemen, and Columbia. Breakdancing is an outlet for them, just like rap is for artists in poverty. Kids from these destitute slums often turn to crime to survive and support themselves, but breakdancing serves as a community that brings them together and a universal way for them to connect. Some subjects of the documentary said, "We know we can't dance our way out of poverty, but breakdancing fills our hearts with hope…I may not have what you have, but I can do what you can do…We speak many languages around the world, but for me the language of my heart, is hip hop" (Shake the Dust). Executive producer, Nasir Jones was excited after hearing about the idea for this documentary because, "what these kids are doing around the world reminds [him] why [he] fell in love with hip-hop and how important it is as a creative and constructive outlet…[and] help bring the film to global audiences who need to hear this surprising message of empowerment" (Nasir Jones). However, hip hop is not limited to just the music and dance that are most often associated with it, as it also influences major parts of the entertainment and retail industry. Hip hop's influence ranges from fashion, cars, alcohol, television, sports, to media and marketing. It is a part of just about every aspect of everyday life. Hip hop is one of the highest grossing industries in our economy. According to a Simmons Lathan Media Group study in 2004, hip hop has a customer base of "45 million hip-hop consumers between the ages of 13 and 34, 80% of whom are white. According to SLMG’s research, this group has $1 trillion in spending power" (Forbes). Since then the
hip hop industry has grown exponentially, with some of the highest paid artists in music being rappers. In an interview, Kurtis Blow, a member of the popular rap group Furious Five observed that fans of the group often imitated the way that they spoke and even the way they dressed. With influence over how to dress, how to talk, and what we buy, hip hop culture has shaped the lifestyle of millions of young Americans.
Whether you view hip hop culture and rap as having a positive or negative influence in American society, it has "found a wide multicultural audience and emerged as one of the most original forms of music in the late twentieth century" (US History in Context). From early hip hop and rap which brought social issues and racial awareness to the spotlight, to the wide cultural impact that the artists and moguls of the hip hop industry have had on society, it's hard to argue that hip hop is not one of the most influential art forms of modern American culture.