1. Genre Research
The song I have chosen can be thought to
include 3 different genres but the main
genre is hip-hop which I will be focusing
on which is similar to the second genre,
RnB which I may also comment on.

2. Where did this genre originate? What
are its roots?
• Hip hop as music and culture formed during the 1970s when block parties became
increasingly popular in New York City, particularly among African American and Latino youth
residing in the Bronx. Block parties incorporated DJs who played popular genres of music,
especially funk and soul music. Due to the positive reception, DJs began isolating
the percussive breaks of popular songs. This technique was then common in Jamaican dub
music, and was largely introduced into New York by immigrants from Jamaica and elsewhere
in the Caribbean, including DJ Kool Herc, who is generally considered the father of hip hop.
Because the percussive breaks in funk, soul and disco records were generally short, Herc and
other DJs began using two turntables to extend the breaks.
• Turntablist techniques - such as scratching, beat mixing and/or matching, and beat juggling -
eventually developed along with the breaks, creating a base that could be rapped over, in a
manner similar to signifying, as well as the art of toasting, another influence found in
Jamaican dub music.
• Hip hop music in its infancy has be described as an outlet and a "voice" for the
disenfranchised youth of low-economic areas, as the culture reflected the social, economic
and political realities of their lives
• Early artists for this genre include : Dj Kool Herc, Arfrika Bambaataa, Sugarhill Gang, Run
DMC, Def Jam, Ice T, Dr. Dre, Salt N’ Pepper, Grandmaster Flash, Russell Simmons.

3. How has the genre evolved over time?
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFRleVZXxsM
• Hip hop emerged for basement parties in the Bronx, New York City about 30years
ago and has become a social, cultural and corporate phenomenon. Most of the
era’s music was not only a platform to boast of one’s lyrical skills but also to
overcome and rule out area “beef” between feuding urbanites through dance and
artwork as well as lyrics about their community’s struggles and shortcomings.
• By the mid 80’s the art, dance, culture, language, fashion and swagger of hip hop
began to show in areas of the Caribbean, Europe, Africa and Asia. As hip hop
began to develop outside of the U.S, hip hop was also experiencing an evolution of
its own in the States. As tensions swelled in American Cities, hip hop’s subject
matter often reflected on the increasing number of urban poverty, alcohol and
drug abuse, crime, street violence and gang rivalries.
• The late 1980s I when the emergence of East and West coast rivalries through
gangsta rap. This is when the popular artists like the Loos-Angeles based group
N.W.A and albums released by Dr. Dre like “The Chronic” in 1992, gangsta rap
became the most commercially lucrative sub-genre of hip-hop.
• Gangsta rappers usually defend themselves by claiming that they are describing
the reality of inner-city life and they are only adopting to a character, just like an
actor playing a role and so this may not necessarily reflect the life that they
promote.

4. ... How has the genre evolved over
time?
• Just like other genres of music that experienced an evolution, so did hip hop and
this continues to reflect the changing lives and audiences it spoke to through the
90’s. While hip hop talks about the rough life of the streets, the lyris are countered
by a manifesto of “the good life.” For many of today’s rappers, the days are gone of
public housing and public assistance.
• And now todays rappers pop champagne, wear expensive jewelry, drive fully-
loaded sports cars, and spend evenings with multiple double-jointed Victoria
Secret models that would have never given them the time of day if they had not
come to riches. Now hip hop music appeals to a broader audience, media critics
do ague that socially and politically conscious hip hop has long been disregarded
by mainstream America in favor of more commercialized rap and bling culture.
• As hip hop reigns as a global phenomenon, it is increasingly the language of the
youth. Much of the third world has adopted it as a means of resistance and
expression.

5. How are the artists in this genre represented? Are they
sex symbols? Are they talented musicians? Are they
role models?
• Most artists in the hip hop genre are portrayed to have had a “hard life” as they often speak
in their lyrics about how they had nothing and now they are successful in what they do. Also
they speak about bad times they have had (the loss of loved ones or jail time) and how they
have turned their life around.
• Also artists that were brought up in “rough” areas and they often speak of growing up and
how they represent and take pride in their area. So they then can be seen as role models to
the youth if they understand artists they haven’t had a good life but are now very successful,
they then can be looked up to because people in that are in a similar position they used to be
in may aspire to have a better life in the music industry or any other interest.
• People like 50cent who are in the music industry of the rap/hip hop genre released a film
called “Get rich or die trying” and the film is based on his life struggle and how he got where
he is today. It can be very inspirational to people who live in similar areas or even people who
are already successful and admire his courage, honesty and determination.
• Depending on if you enjoy the genre hip hop is how you determine if the artists are
“talented” many people from other cultures may not understand the lyrics or the story
behind them and therefore think that they don’t talk sense. Others may not see the point of
rapping about sex, violence, streets, life and may feel its rude and inappropriate. However
the artist may just be talking about how they see life or how they have been taught to live so
only people similar to them will understand why they talk of such things.

6. What are the main ideologies represented in current music
videos of this genre? Can you suggest reasons for these
ideologies linking it to the history of the genre that you have just
researched?
• Hip hop videos tend to represent the ideology of rich successful men in
the studio, club, mansion or “hood” popping bottles of champagne,
smoking drugs such as weed, surrounded by half naked women while they
are dressed in well known expensive brands with thick chains and big
rings. By having videos like this they are showing what they feel like
people/their audience expect them to be doing and that smoking drugs
for leisure and going to certain places is acceptable.
• I think this links back to the history of hip hop for the obvious reason that
it shows how it has evolved. For example if we were to look at a hip hop
video 20-30 years ago it was probably shot in the artists neighborhood
with their non-famous friends taking part, along with kids in the area and
possibly shot in a well known part they are from like a park or basketball
court. They would have cars, alcohol and maybe some drugs but it
wouldn’t be as clean cut as videos are today as they had a real rawness to
them even though they were professionally directed, you could see that
this is the life they lived and there isn’t any hiding it so it was easily linked
to the lyrics they had.

7. Some examples of contemporary artists that fit very
conventionally within that genre.
• Snoop Dogg, Jay-z, Lil Wayne, Drake, Tyga, Rick Ross, 2pac,
Biggie Smalls, Warren G, Nate Dogg, 50cent, Nas, Dr. Dre,
Luniz, LL Cool J, Busta Rhymes, P.Diddy.
What do you need to consider when making your own music
video of this genre based on the conventions you have
discovered? Which ones in particular are you going to use?
• I need to consider how female hip hop artists are portrayed
and the image they have so I can make my female artist look
and act similar. Also show some of the aspects like nice
clothes, expensive phones etc. I cant use anything to heavy
because of my song choice and because my artist is female
the same conventions don’t also apply.