Hip-hop emerged in the 1970s in the Bronx as a way for black Americans to establish a collective identity. It grew out of the social and economic inequality experienced by black communities in urban areas like New York City. Hip-hop utilized new rhythmic styles and sampling to create a unique sound that represented the experiences of black Americans. While initially meant to unite marginalized communities, hip-hop eventually spread more broadly and capitalized on the music industry. However, it maintained its identity and message of addressing social issues through meaningful lyrics. Artists like Kendrick Lamar continue this tradition while others focus more on commercial appeal. Overall, hip-hop used its music and culture to both establish a black identity and spread awareness of racial in
Black Nationalism and Rap Music Dr. Errol A. HendersonRBG Communiversity
Henderson, Errol, Black Nationalism and Rap Music (1992) Bibliographic Section: African American History. Bibliographic Subject: Black Nationalism and Black Power
Hip-hop began in the South Bronx in 1973 as a way for disaffected youth to channel their frustrations into art rather than violence. DJ Kool Herc pioneered extending breakbeats using two turntables, sparking the hip-hop revolution. Cornell University has the largest collection of hip-hop artifacts and recordings in the world and works to document hip-hop's history from its originators. Hip-hop grew from its roots in the Bronx to become a global phenomenon, adapting to local cultures worldwide and bringing more people together across differences than any politicians.
This document summarizes and analyzes an academic article about Aboriginal hip hop culture in Australia. It discusses three key points:
1) It examines the work of three Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Australian hip hop artists (Little G, MC Wire, and Morganics) who are part of the "conscious" hip hop scene and its influence on Aboriginal youth identity formation.
2) It argues that hip hop's localization in Australia is due not just to oppositional politics but also its internal logic of sampling, representing, and flow, which allows it to be adapted while maintaining local roots.
3) It provides an overview of the artist's performances and workshops to illustrate how they represent their communities and hip hop culture
The document discusses research on the "street code" culture found in some inner-city black communities. It describes how structural conditions like poverty, unemployment, and limited opportunities have led to the development of this code. The code emphasizes respect, social identity, and the use of violence. The author argues that gangsta rap music reflects and reinforces this street code through its lyrics about crime, violence, and street life. The study analyzes 403 rap songs to examine how the code is portrayed and how violence is justified in the lyrics.
This document summarizes an article that examines the connections between spirituality and hip hop music. It discusses how hip hop draws from black musical traditions like gospel and soul that blurred lines between sacred and secular. While hip hop lyrics often reference immoral topics, the music can still produce spiritual experiences for artists and listeners. The document analyzes how hip hop samples and mixes sacred texts with profane lyrics to explore existential questions. It also discusses contradictions between religious imagery used in hip hop and artists' actual lives.
This document provides context for understanding contemporary mainstream rap music through analyzing the influence of corporate consolidation in the music industry. It discusses how major record labels promote and market black music, including rap, through separate divisions focused on black cultural products. This structures hip hop as a commercial industry rather than an artistic expression. The document analyzes how consolidation narrowed the creative space for rap music by absorbing independent labels that drove innovation. It finds top-selling rap songs reflected this narrowing by emphasizing proven formulas of success and taking fewer artistic risks. Kendrick Lamar's music is presented as defying this trend by producing commercially successful rap that offers empowering messages and challenges to dominant ideologies.
Gangsta rap emerged in the late 1980s as a form of resistance from black youth living in the deteriorating and violent inner cities of Los Angeles. The group N.W.A. released the seminal album "Straight Outta Compton" which portrayed the struggles of living in South Central L.A. and confronting police brutality through songs like "Fuck tha Police". While gangsta rap brought greater attention to issues facing black communities, it has also been criticized for glorifying violence and objectifying women. The genre remains a topic of ongoing debate regarding its social impacts.
The document summarizes the origins and evolution of hip hop music from the 1970s through the 1990s. It describes how hip hop emerged from block parties in the Bronx as DJs played music and MCs rhymed over breakbeats. Early styles included rapping, breakdancing, graffiti art, and DJing. Recording brought hip hop to wider audiences. The genre diversified geographically and stylistically with developments like gangsta rap in LA and new school rap in NY. Mainstream success followed but also tensions, like the East Coast-West Coast rivalry of the mid-1990s. Throughout, hip hop provided African Americans an outlet for self-expression in response to social issues.
Black Nationalism and Rap Music Dr. Errol A. HendersonRBG Communiversity
Henderson, Errol, Black Nationalism and Rap Music (1992) Bibliographic Section: African American History. Bibliographic Subject: Black Nationalism and Black Power
Hip-hop began in the South Bronx in 1973 as a way for disaffected youth to channel their frustrations into art rather than violence. DJ Kool Herc pioneered extending breakbeats using two turntables, sparking the hip-hop revolution. Cornell University has the largest collection of hip-hop artifacts and recordings in the world and works to document hip-hop's history from its originators. Hip-hop grew from its roots in the Bronx to become a global phenomenon, adapting to local cultures worldwide and bringing more people together across differences than any politicians.
This document summarizes and analyzes an academic article about Aboriginal hip hop culture in Australia. It discusses three key points:
1) It examines the work of three Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Australian hip hop artists (Little G, MC Wire, and Morganics) who are part of the "conscious" hip hop scene and its influence on Aboriginal youth identity formation.
2) It argues that hip hop's localization in Australia is due not just to oppositional politics but also its internal logic of sampling, representing, and flow, which allows it to be adapted while maintaining local roots.
3) It provides an overview of the artist's performances and workshops to illustrate how they represent their communities and hip hop culture
The document discusses research on the "street code" culture found in some inner-city black communities. It describes how structural conditions like poverty, unemployment, and limited opportunities have led to the development of this code. The code emphasizes respect, social identity, and the use of violence. The author argues that gangsta rap music reflects and reinforces this street code through its lyrics about crime, violence, and street life. The study analyzes 403 rap songs to examine how the code is portrayed and how violence is justified in the lyrics.
This document summarizes an article that examines the connections between spirituality and hip hop music. It discusses how hip hop draws from black musical traditions like gospel and soul that blurred lines between sacred and secular. While hip hop lyrics often reference immoral topics, the music can still produce spiritual experiences for artists and listeners. The document analyzes how hip hop samples and mixes sacred texts with profane lyrics to explore existential questions. It also discusses contradictions between religious imagery used in hip hop and artists' actual lives.
This document provides context for understanding contemporary mainstream rap music through analyzing the influence of corporate consolidation in the music industry. It discusses how major record labels promote and market black music, including rap, through separate divisions focused on black cultural products. This structures hip hop as a commercial industry rather than an artistic expression. The document analyzes how consolidation narrowed the creative space for rap music by absorbing independent labels that drove innovation. It finds top-selling rap songs reflected this narrowing by emphasizing proven formulas of success and taking fewer artistic risks. Kendrick Lamar's music is presented as defying this trend by producing commercially successful rap that offers empowering messages and challenges to dominant ideologies.
Gangsta rap emerged in the late 1980s as a form of resistance from black youth living in the deteriorating and violent inner cities of Los Angeles. The group N.W.A. released the seminal album "Straight Outta Compton" which portrayed the struggles of living in South Central L.A. and confronting police brutality through songs like "Fuck tha Police". While gangsta rap brought greater attention to issues facing black communities, it has also been criticized for glorifying violence and objectifying women. The genre remains a topic of ongoing debate regarding its social impacts.
The document summarizes the origins and evolution of hip hop music from the 1970s through the 1990s. It describes how hip hop emerged from block parties in the Bronx as DJs played music and MCs rhymed over breakbeats. Early styles included rapping, breakdancing, graffiti art, and DJing. Recording brought hip hop to wider audiences. The genre diversified geographically and stylistically with developments like gangsta rap in LA and new school rap in NY. Mainstream success followed but also tensions, like the East Coast-West Coast rivalry of the mid-1990s. Throughout, hip hop provided African Americans an outlet for self-expression in response to social issues.
Rise Up Hip Hop Nation From Deconstructing Racial Politics to Build.docxkathyledlow2rr
Rise Up Hip Hop Nation: From Deconstructing Racial Politics to Building Positive
Solution
s
Kristine Wright
Posted on April 16, 2011 by
sdonline
http://sdonline.org/36/rise-up-hip-hop-nation-from-deconstructing-racial-politics-to-building-positive-solutions/
Life is your right
, so we can’t give up the fight.
—
Bob Marley
Defining Hip Hop
From society’s periphery, a generation created a cultural medium,
hip hop
, that served as both an expression of and an alternative to urban woes plaguing their lives, namely underemployment, poverty, and racial discrimination. Rap music and the associated fashion, language, and dance styles became hip hop’s modes of expression. For many African American youth, hip hop has been a part of their cultural identity since the 1970s (Rose 1994; George 1998). Today, hip hop’s influence on popular culture is undeniable. From its inception three decades ago, hip hop has grown from an urban, predominantly black and Latino youth culture into an international youth phenomenon transcending racial and ethnic lines.
The term hip hop describes urban youth culture in America (Smitherman 1997). Hazzard-Donald (1996) defines hip hop as an expressive cultural genre originating among marginalized African American youth. Forms of hip hop expression include rapping and rap music, graffiti writing, dance styles (originating with break-dancing), specific attire, and a specialized language and vocabulary. According to Smitherman, hip hop grew out of African oral tradition and other forms of black culture, as well as a long history of interaction between black and Latino urban culture, originating in the Bronx, New York (Guevara 1996). George (1998) offers this succinct description:
At its most elemental level hip hop is a product of post-civil rights era America, a set of cultural forms originally nurtured by African American, Caribbean-American, and Latin American youth in and around New York in the ’70s. Its most popular vehicle of expression has been music, though dance, painting, fashion, video, crime, and commerce are also its playing fields (viii).
Hip hop culture transcends the commercialized product sold to mainstream America through commercials and music videos. It is more than the music, fashion, and style that is now so popular among youth everywhere. Although these are its modes of expression, hip hop as a culture is rooted in the day-to-day experiences of millions of inner city teens. As Spiegler (1996) describes it, hip hop is based on real life experiences, giving it more permanence than earlier teen trends.
In the beginning, the expression of hip hop culture known as rap was the voice of the urban youth underclass. According to Smitherman, rap music was a response to conditions of poverty, joblessness, and disempowerment, which still deeply affect the lives of the majority of African American urban youth today. Not only was rap music a black expressive cultural phenomenon, it was also a discourse of resistanc.
Chen 1 Jiahui Chen Anthony Vine Mus 17 Winter 2JinElias52
Chen 1
Jiahui Chen
Anthony Vine
Mus 17 Winter 2021
28 Feb 2021
Hip Hop Culture on Good Influence
Hip hop refers to rap music, a genre of popular music developed by Latin and
Afro-Americans in the United States in the 1970s. It was that time in the history of the USA
when block parties were getting popular because rap music was promoting the cultural
movement in the most influential art form. While many people have a stereotype of hip-hop
culture, they think that hip-hop culture symbolizes dark and negative elements, such as drugs,
gangs, and murder, but in fact, hip-hop is a culture with a lot of positive value and influence.
Many raps convey a positive influence, such as Drake's God's plan. Some rapper songs are also
persuading people to stay away from violence, receive school education, help others, take care of
their families and change their destiny. And hip-hop artists are a way for many underrepresented
groups to speak out. They use hip-hop music to express their social and political issues and
attitudes. And hip-hop culture brings people together in different ways.
In the context of the origin of hip hop culture, it has been observed that cultural aspects
such as break dancing and graffiti were known to be the first aspects that caught the greater
public attention. A teenage Greek American, in 1972, started a graffiti movement by signing his
name and address on the walls of the subway system throughout New York City. The same
Anthony Vine
131710000000019395
thesis
Chen 2
sparked many actions, till 1975, that rendered the names of individuals by spraying colors and
paintings on the wall, which ultimately led to influential art dealers all across Europe, the US,
and Japan to display graffiti in art galleries. Meanwhile, turntable manipulation techniques were
being developed by deejays by playing short drum brakes, which created a rhythmic effect
known as scratching. In the US, rap first came as a prominent genre of music on the national
level by the release of the song "Rappers Delight'" by Sugarhill Gang in 1979. In the context of
the timeline of the hip-hop culture, the most notable event that led to the initiation of this
movement in the incident of Kool Herc holding his hip-hop parties in 1973. In 1979, the first
recorded rap song was released, followed by Curtis Blows single "The Breaks" massive sales in
1980. The last "old school" hip hop party was held by Kool Herc in 1984, and 'The Show" was
created by Doue E. Fresh in 1985. Later in 1986, Run DMC remixes like "Walk This Way" led
to the opening of hip hop to new audiences, and gangster rap was also formed at the same time.
Furthermore, in 1992, "The Chronic" was written by Dr Dre that launched him and labeled him
as a hip-hop icon in the world of rap music. Besides, the contemporary age of hip-hop culture
has begun in the 2000s. According to Complex, 2021, Kanye West is one of the successful
hip-hop ...
Chen 1 jiahui chen anthony vine mus 17 winter 2RAJU852744
Hip hop music was originally played by live bands. However, producers like Marly Marl felt bands did not accurately capture the sound of hip hop that was popular in places like Harlem and the Bronx. That sound involved scratching, echoes, beatboxing, and breakbeats - elements that were difficult for live bands to recreate. This disconnect between the studio recordings and live hip hop events influenced producers to start using drum machines and samplers rather than bands.
This document discusses the origins and history of African American music, specifically hip hop. It notes that African American music developed both culturally and artistically over the years, with styles like spirituals, blues, jazz, R&B, and hip hop creating an incredible history. Hip hop originated in the Bronx in the 1970s and has grown to address issues like education, racism, and drug use through rhythm, beats, and lyrics. Wild Style, an early hip hop film from 1983, documented elements like emceeing, graffiti, breakdancing, and deejaying.
This document discusses the claim that hip hop promotes violence. It argues that this claim is based on prejudices against black minorities, as hip hop actually spreads awareness of important social issues like racism and abuse. The document provides examples showing that hip hop lyrics often reflect the real struggles and experiences of artists growing up in violent environments. Furthermore, hip hop has therapeutic benefits and can help people cope with mental illness. While some genres may contain similar levels of violent lyrics, hip hop is disproportionately judged negatively due to stereotypes.
This document discusses the history and influence of hip hop culture. It begins by discussing the origins of hip hop in the Bronx in the 1970s among African American youth. It then discusses how hip hop grew from "noisy, disorganized park jams" into a musical revolution. Later, it explores the development of gangsta rap in the 1980s and 90s and its influence on music and culture. It also analyzes how hip hop culture has influenced popular dances, developed unique regional sounds like southern hip hop, and influenced youth culture in the United States.
Hip hop originated in the South Bronx in the 1970s and is characterized by four elements: rap music, turntablism, breaking, and graffiti art. It began as a reactionary outlet for expressing the violence and poverty of urban environments. Key figures like DJ Kool Herc and Afrika Bambaataa established pillars of hip hop culture. Hip hop music emerged with DJs looping breaks and was accompanied by rapping. The culture has since spread globally while retaining its ability to challenge social issues.
The document discusses concerns about the negative influence of hip hop music. It notes that from 1985 to 2013, the top 5 hip hop songs each year contained a total of 31,564 curse words. It argues that hip hop promotes unhealthy behaviors like drug and alcohol use and disrespects women and minorities. It also states that the sexual and profanity-laden lyrics are inappropriate for children. The document expresses that while hip hop may address social struggles, it does so in a negative way that could encourage harmful behaviors among youth.
Hip hop culture originated in the Bronx in the 1970s and consists of four core elements: DJing, emceeing (rapping), breakdancing, and graffiti art. DJ Kool Herc is considered a founder for innovating hip hop music by extending the instrumental portion of songs. Afrika Bambaataa later helped develop hip hop culture by using it to unite gangs and promote peace. Over time, hip hop culture has expanded globally and modern hip hop has incorporated elements of partying and club culture while still retaining roots in individual expression.
Rise Up Hip Hop Nation From Deconstructing Racial Politics to Build.docxkathyledlow2rr
Rise Up Hip Hop Nation: From Deconstructing Racial Politics to Building Positive
Solution
s
Kristine Wright
Posted on April 16, 2011 by
sdonline
http://sdonline.org/36/rise-up-hip-hop-nation-from-deconstructing-racial-politics-to-building-positive-solutions/
Life is your right
, so we can’t give up the fight.
—
Bob Marley
Defining Hip Hop
From society’s periphery, a generation created a cultural medium,
hip hop
, that served as both an expression of and an alternative to urban woes plaguing their lives, namely underemployment, poverty, and racial discrimination. Rap music and the associated fashion, language, and dance styles became hip hop’s modes of expression. For many African American youth, hip hop has been a part of their cultural identity since the 1970s (Rose 1994; George 1998). Today, hip hop’s influence on popular culture is undeniable. From its inception three decades ago, hip hop has grown from an urban, predominantly black and Latino youth culture into an international youth phenomenon transcending racial and ethnic lines.
The term hip hop describes urban youth culture in America (Smitherman 1997). Hazzard-Donald (1996) defines hip hop as an expressive cultural genre originating among marginalized African American youth. Forms of hip hop expression include rapping and rap music, graffiti writing, dance styles (originating with break-dancing), specific attire, and a specialized language and vocabulary. According to Smitherman, hip hop grew out of African oral tradition and other forms of black culture, as well as a long history of interaction between black and Latino urban culture, originating in the Bronx, New York (Guevara 1996). George (1998) offers this succinct description:
At its most elemental level hip hop is a product of post-civil rights era America, a set of cultural forms originally nurtured by African American, Caribbean-American, and Latin American youth in and around New York in the ’70s. Its most popular vehicle of expression has been music, though dance, painting, fashion, video, crime, and commerce are also its playing fields (viii).
Hip hop culture transcends the commercialized product sold to mainstream America through commercials and music videos. It is more than the music, fashion, and style that is now so popular among youth everywhere. Although these are its modes of expression, hip hop as a culture is rooted in the day-to-day experiences of millions of inner city teens. As Spiegler (1996) describes it, hip hop is based on real life experiences, giving it more permanence than earlier teen trends.
In the beginning, the expression of hip hop culture known as rap was the voice of the urban youth underclass. According to Smitherman, rap music was a response to conditions of poverty, joblessness, and disempowerment, which still deeply affect the lives of the majority of African American urban youth today. Not only was rap music a black expressive cultural phenomenon, it was also a discourse of resistanc.
Chen 1 Jiahui Chen Anthony Vine Mus 17 Winter 2JinElias52
Chen 1
Jiahui Chen
Anthony Vine
Mus 17 Winter 2021
28 Feb 2021
Hip Hop Culture on Good Influence
Hip hop refers to rap music, a genre of popular music developed by Latin and
Afro-Americans in the United States in the 1970s. It was that time in the history of the USA
when block parties were getting popular because rap music was promoting the cultural
movement in the most influential art form. While many people have a stereotype of hip-hop
culture, they think that hip-hop culture symbolizes dark and negative elements, such as drugs,
gangs, and murder, but in fact, hip-hop is a culture with a lot of positive value and influence.
Many raps convey a positive influence, such as Drake's God's plan. Some rapper songs are also
persuading people to stay away from violence, receive school education, help others, take care of
their families and change their destiny. And hip-hop artists are a way for many underrepresented
groups to speak out. They use hip-hop music to express their social and political issues and
attitudes. And hip-hop culture brings people together in different ways.
In the context of the origin of hip hop culture, it has been observed that cultural aspects
such as break dancing and graffiti were known to be the first aspects that caught the greater
public attention. A teenage Greek American, in 1972, started a graffiti movement by signing his
name and address on the walls of the subway system throughout New York City. The same
Anthony Vine
131710000000019395
thesis
Chen 2
sparked many actions, till 1975, that rendered the names of individuals by spraying colors and
paintings on the wall, which ultimately led to influential art dealers all across Europe, the US,
and Japan to display graffiti in art galleries. Meanwhile, turntable manipulation techniques were
being developed by deejays by playing short drum brakes, which created a rhythmic effect
known as scratching. In the US, rap first came as a prominent genre of music on the national
level by the release of the song "Rappers Delight'" by Sugarhill Gang in 1979. In the context of
the timeline of the hip-hop culture, the most notable event that led to the initiation of this
movement in the incident of Kool Herc holding his hip-hop parties in 1973. In 1979, the first
recorded rap song was released, followed by Curtis Blows single "The Breaks" massive sales in
1980. The last "old school" hip hop party was held by Kool Herc in 1984, and 'The Show" was
created by Doue E. Fresh in 1985. Later in 1986, Run DMC remixes like "Walk This Way" led
to the opening of hip hop to new audiences, and gangster rap was also formed at the same time.
Furthermore, in 1992, "The Chronic" was written by Dr Dre that launched him and labeled him
as a hip-hop icon in the world of rap music. Besides, the contemporary age of hip-hop culture
has begun in the 2000s. According to Complex, 2021, Kanye West is one of the successful
hip-hop ...
Chen 1 jiahui chen anthony vine mus 17 winter 2RAJU852744
Hip hop music was originally played by live bands. However, producers like Marly Marl felt bands did not accurately capture the sound of hip hop that was popular in places like Harlem and the Bronx. That sound involved scratching, echoes, beatboxing, and breakbeats - elements that were difficult for live bands to recreate. This disconnect between the studio recordings and live hip hop events influenced producers to start using drum machines and samplers rather than bands.
This document discusses the origins and history of African American music, specifically hip hop. It notes that African American music developed both culturally and artistically over the years, with styles like spirituals, blues, jazz, R&B, and hip hop creating an incredible history. Hip hop originated in the Bronx in the 1970s and has grown to address issues like education, racism, and drug use through rhythm, beats, and lyrics. Wild Style, an early hip hop film from 1983, documented elements like emceeing, graffiti, breakdancing, and deejaying.
This document discusses the claim that hip hop promotes violence. It argues that this claim is based on prejudices against black minorities, as hip hop actually spreads awareness of important social issues like racism and abuse. The document provides examples showing that hip hop lyrics often reflect the real struggles and experiences of artists growing up in violent environments. Furthermore, hip hop has therapeutic benefits and can help people cope with mental illness. While some genres may contain similar levels of violent lyrics, hip hop is disproportionately judged negatively due to stereotypes.
This document discusses the history and influence of hip hop culture. It begins by discussing the origins of hip hop in the Bronx in the 1970s among African American youth. It then discusses how hip hop grew from "noisy, disorganized park jams" into a musical revolution. Later, it explores the development of gangsta rap in the 1980s and 90s and its influence on music and culture. It also analyzes how hip hop culture has influenced popular dances, developed unique regional sounds like southern hip hop, and influenced youth culture in the United States.
Hip hop originated in the South Bronx in the 1970s and is characterized by four elements: rap music, turntablism, breaking, and graffiti art. It began as a reactionary outlet for expressing the violence and poverty of urban environments. Key figures like DJ Kool Herc and Afrika Bambaataa established pillars of hip hop culture. Hip hop music emerged with DJs looping breaks and was accompanied by rapping. The culture has since spread globally while retaining its ability to challenge social issues.
The document discusses concerns about the negative influence of hip hop music. It notes that from 1985 to 2013, the top 5 hip hop songs each year contained a total of 31,564 curse words. It argues that hip hop promotes unhealthy behaviors like drug and alcohol use and disrespects women and minorities. It also states that the sexual and profanity-laden lyrics are inappropriate for children. The document expresses that while hip hop may address social struggles, it does so in a negative way that could encourage harmful behaviors among youth.
Hip hop culture originated in the Bronx in the 1970s and consists of four core elements: DJing, emceeing (rapping), breakdancing, and graffiti art. DJ Kool Herc is considered a founder for innovating hip hop music by extending the instrumental portion of songs. Afrika Bambaataa later helped develop hip hop culture by using it to unite gangs and promote peace. Over time, hip hop culture has expanded globally and modern hip hop has incorporated elements of partying and club culture while still retaining roots in individual expression.
1. Peter McMillan
Dr. John Carvalho
PHI 4140
10 April 2016
Hip-hop culture emerged to establish a collective identity for black Americans in
primarily urban environments. Identity’s purpose is, by nature, to distinguish one thing from
another. Although Hip-hop’s original intent was to have a distinguished identity, hip hop
capitalized on the economy of music through primarily black listeners in its early stages. hip hop
culture continued to reach new audiences, mirroring the progress of interracial relations—both
music and society influencing each other. To establish my claim, I will contextualize hip hop’s
emergence in the culture it grew from. I will then explain its growth through the lens of Jacques
Attali’s analysis of the economy of music to provide not only listening pleasure (jouissance), but
a release for “ritual violence” while serving to form a black identity and lessen the inequality
gap. Finally, I will show how hip hop used the economy as a vehicle for mass appeal to form its
black identity and lessen the inequality gap.
To understand the antidote that is hip hop, the problems hip hop aims to solve must first
be addressed and understood. hip hop emerged out of the primarily black and minority
neighborhoods of New York City. New York City is the origin of hip hop, but it is not a unique
example of ghettoized poverty determined by institutional racism and cycles of polarizing
positive reinforcement. In this cycle, there were fewer opportunities for black Americans in the
aftermath of Jim Crow laws and the mindset that accompanied Jim Crow laws. As a result of this
disparity, Black Americans were then forced into lower income jobs and lower income housing,
which supported the white superiority complex, leading to more discrimination and a widening
gap between races. Through this polarization, blacks were far from separate but equal, now
having even fewer opportunities to earn a livelihood. The already lower-income minority
neighborhoods, were seen as expendable in projects such as the Bronx Expressway which was
2. McMillan 2
designed to benefit suburbanites with the collateral of a wider inequality gap. Property values in
the Bronx decreased, but residents could not afford to move elsewhere. The artificial urban
environment does not facilitate genuine connections to people and the world. The constraints of
an urban environment reduce human beings to cogs in a machine, thereby making it harder to
establish an identity. However, art forms are facilitated by the city and work to establish identity.
The act of creating is essential for the development of the human self and art is the power to
create.
Connections in urban environments were not always genuine because of the artificiality
of both the city and inequality gap. One needs a fundamental and genuine connection to the
world and others in order to establish a sense of self in relation to other things and people. In the
animal kingdom (or the uncivilized), identity is formed through physical relation and identity
through violence. Jacques Attali in Noise asserts that music is the civilized form of this
animalistic search for identity under the term for music as “ritual violence.” When we participate
in music, we are satisfying our basic desires to establish identity through the power of the animal
kingdom. The link between music as fulfillment for ritual violence can be seen in communities
with diminished senses of self. Areas of ghettoized poverty are correlated with higher crime rates
(including violent crime). In these same areas, hip hop emerges as a civilized form of ritual
violence to cultivate and maintain identity. So what is the hip hop style and why did this style
evolve in the fashion it has?
New York City, the birthplace of hip hop, was the locus of the hip hop movement
because of its concentration of people and the resulting magnification of these forces. Starting
with individuals like Grandmaster Flash, existing music was mixed, ripped, and distorted to have
a completely different sound. This represents a break from popular music and the production of a
3. McMillan 3
unique sound. The unique sound of hip hop, with a new emphasis on rhythm over melody and
distortion over clarity, embodies the contradictions faced by Bronx residents. The rhythm is a
desire to find a core identity that can be felt. Rhythm is something that is felt more than melody.
While the distortion of sound is symbolic of the distortion of identity, but this distortion leads to
the new formation of identity when linked to something continuous. Attali reminds us that
composition relies on something new, but it needs to be connected to that which is already
identified as music or it will lose its identity as music. Tricia Rose mentions a similar concept, in
Black Noise, argued by James A. Snead in which “repetition is an important and telling element
in culture, a means by which a sense of continuity, security, and identification are maintained”
(Rose 68). hip hop has jazz and blues connections, while also taking particular guitar riffs, bass
lines, or other components from popular music. Jazz and blues music are centered on a rhythmic
form, which is the core of the piece that allows for distortion of melody as well as improvisation
on top. hip hop/rap takes this to the next level, making rhythm the interesting core rather than,
“The rhythms [of pop music which are] of exceptional banality … often not that different from
military rhythms … neither musically nor semantically does pop music announce a world of
change (Attali 109). With the invocation of rapping over music, words are meant to coincide
with rhythm and flow rather than mirror the melody as found in pop songs. The consequences of
rhythm over melody are found in lyrical content. Rhythm, because it is more consistently present
through the song, necessitates that there be more lyrics to coincide with it. This allows for more
content to be voiced and explained. Rap has the ability to tell stories with more clarity than
melodic music.
hip hop was initially played at a local level and it brought people together in the Bronx.
The primarily black and urban experience of those in the Bronx is not unique. hip hop was
4. McMillan 4
relatable to more than just New Yorkers and soon spread across the country. Seeing the
increasing popularity of hip hop, artists capitalized on the economy of music and used the
jouissance the black community sought in hip hop. hip hop was not immediately popular music
across all American culture. It was not the goal of hip hop to spread into suburbia. Its goal was to
form a separate identity and unite a marginalized group. By using explicit language, hip hop was
kept out of the mainstream because it could not be played on the radio, instead it was distributed
amongst the black community through mixtapes and live shows. Furthermore, hip hop was more
than just the music. It included graffiti and breakdancing as part of its culture. These were other
art forms that influenced each other and strengthened the identity. There is at least as much
layering surrounding the music of hip-hip as layers in the music itself.
The depth and layering of hip hop keeps it from becoming poppy and ephemeral—losing
its creativity. Even as hip hop enters the mainstream, its depth prevents it from being empty and
victimized by the musical economy. “In 1994 rap music is one of the most heavily traded
popular commodities in the market, yet it still defies total corporate control over the music, its
local use and incorporation at the level of stable and exposed meanings” (Rose 41). It is precisely
hip hop’s independent worth that allows it to capitalize rather than capitulate to the musical
economy. The musical economy Attali describes is based on a cycle of representation, repetition,
and composition. In this cycle, music’s value becomes produced for its exchange value rather
than its use value. This cycle is accelerated by means of exchange (technological advances) to
the point where it is just about mass accumulation rather than the music itself. hip hop has been
able to maintain both, keeping its individuality because of its depth. In its depth hip hop
addresses real experience on strong emotional, social, and intellectual grounds. From the
beginning hip hop has had meaningful commentary. In Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five’s
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“The Message” we hear the lyrics, “All the kids [at school] smoke reefer, I think it’d be cheaper,
If I just got a job, learned to be a street sweeper” (Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five). In
just a few bars, the confinement of institutional forces are portrayed and the ease of resigning to
the system. However, this does not stop anger at the system. Yet, this anger needs to managed
which is why it is represented artistically, Guru from Gang Starr raps, “I’m ready to lose my
mind, but instead I use my mind, I put down my knife, and take the bullets out my nine, my only
crime, is that I’m too damn kind” (Gang Starr). Instead of physical violence, Guru advocates for
expression through hip hop. Later in “Moment of Truth” he raps, “Yo I got one lyric pointed at
your head for start, another one is pointed at your weak ass heart, now if I pull the trigger on
these fully loaded lines, you’re gunna wish I woulda pulled a black nine” (Gang Starr). Guru
emphasizes hip hop’s use of language and music as Attali’s ritual violence. hip hop is not simply
a lamentation about the struggles of a black urban Americans, but it is part of a way out in itself.
hip hop is a solution, it doesn’t just talk about a solution, although other solutions in a socio-
economic and political context may result. This is different from the popular music of black
musicians like Marvin Gaye, Fetty Wop or Justin Bieber in content and culture. These artists
have simpler components that do not reflect any serious issues or define anything more than a
superficial identity.
I assert that modern artists who are popular, like Kendrick Lamar, still stay true to a
longer lasting hip hop culture. hip hop culture and its capitalizing has to be judged by artists like
Kendrick Lamar who make music about the struggles of growing up in a black urban
environment. Artists like Young Thug are not in the true spirit of hip hop culture. Young Thug
may sound cool as a black Sylvester Stallone, but he is not continuing the formation of a black
urban identity to combat structural barriers in society. hip hop is more than just music, it mirrors
6. McMillan 6
the progression of erasing structural barriers. As more white Americans become understanding
of the institutional forces against black Americans, they have also become more open to hip hop
culture and vice versa. This creates a cycle of positive reinforcement in the other direction,
closing the inequality gap.
Because hip hop is more than just music, its original intended audience was able to relate
to the music and it meant more than just ritual pleasure. DJ Spooky argues that most popular
music is dependent on the idiot. The idiot is the medium for music which is circulated for the
acquisition of wealth more than anything else. “The idiot is a zombie … [who] dance[s] to
rhythms [he does] not feel or understand” (Miller 9). The original audience of hip hop (black
urban Americans) are not idiots because they are part of the music, rather than a medium for it.
They feel and understand what A Tribe Called Quest describe as, “The rhythmic instinction to
yield to travel beyond existing forces of life. Basically, that’s tribal and if you wanna get the
rhythm, then you have to join a tribe” (qtd. in Rose 68). hip hop culture is an offshoot of
afrodiasporic culture, a culture that is ingrained in the original hip hop community, so the rhythm
of hip hop is understood and listeners are not DJ Spooky’s idiots. Therefore, hip hop uses the
musical economy described by Attali as a vehicle for the circulation its message rather than for
the exchange of a commodity.
hip hop capitalizes on music as a commodity. hip hop is more than the production of
supply and demand simultaneously for profit and pleasure because it grew out of a bigger
movement and culture. All music reflects the culture and politics both of its day and foreshadows
that which is to come, but because hip hop has a more attentive audience by nature, it is able to
do more than use its audience for the circulation of abstract value. Instead, hip hop uses music’s
circulation as a means to vocalize the black struggle and unify all people.
7. McMillan 7
Works Cited
Attali, Jacques. Noise. Trans. Brian Massumi. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2014.
Print.
Gang Starr. “Moment of Truth.” Moment of Truth. 1998.
Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five. “The Message.” The Message. 1982.
Miller, Paul D. Rhythm Science. Boston: The MIT Press, 2004. Print.
Rose, Tricia. Black Noise. Middletown: Wesleyan University Press, 1994. Print.