In the late 1970’s, an alternative form of music was arising. The beat of the music was simple, but the lyrics held a new style. Unlike anything before, these lyrics were much more up tempo. The number of words in a song were almost doubled through 16 bars. More important than the style of this music was the content. In the lower ends of the New York ghettos the rituals took place for the first tim

Many would argue that Eminem has received this praise simply because he is white. It is certain that Hip Hop is a culture that is dominated by African Americans, but that does not exclude any race or ethnicity from membership. Some have simply stated that corporate America are taking advantage of this “white” asset and are pushing it to the nation through every media possible. This is good for Hip Hop, as well as bad. A hopeful Hip Hop writer from Los Angeles persuades “Marshall Mathers is undeniably one of the most lyrically inclined artists in history, but that doesn’t mean that he is Hip Hop. He has simply changed the game, just like Public Enemy or Run DMC did back in the day” (Romanus 3/03). What this writer is saying is that Eminem is gaining exposure for the Hip Hop world, but he is only a member. The media will put there spin on it and attempt to make it ”the” Hip Hop. However, there is no such thing. Hip Hop is a culture, not a person. You cannot sell the culture. You can only sell the material, the interpretation is where you find the core of Hip Hop.

Aside from the fact that he is white, Marshall Mathers (Eminem) has surpassed the previous downfall of names like Vanilla Ice, by using his sharp and sarcastic abilities to become one of the highest grossing rap artists of all time. This brings us back to the issue of where is Hip Hop today.

Chuck D. is one of the most influential members of Hip Hop’s history. He is known for his political vocals with a group called Public Enemy. Being a child of the 1960’s, Chuck D. has seen the entire reign of the rap culture, and his book Fight the Power explains in detail the changes that have been made in Hip Hop. His literature reflects the lifestyle of a transformed society. He describes the current state of Hip Hop to be in need. He explains that “we have images on television, video, and film talking to us more than we talk to each other” (Chuck D. 45). What he is touching on is the widely supported view that Hip Hop is becoming commercialized. The artistic forms that make it to your radio are not the final product of the artist, but rather an edited edition that is revised by corporate America. This new version of a song will portray what big businesses want you to hear. On an album, the tracks are seldom altered due to the fact that record companies already have your money, so why censor any further product. This is an unfair situation for the artist. Negative reciprocity is represented when millions of music lovers interpret your music that has someone else’s stamp of approval on it. I guess theoretically, these record companies feel that the album will redistribute the original ideas and viewpoints of the artist through the other tracks on the album. But what happens in the instance that a rapper doesn’t get the opportunity to be heard because no one is interested in what his or her record company wants to portray. Unf

Some topics in this essay:
Hip Hop, Los Angeles, Jarred Mayes, hip hop, Caucasian American, , Especially York, African Americans, According Chuck, Public Enemy, Vanilla Ice, hip hop culture, hop culture, los angeles, beat boxer, music beat boxer, nation hip, bravo 3/03, record companies, race ethnicity, corporate america, nation hip hop, music beat,