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The True Hip Hop

            
            
             Hip hop is a culture and an evolving form of expression spawned in the 70s out of African American oral tradition. The American Heritage Dictionary says that hip hop is "1. A popular urban youth culture closely associated with rap music and with the style and fashions of African-American inner-city residents. 2. Rap music." However, this is an unsatisfactory definition that does little justice to the culture of hip hop and it contributes to the general public's lack of understanding and misconceptions about hip hop and its" elements.
             One of the few things that this definition correctly identifies is the fact that hip hop is a culture. It is not merely rap music. Hip hop is not a genre and should not be classified as such. Although rap music is one of the elements of hip hop, the term hip hop should not be used interchangeably with rap music. Back in the years of its" origin, hip hop was not thought of as merely rap music. The elements of hip hop included graffiti art, break dancing, dj"ing and mc"ing (rapping).
             It is true that hip hop had its" origins in the urban Bronx, but hip hop is changing. It no longer can be classified as a popular urban youth culture. Not all hip hop is popular. In fact many forms of hip hop that closer resemble the culture of its" origins are underground, and not what one sees on MTV or BET. Hip hop is no longer limited to the urban segment of society or to one particular race. Many different types of people now enjoy hip hop.
             As any art form, hip hop has been and will continue to evolve. In its" early days, hip hop told a story and had a message and reaction relative to the social climate of the times. Hip hop was a way for inner city youth to channel their anger and aggressions into a positive art form. Kurtis Blow rapped about the breaks and Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five delivered a message. And people were listening. Unfortunately hip hop has been commercialized into a package that is seen in mainstream outlets, often with little value, and has become misrepresentation of the art form that it truly is.


Essays Related to The True Hip Hop

1. Hip-Hop

... understand and get educated about the true meaning of hip-hop music. They need to know how deep hip-hop culture goes. It wasn't only rapping; it was the break dancing and dj-ing that made hip-hop. Hip-Hop is not rap; rap is a part of hip-hop. Many people, and emcees themselves have a misconception of these terms. Emcees aren't true hip-hop artists if they don't know the true meaning of hip-hop. Emcees back then features b-boys ... several mainstream debuts but still are still considered underground, and not many people heard of them or favor their contribution to hip-hop. Again they rhy...

  • Word Count: 1757
  • Approx Pages: 7
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: High School

2. Hail the Almighty Hip-Hop Community

... have a terrible obsession: money, drugs, and hos. If it was true that hip-hop had political power our society would be much different than it is now. Hip-Hop is not just a genre of music, hip-hop is a culture. People in the not only the black community, but now the entire nation represent themselves by displaying their interest in Hip-Hop. Hip-Hop is so large now that it has its own clothing lines ... a society (170). It is understandable that someone would want that for the definition because then hip-hop would have political power. However, that isn't the true definition. Political po...

  • Word Count: 1238
  • Approx Pages: 5
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: High School

3. Hip Hop Aid

... American leaders belong. These African American leaders initially underestimated the true impact of the culture. "Disillusioned with the attack on civil rights and the ever-present shortcomings of social integration, they failed to identify hip hop as the cultural complement to the new movement they struggled to launch." (Tyson P.4) Hip-hop really was never given a chance to become something ... the hip-hop culture should be viewed negatively. Anything that has become successful and a positive influence in today's society have been neutered positively at its start giving it a chance to be...

  • Word Count: 1557
  • Approx Pages: 6
  • Grade Level: High School

4. White Participation in Hip-Hop

... about "black rage", it is clear that the main selling point of Hip-hop culture is the appeal that it brings to the mainstream society in terms of the way it can shape identities. This turns rappers and those who are true to the original culture of Hip-hop from prophets to profits. White participation in Hip-hop has contributed to the exploitation of black music as a source of profit and ... mass conformity. In the documentary, "The Tanning of America", director Spike Lee mentions the fact that even though the hip-hop industry has made multi-million dollars, the white executives hold con...

  • Word Count: 2033
  • Approx Pages: 8
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

5. What is Hip Hop

... now let us concentrate on the on the music aspect of modern hip hop. What we call hip hop music can be a very controversial issue. Original hip hop music consisted of breaks, beats, and scratches; all of which required a DJ. Modern hip hop often does not include the DJ because hip hop beats are computerized a lot of the time. The controversial issue is whether or not modern hip hop should be called true hip hop. Some argue that rap is ... not always hip hop because rap is simply words ... ...

  • Word Count: 1343
  • Approx Pages: 5
  • Grade Level: High School

6. The Corporate Assault on Hip Hop

... be marked by urban street life".(Rose 2008) Although stories of street life were familiar, the tales of drug dealing, gang activity, violence, and misogyny in this new form of hip hop music became the definition of the true urban lifestyle, which for whites, translated into the real black experience. More significantly, black artists who rapped about a manufactured gang lifestyle were expected ... to represent themselves as authentic in this manner. The "keeping it real" rhetoric is also a scapegoat for ... 1997:129,130). This period passed off the gangster, ghetto, violent, sexist, and...

  • Word Count: 2443
  • Approx Pages: 10
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

7. Hip-hop's Culture

... their listeners." At times some artists may even feel pressured to make songs that their listeners will like. This is displayed when Andre 3000, member of the Grammy award winning group Outkast, raps on the song "Elevators." "True I got more fans than average man/ But not enough loot to last me/ to da end of da week/ I live by da beat like you ... not remain controversial. Violence and negativity will cease to be an associate of the hip-hop culture as long as organizations such as the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network and Hip-Hop 4 Peace continue to take positive steps toward redefining hip...

  • Word Count: 2526
  • Approx Pages: 10
  • Grade Level: High School

8. American Hip-Hop X

... , is the fact that Hollywood was the first DJ to create true rap lyrics. All of Hollywood's predecessors, including those aforementioned, only created beats and melodies, not linking words to the tunes. Hollywood, on the other hand, interwove simple rhymes to the music he created, giving rise to what we know today as rap music. After the revolutionary innovation of Hollywood in 1975, the world of hip-hop took off ... an important step in the world of rap by creating the term "hip-hop": "I said a hip hop The hippie, the hippie to the hip hip hop And you don't stop the rock it to the Bang ...

  • Word Count: 2030
  • Approx Pages: 8
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: High School

9. The Hip-Hop Movement

... are clothing lines, shoes, movies and television shows having to do with a hip-hop, and even cologne and perfume. I believe Hip-hop has changed dramatically since it originated in the early 70's. It has went from a way to express ones feelings into a business that is all about the money. There is some true and original hip-hop around today but it is rare and today most songs are about ... drugs, violence, and mistreating women. Also most people associated with hip-hop are only about making ... money. I believe that hip-hop is not done changing yet and maybe it will climb back up to ......

  • Word Count: 1204
  • Approx Pages: 5
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: High School

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