Week 10: Essay #2 (final hip hop definition)

Week 2: Hip Hop Wars

Student’s Name

University’s Name

Course Title

Date

Hip hop wars

The two authors, Dr. Gates Jr and Dr. Rose base their writing on historical facts on hip hop music's origin and purpose. They found on facts that hip hop music, in the beginning, was a form of art, and they argue out that this is still the case. Dr. Gates Jr writes that the Dozens and Toasts (earlier names of rap music) were first and foremost forms of art, and everyone in the barbershops and the streets knew this. He also writes that rapping was a performance that was evaluated by judges, and these judges were people in the corner of the shop. Dr. Gates, Jr brings out the fact that hip hop music developed in the streets, and even though much has changed, the originality of hip hop music still holds even amid these changes criticized by the opposing side. Dr. Rose writes about the fact that gangsters, hustlers, street crimes, and vernacular sex insults were part of hip hop storytelling long before promoting this genre by the recording industry. She tries to show that gangsters and hustlers are not new developments but have existed from the time hip hop originated.

According to Dr. Gates Jr, hip hop music's content is taken to be crass and pornographic by some members of society. He says that hip hop songs' lyrics are considered to encourage the shattering of taboos, stereotypes, and risqué language. He takes a case where he was called to testify in court in a matter of a particular group of black men whose lyrics had been considered cast and pornographic. On the other hand, it tries to compare what the critics and the defenders of hip hop say about hip hop music. The critics say that hip hop causes violence, hurts black people, demeans women, and is the source of destruction to American values. According to her, this war's defense side says that the musicians are just keeping real and that hip hop is not responsible for sexism. From Dr. Rose’s writing, the criticism on hip hop seems to be severe.

The two pieces share one thing in common they both try to defend hip-hop music. Both articles look at what the critics have said about hip hop music. They try to justify the fact that hip hop music is not what the critics say about it and that the factors that the opposing sides criticize are just the nature of hip hop music. Dr. Gates Jr justifies hip hop music by saying that rap draws its strength by shattering taboos, sending up the stereotype, and relishing risqué language and subject matter. Similarly, Dr. Rose defends hip hop artists by saying that problems facing commercial hip hops today are not caused by individual rappers alone. She says if a focus of one rapper is done, we miss the forest for the trees. However, I find Dr. Rose’s article more detailed and easy to draw information from.

The debate

In this debate, my thought is that, yes, commercialized gangster music attributed to hip hop has affected society, but is hip hop the source of community degradation? I believe not. The critics say that the use of some words in the lyrics of hip-hop music is morally degrading but let’s remember that we all have different ways of expressing ourselves. The hip hop musicians feel that they can express themselves better through some words like 'bitches'. The target audience better understands the meaning of these words in the context they have used. The use of a single word like that should not blame hip hop music for degradation in society. If one is to pay attention and understand the lyrics, some hip hop lyrics are positive in that they encourage work and hustle. So, in my opinion, it is untrue and out of logic to say that hip hop music does not enhance society and degrades it.

References

Chuck, D., & Gates Jr, H. L. (2010). The Anthology of Rap. Yale University Press.

Rose, T. (2008). The hip hop wars: What we talk about when we talk about hip hop--and why it matters. Civitas Books.