1750 word music class

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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

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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 producers in the rap music world in 2005. So, this is how the rap culture has emerged

and evolved in the US by the multicultural exchange between Afro-Americans and the

immigrants from the Caribbean.

According to Berry, V., and Rose, T., 1996, hip hop has become a culture now, which is

not just limited to be music genre, but it has also been associated with culture as the social and

political culture of America has been influenced by it over the periods of past few decades. Hip

hop music has overall impacted the black community by uplifting them and giving them a sort of

platform to put their grievances. It has been known that America is a society that is broadly

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divided on a racial and ethnic basis. In the context of the black community, people of color in the

US have always been oppressed, and their rights have been undermined within the social,

political, and economic structure of American society. The point is this community has not been

mainstreamed and broadly accepted by mainstream society. This is also one of the main reasons

that opponents of hip-hop culture argue that this music genre has disrupted the social fabric of

society by promoting violence and aggression. However, a platform to the black community in

America has been given in the form of hip hop culture, and a voice to the unheard voices has

been granted under the umbrella of hip hop culture. Hip-hop culture has been a crucial outlet for

the black community as it has played its part in making the people of color a significant part of

American society, thereby benefiting society as a whole.

Moreover, pop culture has given identity to the marginalized community, which has been

mainly neglected by mainstream American society. By creating awareness among the public, pop

culture has transformed society, as people have become more conscious about their rights. That

is to say; people have started demanding their (at least) basic human rights from the state. The

irony of the deprivation of rights of the colored people by the state can be best understood by the

recent example of a black American who has been killed by a white policeman by choking to

death. This incident led to the emergence of the Black Lives Matter Movement, which is known

to be a sister-movement of the Civil Rights Movement. One can infer from such incidents that if

American society is polarized and divided to this much level in the contemporary world that the

lives of black people are not safe even from the security providers, then what could be their

situation in the earlier history of the USA. Thereby, one can assume the extent through this

particular incident of how rights of Afro-Americans have been ignored and have been suppressed

by the state. However, hip-pop culture has given them the opportunity to get up and speak up for

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their rights. Hip-hop culture has given voice to their concerns, and now rap music has been

spread all across the world, particularly midland Europe. The point is it has become worldwide

known that blacks are not mainstreamed in American society. Thereby, it can be said that society

is being transformed by the hip-pop culture, which is a positive impact of hip-hop culture that it

has brought the black community together on one platform to be more vocal about their

grievances and concerns.

In the late Nineteenth-Century, extensive social changes have been marked in the culture

of America. The aptest example that can be quoted here is the influential trends that took place in

the nineties centers concerning the evolution of hip hop culture. Its history can be traced back to

the consciousness of the black community in the US. Besides, Clay A., 2003 stated that rap

music vis-à-vis hip hop culture could be characterized by the direct response to the social

inequalities against the colored men in society. These people turned their discontent into a

musical expression to restructure social opportunities and social attitudes. Besides, the inception

of musical movement has been seen in the late Eighties; however, the real force against

oppression by the musical wave has been attributed to the hip hop culture in the Nineties.

Despite the controversies over the legitimacy of the music concerning vulgar lyrics, the national

movement in the form of hip hop culture led the entire community to uplift the oppressed and

marginalized strata of the society. Thereby, bringing unity among the same groups, the rap music

and hip hop culture has brought them together to stand for their social rights so that they could

become a valuable part of the society.

Another positive impact of hip-hop culture was the promotion of social awareness. That

is to say, proponents of hip-hop culture tried to mitigate the effects of the social mobility that

was being biased towards black and other marginalized sections of the society. They promoted

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the message hip hop was not just simple entertainment; rather, it was the major part of the

present-day identity networks based on poverty, violence, capitalist accumulation, blackness,

power, and resistance. According to Pyatak, E. and Muccitelli, L., 2011, music in the form of rap

has been known as a powerful technique to engender social awareness throughout the history of

the USA. At the same time, music represents ideals, trends, conditions of society and inspires

attitudinal progression along with social change. So, it can be said that hip hop in the US has

been recognized as a blend of fiction and reality that rap music has become a notable response to

the condition of social inequality such as joblessness, poverty, disempowerment. Thereby, the

widened popularity of hip hop culture has been recognized as a social revolution in American

society during the Nineties. The marginalized communities have been able to develop

consciousness about their rights, and they out rightly conveyed their grievances in the form of

music against discrimination prevalent in society. Thus, one can say that hip hop has brought a

social change in American society by making people cognizant about their rights, ultimately

leading to a social change.

Another most important positive influence of the hip-hop culture was that it had

redefined the cultural norms. In the past, it has been observed that rights were granted to the

black community in the US in the wake of the Civil Rights Movement. The Civil Rights

Movement refers to the advocacy of the rights for the black community and abolition of slavery

from the American society. However, Afro-Americans were left behind that in this movement,

and now it has become a serious challenge for them that how would they continue fighting for

their rights and how would they determine the subtle forms of discrimination based on races and

ethnicity. It has given the Character-Ethic precedence over the Personality-Ethic to establish a

trustworthy social relationship. Berry, V. and Rose, T., 1996 stated that the changes that were

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made in the social climate were notably confusing because black nationalists had been vocal to

identify the significance of Black culture and identity for its political struggle. Moreover,

hip-hop proponents have used Black Nationalism to fight for the rights of the colored people that

were left unchecked in the Civil Rights Movement. Thereby, one can say that by redefining

racism and by creating a balance between black rights and individuality, the hip-hop culture has

given a new shape to the cultural norms by regarding people of color as important public figures

and by establishing the new modes of learning and social interaction. It does not deny the fact

that hip hop has been recognized as a strong national movement that prevailed in the US which

provided vocals to that section of society who was oppressed and marginalized. There is a school

of thought that believes hip-hop music represents violence and aggression.

According to Shecter, J., and Mayes, D., 1988, it inherently represents vulgarity,

chauvinism, and profanity that are not a credible method of productive social reform. It is also

believed that an imagined community was formed by the members of the hip-hop nation that was

less based on realization and had been posing a threat to national integration. They argued that

any attempt to promote this notion was an act of rebellion against society. So, this stance by the

opponents of the hip-hop culture was an attempt to undermine the cause and intention of the

movement, thereby hurting the effects of hip-hop culture.

To sum up, it may be said that hip-hop culture has positively impacted American society.

Hip-hop music has transformed society by the mere method of advertisement and awareness

promotion into a formidable cultural force to construct the identity of both an individual and a

community. Across the country, people of color who were identified with rap music had been

informed by it a medium through which they share a national culture. People, particularly the

colored ones, have incorporated rap music and hip hop culture into their daily lives. Moreover,

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hip-hop culture has brought a social revolution in the social sphere by giving identities to young

men and women belonging to Afro-American groups. Moreover, hip-hop culture has redefined

the cultural norms by creating conciseness about rights among the oppressed sections of

American society. It became the medium to express the voice against hatred, discrimination,

violence and social evils and therefore, it can be said to be a platform to raise awareness among

the common masses through the medium of art. The opponents of hip-hop culture tagged it as

promoting violence and that is has been undermining national integration because of the vulgar

lyrics and aggressive tone of rap music. Critics exist for any form of art or music, and therefore,

nothing can be declared ultimate success.

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Work Cited

Berry, V. and Rose, T., 1996. Black Noise: Rap Music and Black Culture in Contemporary

America. ​American Music​, 14(2), p.231.

Berry, V. and Rose, T., 1996. Black Noise: Rap Music and Black Culture in Contemporary

America. ​American Music​, 14(2), p.231.

Clay, A., 2003. Keepin' it Real. ​American Behavioral Scientist​, 46(10), pp.1346-1358.

Complex, 2021. ​The Best Hip-Hop Producer Alive, Every Year Since 1979​. [online] Complex.

Available at: <https://www.complex.com/music/best-hip-hop-producers> [Accessed 27

February 2021].

Pyatak, E. and Muccitelli, L., 2011. Rap Music as Resistive Occupation: Constructions of Black

American Identity and Culture for Performers and their Audiences. ​Journal of

Occupational Science​, 18(1), pp.48-61.

Shecter, J. and Mayes, D., 1988. ​The Source Mind Squad: A Serious Critique of Hip Hop​. New

York, pp.72-73.