Analytical Reference in Hip-Hop Culture Essay

Introduction

Hip-hop culture originated in the 1970s as an underground urban movement known that began to develop in the Bronx, New York City. The culture's main components were Rap, Break Dancing, and Graffiti and were started by Clive Campbell from Jamaica. The culture belonged to the poor people in town and thus originated from the slum areas of the Bronx which was mostly dominated by the black Americans. In the beginning, hip-hop was associated with poverty and low class in the society as the Native Americans viewed it as mere madness. When discussing the culture of hip-hop, it is therefore very prudent to take into consideration its origin, and how it has evolved over time to become one of the best music in the world. Regardless of the prevailing conditions, hip-hop has emerged to be one of the best cultures in the world which are presently enjoyed by a very big population in the world.

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Hip-hop and race

Research shows that hip-hop culture has been part of the African American cultures which has existed against all odds. From interviews and observations, statistics shows that hip-hop has been on an upward trend, during the interest of many people including the Native Americans who initially opposed the culture citing that it was meant for the low-class citizens. From its invention in the 1970s by DJ Campbell, hip-hop has attracted various artists and dancers whose fame can never be underestimated. Some of these artists include; 2pac, Jay-Z, Lil Wayne and Rick Ross (Armstrong, 2012)

From the list above, most of the hip-hop artists are African Americans whose livelihood deeply depend on music. Most people had stereotyped the hip-hop culture with cult and drugs. They claimed that the hip-hop stars are drug warlords whose lives are ruined due to the use of hard drugs such as cannabis, heroin, and cocaine. However, the allegations have been proved to be baseless since hip hop culture is just like other cultures. From the time the culture began, it has attracted various artists from all the corners of the world hence shadowing the initial notion that the culture was only meant for the black Americans (niggas).

Hip-hop and gender

Basically, the hip-hop culture has been associated with men for quite a long time. The trend went on for over 20 years and started to change in the 1990s when some female artists joined the culture and started rocking as their male counterparts. Some of these female hip-hop artists include; Niki Minaj, Missy Elliot, Lil' Kim, Beyonce among others. The female have thus excelled so well in hip-hop such that presently, the culture is said to be very inclusive of all the genders (Boyce, 2008)

Methodology and results

In real life, there are several research methods which researchers can explore in order to get adequate data for analysis. For the study above, the methodology that I used involved direct interview and observation. The interview that I conducted involved holding sessions with some upcoming African American hip-hop artists since it was very hard to get the hip-hop celebrities whose personal assistance cited insecurity issues. The interviews were well conducted and from the sessions, a number of issues came up. Some of the issues which the interviewee reveal were the following;

He revealed to us that over a long period of time, hip-hop culture has been associated with crime. Most people including the government strongly believed that the hip-hop culture entails a culture of criminal life since most of the hip-hop artists ailed from slums or low life areas.

Apart from the crime, he told me that hip-hop culture is dominated by the African Americans since its origin was from low living set up. However, he noted that the trend in that kind notion had since changed since most whites adopted the hip-hop culture and are therefore presently treated as a global culture for the haves.

He also divulged that gender used to be an issue in hip-hop culture in about 3 decades but nowadays it doesn't exist since the culture treat both sexes equally without discrimination.

Apart from the physical interviews, another method that I used to collect the data during this research was through direct observation of the behavior of the hip-hop starts and their wording. The observation revealed that the hip-hop culture has similar behavior regardless of where they come from. Their rap style, music lines, and dancing shows a similar trend.

The results obtained from interviews and observation indicates that hip-hop as a culture started on a very low note in the 1970s but spread very fast across the world within a very short period of time. Research further shows that hip-hop enjoys a massive following of 40% of the world population. The research means that hip-hop has been rated as one of the best music without boundary and hence giving it the popularity (Leal, 2012)

Conclusion

Hip-hop culture is one of the cultures which have attracted several artists over time hence gaining much popularity. The culture's origin has been criticized hence making most people believe that the culture belonged to the low and poor people in the society in the 20th century. However, the allegations have since been disapproved since it has emerged that hip-hop culture is one of those cultures with many followers in the world. Research further reveals that hip-hop music and dances are one of the most interesting music and dances in the world.

References

Armstrong, A. B. (2012). The Japanese "ghetto-gangsta": Searching for prestige in Kansai hip-hop performance.

Boyce, D. C. (2008). Encyclopedia of the African Diaspora: Origins, experiences, and culture. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO.

Leal, M. V. (2012). Chempa, showing, media, Tampa, cheap (to paint, to scratch, to dance, to flow, to unite): The Native American experience in the Hip Hop world. Davis, CA: University of California, Davis.