Essay Example - NBA YoungBoy's Harmonious Hip-Hop: Breaking Stereotypes and Uniting Fans

Contemporary hip-hop music has risen to resist traditional modes of music. Featuring young, conventional, digitized singing and performance, this type of music has gained more popularity, especially in the young generation than any other known music genre. Hip-hop music has also come out as the music that accentuates a lot of creativity. Whether in the recorded version or live performance, hip-hop artists tend to add their creativity to any work they do. In this regard, it is important to understand how one can analyze this genre of music by looking at different dynamics, including an artist's performance and the general effect on the view of a music genre

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2020 has been a relatively concert-less year owing to the outset and fast-paced spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. Many of this year's performances have primarily comprised drive-in shows that occurred some months back. However, this was not the case when NBA YoungBoy hit the stage in Orlando, Florida. Kentrell DeSean Gaulden, famously known by his stage name NBA YoungBoy, has been active in the hip-hop music industry for more than half a decade. YoungBoy has already won the hearts of many hip-hop fans as a young rapper, both in his concerts and online media. By 2016 he had already risen to be one of the coveted mainstream hip-hop artists.

Hip-hop music is often associated with lots of violence, feuds, dingy profanity, and actions. Although YoungBoy is sometimes viewed differently from other hip-hop artists, he has forged links with charity and, in many cases, spotted assisting people in his locality – his case is not different. The rapper has often engaged in feuds with other artists, including Lil Durk and Daniel Hernandez (also known as 6ix9ine). Consequently, many will agree that YoungBoy is a suitable subject for hip-hop music analysis because he depicts a hip-hop artist's many different characteristics.

On December 5, 2020, NBA YoungBoy staged a fantastic performance in Orlando. The performance was his first since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. The music concert rated 18+, had the tickets go for about $80, and attracted many hip-hop fans, who gathered together to celebrate this performance after months of staying on lockdown due to Covid-19. The event was one of the scheduled Men's Closet Anniversary Party.

In this concert, YoungBoy performed most of his hit songs, including Around, Dirty Stick, Dead Trollz, Murder Business, Drug Addiction, Cross Roads, and Red Eye (Street Fame Forever. The most touching moment in this event was when the artist performed Quando Rondo's End of The Story. The revelers appeared excited at the move since, back in 2018, Rando and YoungBoy's security teams were involved in an altercation. The decision to perform this song highlighted YoungBoy's brave step to show that music is not all about feuds, as observed in many hip-hop scenarios.

Hip-hop music is usually characterized by an accentuated stage with lots of flashy strobes and disco lights. YoungBoy's performance was not different. The raised platform marked with many color-changing lights gave the revelers an excellent view of the whole concert, with the lights shifting to fit the mood of the song performed. Still, the performance introduced a new thing rarely seen in hip-hop. The revelers decided to light up the atmosphere using their phones' flashlights (Street Fame Forever). Apart from depicting solidarity, this act showed love and harmony in the hip-hop music industry.

In hip-hop, the main difference between an artist's live performance and their recorded songs is normally the tone. For instance, during the performance, YoungBoy sang in a high-toned voice, whereas he often used a shallow tone in the studio version. Generally, hip-hop artists are fond of adding creativity to everything they do. For instance, as noted in YoungBoy's performance, the artist added some words that were not in the songs' original versions. Besides, in other cases, he made the music sound different from the original.

YoungBoy's concert indicated that he and Rondo two no longer had a misunderstanding and that they had forgotten the past and hence could work together in a friendly way. While I may not be a staunch hip-hop fan, YoungBoy's performance proved that no matter how bad the situations may appear or how critical the relationship between people may appear, there is always a brighter side to everything. I learned that if people can decide to put their differences aside and come together in one accord, they can achieve more than their expectations.

In brief, the performance was an amazing experience. While hip-hop music shares links with many unbecoming behaviors such as smoking, feuds, drugs, robbery, and weapons, NBA YoungBoy's performance in Orlando highlighted something different. Certainly, the words used in most of the hip-hop music lyrics are dirty, and in no situation can an individual imagine that hip-hop can bring solidarity. Still, YoungBoy, through his performance, brought out something rarely seen in this genre. Above all the misunderstandings and fear surrounding the COVID-19-infested world, the artist proved that hip-hop music could bring people together in solidarity, peace, and harmony.

Works Cited

Street Fame Forever. “Live Concert NBA YoungBoy.” YouTube, 6 Dec 2020, www.youtube.com/watch?v=MUlKUGwkSm0.