Research Paper on Hip Hop Culture and Its Influence on Black Community and American Politics

Introduction

Music is a reflection of cultural and societal changes in musicians' respective communities (Gallien 2). Musicians have the role of using musical expressions in a social reorganization, and together with their audience, they are actively engaged in attaining this goal. As a result, musicians and their artistic work influence identity formation as well as cultural patterns. However, in their artistic work, articulating multidimensional issues in a complex society, musicians together with their audience are forced to adapt to changing systems and restrictions within conflicting sets of functional, institutional and historical complexes (Gallien 2).

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

Hip-music is one of the musical genres which faces similar restrictions, praises, criticism, and changes. A music genre believed to have been pioneered by Jamaican-born Kool DJ Herc in South Bronx, New York in 1973 has witnessed controversy in the recent years in the American Media (Blanchard 1). This can partly be attributed to rivalries in the industry that has seen multiple deaths such as the East Coast-West Coast rivalry that led to the deaths of Tupac Shakur and Notorious B.I.G. Blame has been directed to hip-hop for cases of youth violence as it was the case in the Littleton, Colorado school shooting (Blanchard 1).

Although this has been the case, the media has missed the message behind the violent lyrics in rap music. Therefore, there is a need to understand the rap message.

Hip-hop reflects a culture of African Americans, underrepresented, and minority ethnic group in America. This paper looks at a brief history of hip-hop music and discusses some of the significant issues it addresses. Also, it discusses the positive influence of hip-hop in shaping culture patterns in Black communities and American politics.

This essay argues that hip hop has had a positive impact on the Black American society as a channel for both artists and listeners to understand the hardships encountered while growing up in communities faces by institutional racism, violence (police brutality), low-income families and overall disparities compared to White Americans. Most rap musicians have a first-hand experience of inner-city struggles, and they use their celebrity status to influence Black youths and pioneering changes in the social and political systems.

Brief History of Hip Hop Culture and its Origins in the Black Community

Rap began as rhymes produced by DJs performing as master of ceremonies (MCs) when introducing artists and playing records at an event during the late 1960s (Blanchard 1). Such introductions caught the attention of audiences and later DJs, and MCs began to be recognized in their own right as artists. Later, DJs and MCs were joined by graffiti artists and "b-boys" (break-dancers) and together formed the hip-hop culture.

However, hip-hop culture was embraced for the most part by African Americans young, urban, and working-class. Therefore, the culture comprised mainly of traditional African American forms of music (including reggae, jazz, and gospel) and as such, hip hop shaped the culture of the black community in the 1970s until today (Blanchard 2). Since music is a reflection of the daily encounters in the life of the artist, hip hop covers mostly disparities and struggles in the black community in comparison to non-black cities.

Social Significance of Hip Hop Culture

The use of provocative and flexed lyrics has attracted a lot of criticism but has garnered the needed media coverage and attention mainly when putting on televised events. People in other parts of the country are always asking questions on the state of black communities. In the modern era of media coverage, the use of rap music has contributed positively to social, economic, and political changes. Rappers have taken the power of their performance to initiate desired changes. Issues addressed in rap lyrics include but not limited to political and social segregation, racial abuse, police brutality, and drug abuse.

One stand-out issue covered in rap songs in police brutality. When police brutality is mentioned, people are minded of the "black lives matters" among other advocacy (Blanchard 3). In "I Wonder If Heaven Got a Ghetto" by Tupac Shakur, "Alright" and "The Blacker the Berry" by Kendrick Lamar, the theme of songs is police brutality and racial injustices (Pyatak 50). In the "Good Kid," Lamar uses the red and blue colors to represent the flashing lights of the police cars. He says that every time he sees those lights, he feels the police want to kill his innocence while ignoring his purpose. He says, "lift up your shirt," a phrase commonly used by police in the black community, the police look for a tattoo and relate it to gang activities (Pyatak 52). Lamar accuses the police of not respecting nor believing there can be innocent children and youths in the mad city of Compton (Pyatak 52).

Such rap songs and musicians show that there can be innocent persons in the ghetto. Kendrick is a role model across the US to black youths as he persevered and eventually escaped the mad city. Similarly, in the "Squeeze the Trigger" Ice-T raps, "Cops hate kids, kids hate cops. Cops kill kids with warnin' shots. What is a crime, and what is not? What is justice? I think I forgot" (Pyatak, 52). Ice-T addressed racial bias in the justice system as African Americans continue to serve in prison for crimes they have not committed. Also, officers who kill Black Americans using excessive force are not incarcerated (Pyatak 52). NWA addresses similar issues in his "Fuck tha Police." He says police think that every nigger sells narcotic, and they kill teenagers on racial grounds.

Another significance of Hip Hop is the political advocacy of African Americans. Rap music is considered the voice of the poor hence the name "CNN for black people" (Blanchard 2). It covers discontents of African Americans who their lives are misrepresented and dismissed by the mainstream media. The rhyming games act as resistance towards slavery and subjugation between African Americans and their White masters. Rappers use this music genre to scrutinize political and social systems. For example, "Bre' r Rabbit tales" in which the master is a fox and the slaves the rabbit, discusses the slaves outwitting their masters. Besides, rappers use metaphors and flexed lyrics to avoid direct attack from those targeted (Blanchard 2).

However, just like reggae, rap musicians have received constant attack as critics feel they advocate for violence in solving economic, political, and social problems. Although this can be an easy interpretation, the majority of the African Americans are brought up in a culture of drugs, guns, and gangs, and as such, the content of their writing covers such experience. Therefore, when listening to songs such as "Squeeze the Trigger" by Ice-T and "Fuck tha Police," by NWA for leisure, a person may hear harsh tones, profanity but when listening critically, a person hears the cries of impoverished inner cities.

During the 2016 Grammy Awards, Kendrick Lamar was invited to stage and performed a rendition of his songs "The Blacker the Berry" and "Alright" a performance described by Catherine Dobris and Rachel Davidson as, "a blunt appraisal of racism in America, making direct causal links between historical enslavement of people of color and contemporary violence in U.S. cities" (Davidson & Dobris 116). Lamar entered the stage with a chain gang accompanied by fellow black men (slaves) in his band in jail cells setting.

He directed the attention of the audience to his chain and handcuffs when he began rapping "The Blacker the Berry." The New York Times described the performance as "a vehement, multilevel blast against 'modern day slavery' "(Pareles 1) while CNN reported that "The 28-year-old rapper's hue and cry was received as an authentic representation of what many black people from blighted areas, as well as those who have the means to live elsewhere, still feel: America is not for them" (McAfee 1).

Conclusion

Hip Hop has had and continues to have a positive influence on African Americans and American society as a whole. It provides an alternative to understanding drug use, police brutality, gang activity, and a resource to understand discrimination in American political systems. Rappers who were able to overcome struggles in the inner cities act as role models for those living in such settings and have no one to push for their rights. Whether there is positive or negative controversy surrounding rap music, rappers address issues they have the first-hand experience. Therefore, it is crucial to listen keenly to rap song to understand the underlying message the rappers are telling.

Works Cited

Blanchard, Becky." The Social Significance of Rap & Hip-Hop Culture." Poverty & Prejudice: Media and Race, 1999, web.stanford.edu/class/e297c/poverty_prejudice/mediarace/socialsignificance.htm. Accessed May 26, 2019.

Gallien, Louis B. "Keeping it real: Hip-hop culture and the framing of values for contemporary African-American students." Journal of College and Character, 2002, www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.2202/1940-1639.1336