Hip-hop has had some huge impacts on society and culture, some good and some bad and I believe that hip-hop won’t die out like punk but instead will continue to prosper.
Hip Hop music has been used to support social issues. I don’t believe anyone would have imagined in the 1960’s when Hip Hop was originating in New York, that it would someday have a role in politics and presidential elections. The use of Hip Hop in supporting social issues has been recognized, even by presidential candidates. Ben Carson used an Eminem song, “Lose Yourself”, to declare his entrance into the 2016 presidential race. He had a choir from his hometown of Detroit perform the song. (Burney, Lawrence) Other political figures, such as Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump have also used references to Hip Hop to relate to the people they want votes from. Donald Trump was seen on “Saturday Night Live” creating his own version of Drake’s song, “Hotline Bling”. Hillary Clinton was seen on the “Ellen” show doing the Nae Nae and dabbing. (Burney, Lawrence) Rappers have tried to bring into light social issues such as racism, classism and poverty and I believe politicians realize that their audience listens to this music and agrees with the themes. (Whitt, Greg & Reid-Cleveland, Keith)
The rappers have a huge audience and the ability to speak to today’s young audience about the inequalities they find in society. This type of music has turned into a global form of statement for rappers. As Chuck D, of Public Enemy stated in a 2005 interview, “We were coming out of the black community with this thing called rap music, which was basically black men yelling at the top of their lungs about what we liked and what we didn’t like.” (Whitt, Greg & Reid-Cleveland, Keith)
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Hip Hop is a culture which includes not only music but fashion, art, dance and language. The Hip Hop culture has also influenced style of fashion. In the 80s, baggy pants were the trend. In the early 2000s started the trend of the practical men’s clothing such as sheepskin coats, car coats, mock turtlenecks, sneakers and caps. Other less practical items such as oversized belts with initials, gold jewelry, fat sneakers laces and oversized eyeglasses were seen as fashion statements among rappers and fans. Women rappers like Lil’ Kim and Foxy Brown wore sexy clothing while performing. Women’s Hip Hop fashion showed similarity to those performing. Women took to sporting Louis Vuitton bags, name chains and flashy jewelry. The clothing for some was bra tops, short tops, skirts and jeans. (Hip Hop Fashion Lewis, Van Dyk)
The Hip Hop culture has affected the art world. Graffiti which is associated with the Hip Hop culture is said to have been started in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in the late 1960s. New York City embraced this practice quickly. Names and nicknames started to show up on buildings, subway cars, buses and tunnels. Although the MTA spent millions of dollars in trying to remove the Graffiti during the 1970s through the 1980s, it was ineffective. Some of the train cars looked dirtier than ever. You can see today that the practice has not been abandoned and is actually flourishing. You can see this type of art all over the city on walls, sidewalks and garbage cans. This type of art has reached global portions and can also be seen in and on the streets of Tokyo and Paris. What started out as an eye sore to some is now in books, magazines, art museums and art galleries. (graffiti-and-street-art)
The Hip Hop culture has affected dance as well. The late 1960s and early 1970s brought its own style of dance to go along with the Hip Hop music being listened to. People who did not have any professional dance training used their natural aptitude for movement to bring dancing to the streets. The complicated rhythm of the music and an African influence style of dance was what helped to create Hip Hop dancing. (Crawford, Brenna)
I believe the effect of Hip Hop has had on language has had a negative impact on language. At the beginning of Hip Hop the youth of that generation created an outlet for the hopelessness, violence and inequality the found in their neighborhoods. As Hip Hop continued the use of derogatory words and phrases began. It has been said that the lyrics of this music has a damaging effect on adolescent language and behavior. (Lahiri, Prapanna) I believe it desensitizes younger children to the hurtful nature of some words used in the lyrics of rap songs.
Hip-hop is growing day by day and is currently the most listened to music genre in the United States. In 2017, according to Nielsen Music year end report, for the first time ever R&B/Hip Hop had overtaken rock music as the largest music category in the United States. (Ryan, Patrick) “Eight of the 10 most listened to artists of the year came from the R&B/hipho-p genre, led by Drake, with 4.8 million album equivalent units (combined album sales, song downloads and streams), and Kendrick Lamar (3.7 million).” (Ryan, Patrick)
“Hip Hop dominated the charts in 2017. Many newcomers, like Cardi B spent many weeks on of Billboards Hot 100. Four out of 5 Grammy nominees for album of year in 2017 were for R & B and Hip-Hop artists.” (Ryan, Patrick)
Hip Hop was able to endure changes and come on top. Although there were criticisms in the changes of style, lyrics and accusations of people “selling out”, it actually helped Hip Hop by giving rap artists standards to uphold. (Hess, Mickey – p. 159) I believe those criticisms helped in making Hip Hop the most listened to genre and continuing to be loyal to it’s origins.
The Punk culture was too exclusive. The exclusiveness is one of the reasons I believe Hip Hop will continue to flourish whereas Punk has seemed to fade away. It actually seems that the Punk rocker’s self-sabotaged their own movement. The culture they developed tried to discourage new listeners to experience their music. That unreceptive mood helped in the fall of Punk. The Punk culture had too many rules for it’s participants and it didn’t welcome successful subgenres. “In the 1190s, punks declared they weren’t willing to welcome pop-punk musicians such as Green Day and Blink 182.” (Schmidt, Rodney)
Punk music had some similarity with Hip Hop in that it was music that fought against certain themes such as the political climate or status quo. Hip Hop music unlike Punk music changed and evolved overtime. That is why I believe that Hip Hop will continue to flourish unlike Punk.
I believe the trend of activism in Hip Hop will continue while the promotion of violence will decline.. “In a study conducted by Western Connecticut State University, it was put to the test of whether or not young people listening to rap music causes violent behavior. Eleven participants watched a violent music video, eleven watched a non violent music video, while eleven didn’t watch any music videos, which acted as a control group. This “violent” music video contained aggressive behavior, degradation towards women, and had violent lyrics. It was found that those who watched the violent music video acted more violently afterwards when asked questions about hypothetical scenarios regarding women,families, and morals (Tropeano 2006).”
In another research article entitled: Violence in Hip-Hop Journalism: A Content Analysis of the Source, A Leading Hip-Hop Magazine, the conclusion was formed that their “Findings suggest that The Source Magazine and possibly other hip-hop entertainment venues are a potential source of mediated modeling for violent behaviors.” (Oredein T) The research found that individuals can learn, by proxy through seeing others perform certain behaviors and receive rewards or punishments, this will make the individual more or less likely to act on the modeled behavior. This can especially influence young people who look up to celebrities and people in the media. It can lead young people to change their appearance, attitudes and values to be more like these celebrities and media personalities. (Oredein T)
I believe that with evidence such as this, the promotion of violence in lyrics will decline. If Hip Hop and “rap” music really want to promote activism and help with important issues such as poverty, equal rights and violence in neighborhoods they will not continue to promote violent messages in their music and make it clearer that they are rapping regarding violence but not promoting violence. I believe that Hip-Hop music can explain situations and rap about violence and issues that are important without the promotion of violent actions. With more and more evidence and research into the link with Hip-Hop and violence, I believe that the trend of activism in Hip Hop is in its roots and will continue and the promotion of violence will decline.
Hip-hop has had some huge impacts on society and culture, some good and some bad and I believe that hip-hop won’t die out like punk but instead will continue to prosper. The impact of Hip Hop on society in bringing attention to social issues is commendable. I believe this will continue and has positive effects and bring about changes in society. The promotion of violence in Hip Hop music which I do not believe anyone wants, is being brought into light and will change. Hip-Hop has continued to evolve and change through time and I believe will continue to prosper unlike Punk music. Hip-Hop is the most popular music in the United States which could never have been said about Punk.
