Original Form Of Rap Music example essay topic

Hip-hop culture developed during the seventies. Throughout its formation, the various elements were at some time or another, deemed unacceptable. Graffiti artists faced jail sentences, break dancing became illegal in some areas, and rap music has been severely criticized for various reasons. These elements were never analyzed in an oppositional manner until recently, however.

Hip-hop culture represented the claiming of urban communities by the residents. Writers decorated the empty walls of their communities in an attempt to personalize their surroundings. They also painted trains, which traveled to other communities, and in this sense they developed a living and moving art form. Break dancing claimed space simply because it utilized community space for the performance of a culture specific dance form. Finally, DJing and Ming claimed public space because the main stage for performance was often local parks where they would throw parties for the community. "The power was supplied by the city unknowingly as community members discovered ways in which they could tap into the city's power boxes at no expense to themselves" (Sho mari, 45).

Therefore, the development of hip-hop culture was inherently oppositional. Rap music now viewed as an area for political debate by many, did not begin with this in mind. Rap music was developed by DJs, who used two of the same records and looped the break beats of the record, which then allowed the beat to be extended infinitely. They also used the record for "scratching". Scratching is defined as "rapidly moving the record back and forth under the needle to create rap's famous swishing sound" (Small, 12). As the DJ developed the break beat and began to incorporate it into parties, the role of the MC arose.

At first the role of the MC, or master of ceremony, was to interact with the crowd by speaking off the top of his head and sometimes rhyming. Soon MCs started competing with each other over who had the most skills at rhyming and hyping the crowd. The original form of rap music was not ground for political expression but rather an arena for entertainment and competition. Rap music, as well as graffiti, eventually moved into the political sphere with the appearance of groups such as Boogie Down Productions and Public Enemy.

Very few issues were left untouched, however as one may assume, issues related to the Black community were predominant. Rap was used as a means of expressing ideas and realities with the hope of educating the listener. As the rappers moved into this arena, they faced many contradictions within the hip-hop community and society as a whole. KRS-One, for example, released many songs about unity in the Black community, education, and peace.

Perhaps the most famous was the song, "Stop the Violence". Yet once after the release of these songs, KRS-One rushed the stage of a PM Dawn show and pushed the lead MC off stage for a remark he had made previously (Nelson, 104). The infamous 2-Pac released a song called "I Get Around" which is self-explanatory. He then released a song called "Keep Ya Head Up" which discussed the treatment of African American women by African American men and issues of respect. The two songs completely contradicted themselves, as did the actions of KRS-One. It is impossible to explain why they did what they did without speaking to them personally but people must understand that rap did begin as a form of entertainment, which often spoke of random topics.

People must also understand that presently, many rappers are classified as political although this may not have been their intention. From it's beginning, rap endured a lot of hostility from listeners. Many, but not all, white found the music too harsh, monotonous, and lacking in traditional melodic values. However, millions of others often, though not always, young African-Americans from underprivileged inner city backgrounds, found an immediate connection with the style. Here was poetry of the street, directly reflecting and addressing the day to day reality of the ghetto in a stimulating fashion not found in any other music or medium. "You could dance to it, rhyme to it, bring it most anywhere on portable cassette players, and, in the best rock 'n' roll tradition, form your own band without much in the way of formal training" (Small, 177).

Another contradiction facing rap music is commercialization. Commercialization is normally associated with negative effects yet it has enlarged the rap audience greatly. As a result, commercialization has increased revenue for artists and labels. It has also resulted in increased funding for the production of rap, as well as, funding for independent labels that sign groups that may not get signed by major labels. Commercialization has taken hip-hop out of urban areas and placed it in the lap of suburban America.

Suburban America has obviously eaten it alive. For example, seventy percent of gangsta rap is purchased by white suburban youth (Rose, 43). This presents another contradiction facing rap music. Gangsta rap discusses issues which are culture specific or that deal with a specific socialization. How are youth from the suburbs relating to these messages when they have probably never encountered a situation that the rappers discuss? Their fascination may be a result of MTV, BET and popular radio.

The rap videos, which receive regular rotation on MTV, BET and the radio, are from the gangsta rap genre. A complete picture of hip-hop is never presented. This therefore limits exposure and explains stereotypes of rap as only violent and sexist. As a result of commercialization, a strong underground hip-hop culture has emerged. Although financial rewards are important to everyone, some rappers have chosen to maintain the integrity of their music rather than producing music that popular culture demands. This underground is responsible for maintaining hip-hop and disallowing its fade into popular culture.

As hip-hop and rap music continue to grow in popular appeal, a distinct line is being formed separating true hip-hop from commercialized hip hop. The previous is reclaiming its historical legacy while the concluding is, as with other genres of popular music, awaiting its eventual replacement with the hottest new music commodity. There has recently been, over the past several years, a major increase in the release and production of highly commercialized rap videos. It seems as if rap as a whole is falling towards the black hole of popular culture.

Not to say that popular culture is all bad but all you ever see in gang tsa rap videos now is money, cars, babes and the commodities that only "they" have. The rapper Jermaine Dupr is had a song with the name of "Money Aint a Thang", and just the name says it all. Throughout the video there is a car chase and they are throwing money out of the car singing " Money Aint a Thang". This is only touching on how money plays a role in the rap industry. Gangsta rap may have been in a lot of the headlines in recent years, but the field of rap as a whole remains diverse and not as dominated by the shoot-'em-up mini dramas of gangsta rap, as many would have you believe. As with all kinds of music, the more popular it becomes, the more likely you are to find both good and bad sides.

But the positive side of rap greatly outweighs the negative. And its positive messages seem to be spreading. The number of new rappers that grows everyday will bring about new forms of rap and constant changes on the "old school" versions of the music. With these new versions and variations comes new fans and renewed faith from old fans. Regardless of how many rap artists land in jail or end up dead, this music will live on.

The fans will make sure of it..