The Origins of Hip Hop and it’s Influence in Our Society

By Marco Mascitti

Origins of Rap Lyricism

• There are several ideas on what the roots of Hip Hop are.

• Two likely origins are Jamaican traditions, and West African nomadic singers and poets, known as griots

• Early African American poetry and singing, such as jazz lyricism also originated from this style.

• The Dozens, an African American tradition which also originated from the griots, influenced modern Hip Hop

• Today, The Dozens has evolved into “rap battling”• Hip Hop indirectly grew from the griots, as it used

many characteristics inspired by these groups.http://worldmusic.nationalgeographic.com/view/page.basic/genre/content.genre/hip_hop_730

Early Rap

• The Hip Hop we know today comes from partying in the streets of Bronx

• In the late 1970’s, DJ Kool Herc, a Jamaican immigrant, set up turntables and mixed various genres of music, such as R&B, Soul, Funk, and Disco

• These parties and mix sessions birthed hip hop beats

• Herc’s techniques would later become known as “turntableism”

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New School

• In the mid-1980’s, artists such as Public Enemy, Run-DMC, and The Beastie Boys paved the way for Hip Hop, and gave Hip Hop a national name.

• At this time, rap lyrics contained content ranging from swanking to drug dealing (in both boastful and negative forms) and socio-political issues

• As hip hop sped into the 90’s, it would become a legendary, powerful, and dangerous influence

• The 90’s are known as rap’s “golden age”, with new rappers such as The Notorious B.I.G., Nas, 2pac, The Roots, and Bone Thugs-n-Harmony debuting

• The new school rappers were not in the least forgotten, but their work had paved the way for rise of hip hop

Lyrical Content• The lyrics of many rap

songs were highly controversial, containing drug references, violence, misogyny

• Groups such as N.W.A. and Geto Boys brought an uproar from the public, based on the gangster mentality evident in their music

• Rappers used their fame and publicity to send a message across to listeners and the world

• This message varied from gloating about getting money, women, and gangbanging

• A large influence of rap was the social issues it confronted, such as police brutality, poverty, oppression, and racism

• Often times, these issues were simply exposed to the listener

• Other times, a solution was suggested, such as rebellion, violent or non-violent

• In the cases of these groups, their solution was usually a violent “by any means necessary” attitude, which caused further controversy with their lyrics.

Social Injustice

• 2pacalypse Now By 2pac and Breaking Atoms by Main Source, were both debut albums, and exposed social issues such as racism (“Just a Friendly Game of Baseball”, “Young Black Male”), teen pregnancy and prostitution (“Brenda’s Got a Baby), violence violence (“peace is not the word to play). And police brutality (“trapped)

Hip Hop’s Influence• Some say that it’s “just music”, or that they “just listen to the beats”,

but let’s face it, Hip Hop has a huge influence to people of all races and ages

• Hip Hop exposes the lives of many poor and oppressed people, that the isolated world might not know about otherwise. However, some feel that Hip Hop misrepresents and generalizes black culture.

• Young people are the most impressionable to Hip Hop• A great dilemma that occurs with the flamboyance of rap today is

the embracement of “hood life”; should hip hop be used as a tool to steer young people away from hood life and gangs by exposing the horror of this lifestyle, or should it introduce them to a life that “guarantees” money, women, and fame; by behaving in a life-threatening way?

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Positive Influence

• Many rap songs have a straight forward positive message, and many rappers set a good example by helping in the community

• Atlanta’s Young Jeezy runs a program called Toyz N The Hood which donates toys to underprivileged children

• Brooklyn's Jay-Z worked with the U.N. to provide good water to African towns

• T.I.’s song “Be Better Than Me” encourages young people to seek an alternative life to drug dealing.

Expose the LifeExpose the Life

Albums like Albums like Thug Thug StoriesStories by Bone by Bone Thugs and Thugs and Ready to Ready to DieDie by The Notorious by The Notorious B.I.G., do little more B.I.G., do little more than “tell stories” of than “tell stories” of their experiences. their experiences. They leave the They leave the listener to make an listener to make an impression on what impression on what they hear…they hear…

Promote the StylePromote the Style ……While albums like While albums like Creepin Creepin

on ah Come Upon ah Come Up and and Trap Trap MuzikMuzik emit a more boastful emit a more boastful and proud manner of their and proud manner of their lifestyle; it is this type of lyrics lifestyle; it is this type of lyrics that causes the most that causes the most controversy from critics, as controversy from critics, as they “encourage” their lifestyle.they “encourage” their lifestyle.

Bone boasts about getting rich Bone boasts about getting rich from drug dealing on “Foe tha from drug dealing on “Foe tha love of $”love of $”

T.I. shows off his money, cars, T.I. shows off his money, cars, guns and drugs in “24’s”guns and drugs in “24’s”

Confusion!!

• Often times a listener doesn’t know what to think when they hear hip hop.

• Most of tracks on T.I.’s Trap Muzik entail flashy and proud stories of drug dealing and toting guns, (“24’s”, “rubber band man”), however, the track “Doin My Job”, tells a sad story of how he wishes he didn’t have to sell drugs, and how it was his only way to make any money

• Which side is to be taken seriously?

• Many rappers’ lyrics seem hypocritical at times.

• On 2pac’s album All Eyez on Me, the second track “Shorty Wanna be a Thug”, in a repentant form, tells the unfortunate story of a young boy who dreams of becoming a thug; drug dealing, carrying guns, and the like.

• This song is ironically proceeded by “Holla at Me”, a diss track at The Notorious B.I.G. (with whom he was involved in a feud that would likely lead to his murder), and “2 of Amerikaz Most Wanted”, where he brags about being a notorious gangster

Hip Hop in the White World

• 75% of hip hop listeners are non-black, while the industry is dominated by African Americans

• Many young white people interpret hip hop in a wrong way, thinking that the “ghetto is cool”, because they hear rappers talk about it.

• Hip hop should expose oppression in this country that many whites are oblivious to, not promote a lifestyle that should not be embraced but avoided.

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Hip hop can either be used as a Hip hop can either be used as a positive way to rise up, promote positive way to rise up, promote social equality, and educate the social equality, and educate the isolated world of oppression…isolated world of oppression…

Or it can spell the destruction of Or it can spell the destruction of our already troubled societyour already troubled society

It is the responsibility of rappers It is the responsibility of rappers to choose what they want to to choose what they want to promote on their music, and the promote on their music, and the responsibility of we the listeners responsibility of we the listeners to choose how we want to to choose how we want to interpret it.interpret it.

Hip Hop has a huge influence Hip Hop has a huge influence over the people of our country, over the people of our country, and the world for that matter, it’s and the world for that matter, it’s time to decide how we are going time to decide how we are going to let it affect us.to let it affect us.

Cited Works• http://www.funnyrapjams.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/white-gu

y-rap-300x293.jpg• http://www.csupomona.edu/~rrreese/HIPHOP.HTML

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6915463/ns/us_news-life/http://www.csupomona.edu/~rrreese/HIPHOP.HTML

http://worldmusic.nationalgeographic.com/view/page.basic/genre/content.genre/hip_hop_730

straightfromthea.com/.../jeezy-hosts-6th-annual-toyz-n-da-hood-new-video-who-dat-ft-shawty-redd/

http://www.usatoday.com/life/people/2006-08-09-jay-z-water_x.htm

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Music

• “Shorty Wanna be a Thug” by 2pac• “Big Poppa” by The Notorious B.I.G.• “Damn it Feels Good to Be a Gangsta” by the Geto

Boys• “Brenda’s Got a Baby” by 2pac• “Thuggish Ruggish Bone” by Bone Thugs-N-

Harmony• “Foe tha Love of $” by Bone Thugs-N-Harmony• “Thug Stories” by Bone Thugs-N-Harmony• “Rubber Band Man” by T.I.• “Ghetto Gospel” by 2pac• “Flow Motion” by Bone Thugs-N-Harmony