Does Hip-hop Music Affect a Community - Research Paper Example

Music and its forms have undergone unprecedented changes all through the growth of the music industry. Different genres of music developed with time depending on the changing trends in the society. Music has been confirmed to have close associations with the societal norms. It has been proved to promote certain values which are associated with that particular kind of music. Music has the power to influence the society with the values that it promotes. The liberalized economies and open markets opened up the reach for music across boundaries. Black oral traditions have always had the attention of the music industry. Several forms of it have evolved as musical trends and have later taken form of a particular genre of music. When the oral traditions combine with the politics of race, black music always have been a hot topic amongst music enthusiasts. The music industry has used this trend as a marketing strategy as well. Hip-hop is genre of music which gained much popularity in the 1970s. The objective of this essay is to critically analyze the negative impacts of hip-hop music on the community. Hip Hop is a byproduct of the community parties that New York used to witness in 1970s. Owners of powerful speakers used to share it for the parties which were held in basements, houses and streets. It became a trend to have people speaking or narrating in between the percussion breaks. This gradually became more organized as a music form. The funky beats and direct communicative tone of the music didn’t take much time to get wide spread appreciation of the local community. The racial inequity which prevailed in the US, contributed to the popularity. It was seen by people as a tool of expression of their anguish against the oppression. The kind of music was different with its improvising nature. It was not based on the traditional rules of music. The rhythm pattern of convention music was altered and the artist alswts had the opportunity of improvising the script on the spot which was narrated during the percussion break. In general, every aspect of this music had a tone of protest. It was in totality a protest against the whole system including the white dominated dynamics of music. It was Busy Bee Starski, DJ Hollywood, and DJ Afrika Bambaataa, musicians from Zulu Nation, New York who officially coined the perm hip hop (Reese, 2000). It became commercially accepted as Sugar Hill Gang came up with Rappers Delight, in 1979 which became a big commercial hit. It’s worth noting here that right from mid 1970 there were other smaller works which were commercially produced in this line. Hip Hop gradually became an identity of black community. The peculiar rhythm of the music along with the Graffiti closely connected with the music became a common sight in New York’s streets (Reese, 2000). Another element which became an integral part of the culture was breakdancing. Very soon rap music became a multi-billion industry (McWhorter, 2003). Along with the popularity of Hip Hop music, a culture and a combined message of protest also grew with it. The popularity was so strong that it was difficult for anybody to monitor the narrow line between protest and crime. There were many stories which were propagated through the performances and rap gatherings. Some of the core messages that these performances had were of crime, violence and drugs. Later these elements became a style statement. All these elements which were against the common norms of the society were used as tools of protest by the youth. Thus music and its culture became the sanctioning of criminality and unruly nature. When this becomes the language of the youth, the penetration of it into the grassroots became very aggressive (McWhorter,2003). Interestingly, police and other regulatory mechanisms were seen by the followers of the music as a reflection of the American society’s attitude towards the blacks. Thus these regulations also couldn’t restrain the cultural degradation. It must be noted here that the valor of fighting these systems were glorified in many of the Hip Hop songs. While analyzing the ways in which Hip Hop promoted criminality in the community, one major factor which has to be considered is the language that it carried. In general it is very aggressive in nature. Till the evolution of Rap music, music and its language used to have a very clean and glorified tone. Lyrics used to products of long researches and musical appropriations. The rules of music were used to design each line of music which was written. In short everything was according to some or the other prewritten rule. All these rules of musicality were broken in the language that Hip Hop used. The language of the street was literally brought on stage through Hip Hop. Many norms of moralities connected with public space were challenged by the language of this particular genre of music. The slangs of the afro Americans became the language more than the actual language in which the songs were written (Reese, 2000). This became a universal trend. In other words, which ever language these songs were written in, they were sung with the same Afro American slang. Sarcasm was another language strategy that Hip Hop music followed. An ideal example for this is the glorifications of the symbols of race. These symbols which were perceived by the world as derogatory were aggressively used by hip hoppers. These later became terms of endearment. An ideal example for this is the term ‘nigga’(Reese, 2000). Interestingly because of the popularity of the rap slang, these usages were universally understood without barriers of language. However, it would be interesting to analyze the extent to which the cause for which these protest were made were extended to the rest of the world. Many researchers have opined that what was transmitted across the boundaries of America was merely the aggression and urge to break rules and not the concern for the racial issues (Reese, 2000). When people from all around the world adopted the language of rap, a large majority of them were not even sensitized on the issues of discrimination against the blacks, for which these songs were composed. Another major factor which contributed to the criminality of the community is the clothing and the fashion that the music industry promoted. Hip Hop fashion has been reported to have cut across ethnic boundaries. This is unlikely of any other stream of music or even movie industry. There were several trends which were popularized by the hip hoppers. Black leather jackets and greased hair; polyester and bell bottoms of the 70s and the preppy influence of the 1980s are all examples to this (Reese, 2000). A general format of all these fashion trends was that they all represented a loosely bound society. Symbolizations of a liberated youth not abiding by the rules of the society were quite evident in the fashion statements which were proposed. The popularity of these dressing styles across ethnicities is a good proof to the extent to which hip hop and its allied culture has affected the community by giving it a false feeling of liberation which was in reality just an outward expression of unruliness. The stereotypical image that the music videos portray is another major issue (Hubpages, 2012). The iconic black American and his life style while is hailed by the music bands are not representative of the average Afro American life (Hicks, 2013). The community at large fails in connecting themselves to these images and forcefully gets into criminality to be in alignment with this image. Many researchers have seen Hip Hop culture as an expression of one’s failure to adapt to the mainstream society. This can have further sociological implications. Primarily, the acceptance of such a popular expression of failure to be in the mainstream would result in further cornering of the community (Hicks, 2013). They will be further cornered and the addiction to Hip Hop could be seen as a symptom of this cornering. Thus the community in the larger sense will restrain themselves from an upward social mobility. The second possibility is that they would indulge in forced criminal efforts so that this social gap is paralleled. In both the cases what Hip Hop music is doing is creating a direct or indirect divide within the ethnic identities. In conclusion, it can be confirmed that Hip Hop music and the allied culture is negatively affecting the community. It is not merely a style of music. It encompasses a larger culture . The language and the fashion of this music stream is propagating criminality among the population. It is true that this genre of music has a history of protest against a racist society. However, unfortunately the contextual relevance of this protest is lost and this music has become an expression of protest against systems. This includes legal, political and moral systems. A society which is not bound with these systems will be criminal in nature. It is unfortunate that Hip Hop music is promoting such a society. Thus it can be concluded that this genre of music has contributed largely towards the criminality of the community. References Hicks J (2013), How Hip-Hop Destroys the Potential of Black Youth, New Visions Commentary, Retrieved on 29 November 2013, from http://www.nationalcenter.org/P21NVHicksHipHop90706.html Hubpages (2013) How Hip Hop can have a negative impact, Hub Pages , Retrieved on 29 November 2013, from < http://tgrady25.hubpages.com/hub/How-Hip-Hop-Harms-Young-African-Americans> McWhorter H J (2003) How Hip-Hop Holds Blacks Back City Journal, Summer 2003 Retrieved on 29 November 2013, from http://www.city-journal.org/html/13_3_how_hip_hop.html Reese,R (2000) From The Fringe: The Hip Hop Culture And Ethnic Relations Popular Culture Review, 11 (2) Read More