Eric Dominguez
Mr. Johnston
28 October 2018
World History
Hip-Hop’s Impact on Society
Today’s generation has had quite an impact from hip-hop and its obvious. Today a majority of the youth’s influence comes from hip-hop. Hip-hop is what’s leading the generation. Hip-hop didn’t just come out of nowhere thought, it has a lot of history and an origin story that most wouldn’t know about. Although, with the impact hip-hop has on the youth, a lot of people believe it’s the reason there’s drug use and sexual activity at a young age. With a lot of people opinion on hip-hop having negatives it blocks the reason hip-hop is even here. If people could just learn to embrace, hip-hop could have quite a positive impact. Today the following of trends still remains, and everyone follows what hip-hop culture brings us. In today’s society people follow these trends because it’s what everyone is doing. Its impact is huge and its what’s this generation is run by.
Hip Hop’s origin story comes from the shared environment in which these art forms were involved bounding it together. The first real hip hop deejay was Kool herc who was an immigrant who introduced the huge sounds of Jamaica and brought these sounds to inner-city parties. Using a couple of turntables, he was able to meld percussive fragments from older records and popular dance songs to create a continuous flow of music. Later on Kool herc and other upcoming hip-hop deejays such as Grand Wizard Theodore, Afrika, Bambaataa and
Grandmaster Flash isolated and extended a beat known as the break beat which is the part of a dance record where all sounds but the drums drop out. Eventually, contests were developed and its what formed break dancing. Break dancing is a style of dancing that includes acrobatic and occasionally airborne movies. These people were only the start of what hip hop is. The new wave came around the mid 1980s. The wave then was this Run-D.M.C, a trio of African Americans who fused rap with hard rock and became the trendsetters for the new style of hip-dress. These people are what started hip-hop but aren’t really known for it. The spark in hip-hop that truly made it what it is today came from Los Angles beginning in 1989 with N.W.A’s dynamic album Straight Outta Compton. N.W.A and former members of the group including Ice Cube, Eazy E, and Dr. Dre led the way for the West Coast. These rappers frequently told violent tales of real life in their life forming a new genre known as gangster rap. Popular artists from this genre are Snoop Dogg and Ice- T. This time aura is what set off hip-hop, making it what it is today.
Today’s hip hop has changed quite a lot from what it originally was. Not like it’s a bad thing but it’s kind of losing its originality. From once it once was which is voicing a political voice and also talking about the social and cultural struggles of African Americans, you can tell already it has changed a lot. It is discussed that hip hop then was about being a lyricist and being able to spit bars and how todays that’s not the trend. Hip Hop is more of like a Ferris wheel and it’ll soon repeat itself but right not its original form of lyrics is not it. In today’s world in order to be a good hip-hop artist you need to stay on top of today’s trends and kind of move with them when they change. This is really hard for artists because each have their own style of music. Once you’re able to persevere through all the eras is when you truly get you name out there permanently in the hip hop era. These hip-hop artists who have stayed with us throughout the years are the origin of hip-hop, basically lyricists. With a home studio and computer software, anyone can make rap music but in its purest form it comes from a mic controller (MC) who rhymes verses over a beat often supplied by a DJ, who manipulates records on a turntable. The 6 basic categories that rap falls under are: “gangsta rap”, which focuses on money, murder and mayhem; “apolitical pop”, which features a danceable beat and easygoing lyrics; “political”, which is social lyrics; positive, which encourages people to become more aware of person and social ills; experimental, which is like a modified style or rap; and finally, feminist. Basically, the point is that if you want to become known in the hip-hop community you always got to remember what it really is. Hip-hop is described as a young man’s game and if your good at it you suppose to make it a career, and with times changing it put into the music they are making. Today’s hip hop is more about drugs, violence, and portraying sex. A reason for all of this is that Hip-Hop has been used just to get bank. This is also portrayed in their music, which is their love for money, drugs and sex. This generations hip-hop music can get into the youth’s head, making them curious to try what they keep hearing about. It is their influence, so it makes sense for them to be curious but it’s not the cause of this drug usage or violence that’s for sure.
As a cultural movement, hip-hop get seen as having a both positive and negative impact on the youth. Recently, a few newspaper critics did a study on the influence of hip hop and basically found that kids are becoming sexually active and are suffering from HIV/AIDS at a higher rate. This study can’t really tell for sure though, that hip hop is really the influence. Besides the negative that are looked upon Hip-Hop, we got to remember that’s its impact is huge on America as a whole. Its more than music. It’s a whole culture and we got to respect that. It has spoken up for generations and providing a voice for the African American community. The message was clearly delivered, and Hip Hop truly lives up to that message. However, opponents argue that it promotes a social rebellion. This opinion on hip-hop does not negate the fact that hip hop is the voice for a lot of people. Hip-Hop has always provided a platform for MCs and rappers to talk about their opinion on society, it’s really there best bet on getting out what they want to say. They talk about the mistreatment that the government has on African Americans. At least that was the start of Hip-Hop. This outlet is crucial for the African American community but instead of sticking with it and supporting their voice on society the oppose it. They talk about how Hip-Hop affects the youth in a negative way. Hip-Hop would truly benefit society if people embraced it rather than opposed it. Besides the origin story in the 80s coming from Kool Herc, the real social impact started in the late 20th century, popularly known as “the nineties”. The nineties was such a big aura for hip-hop that U.S. experiences the establishment of a “Hip Hop Nation”. This time period truly marks a national movement filled with heavy social and culture changes filled with a lot of new trends. One example of an influential new trend took place in the nineties center on the evolution of hip-hop culture. Something that really sparked Hip-Hop in “the nineties” was the battles in which they showed their skills with improvised rhyming. This attracted a lot of attention to the rappers battling in front of everyone. An example of someone who emerged from this aura was Eminem. At around this aura which is the early 2000s, a particular trend of fashion arose from the followers of hip-hop. Hip-Hop clothing, jewelry, and hairstyles changed quickly and often reflected a specific region or group’s current tastes. At this time, it was baggy clothing for men, and traditional African patterns, heavy gold or platinum jewelry for men and women. Some Hip-Hop fashion was associated with being in a gang. With the trend being in these Hip-Hop leaders’ hands, some even created their own clothing line.
The aura of hip-hop has always remained strong and has brought a lot of new influences and trends. With hip-hop having such an impact on society, people look at a from two different perspectives rather than just embracing it. With people having both positive and negatives views on hip-hop there’s no stopping the influence it will forever have. The facts behind it is that it’s a way for people to express how they feel about society and has a way of reaching people like nothing else can. Today the following of trends still remains, and everyone follows what hip-hop culture brings us. In today’s society people follow these trends because it’s what everyone is doing. Its impact is huge and its what’s this generation is run by.