As the chest-thumping beats fill your ears, the rapid-fire lyrics jump out at you, and the awesome dance moves catch your eyes, have you ever wondered: what is HipHop? Why has it become so popular now? Well, HipHop is about the beats, lyrics and dances, and more than that.
It was in the early 1970s when HipHop was born in the Bronx borough of New York City as DJ Kool Herc spun the same record on twin turntables at a dance bash. After that, DJing, MCing, Breaking and Writing came in to form a holistic culture —- HipHop. It took New York City by storm and kept spreading to other parts of America as well as the world. 2Pac, Dr Dre, Eminem, Nicki Minaj and Drake are definitely not the only important figures in this culture as we have a lot more excellent rappers in this industry. In fact, in 2017, HipHop surpassed rock as America’s No.1
streamed genre for the first time ever, officially becoming the most popular genre of music throughout the world.
Moreover, HipHop is more than just a music genre, it is about seeing the world, celebrating spirits, experiencing toughness and happiness, understanding other people, confronting and commenting on life. In other words, HipHop is a way of living. This culture hit the headlines for a reason —- its representation of freedom and truth.
HipHop believes in people taking control of their own lives through self-knowledge and self-expression. Originating from the African American community in America, this culture echos resisting exclusion or discrimination and fighting for freedom and justice. For instance, it was in Lupe Fiasco’s song “Hip-Hop Saved My Life” where being poor and dealing with the prison industrial complex, injustice and institutionalised racism were rapped about. This song deeply resonated with a lot of marginalised groups in the world. Similar cynical views towards society and life are expressed in HipHop culture and thus cultivating the spirit to express dissatisfaction and fight against injustice. This spirit is highly praised among the youth due to the innate yearnings for freedom and control of lives by themselves, which fuels the fast development of HipHop culture amongst this demographic group.
On the other hand, HipHop culture spurs creativity and promotes free expression of one’s aesthetic sense. Through deploying skills and resources available to produce something novel and unique, HipHop gives the younger generation an opportunity to demonstrate and develop their personal style. Given these circumstances, HipHop has attracted more enthusiasts than ever. Nowadays, it is not uncommon to see some people rapping to beats available online with the lyrics written by themselves, reflecting their own talents and thoughts on social media platforms or on Youtube. Apart from music, graffiti and street fashion are newly developed branches of this culture which celebrate the creativity within HipHop artists. One of the biggest fashion news that came out in 2018 (Virgil Abloh’s collection design for LV) was Louis Vuitton naming Virgil Abloh, a streetwear designer, as their new artistic director for the men’s line. This evidently shows how HipHop culture is affecting the long-lasting luxury culture and is appreciated as a form of art.
In my own opinion, the development of gender equality, anti-racism and many other societal changes are displayed in this culture as well. As we can see how female rappers like Nicki Minaj, Cardi B and Doja Cat are thriving in this industry now and how this genre of music is not only limited to the African American community but shows a connection between youth of all races who share a common interest.
However, just as how a coin has two sides, there are some controversies that HipHop culture has been facing.
Until now, rap or HipHop is still believed to have a negative influence on the youth by the older generation. Conservatives often cite HipHop’s inappropriate contents including nude women in music videos and degrading lyrics —- simply observe the multitude of vulgarities displayed in rapping songs. While age limit should be imposed, Kanye, considered to be ‘artistic’ particularly in his production as well as music videos, has changed or influenced the stereotypical way in which rappers shot videos back then, namely using images of women, cars and money. He put in more effort to express himself in a non-violent way in his MVs. In addition, some songs start to focus on philosophy or meaning of life which are deeper than discussion around money or objectification of money. For example, the legendary HipHop song “Lose Yourself” by Eminem is based on Eminem's life from growing up as a troubled kid to fighting underground rap battles and making it out of the shackles that restricted him from greatness. Through this song, youth can be motivated to overcome challenges in life and thrive after. (It is also noticeable how bleeping is used in replacement of the cursing words or inappropriate words in this song and many other songs for the good of children. After all, a ban is not a single solution to things with both positive and negative influences.)
Another controversy is probably the violence displayed in HipHop culture which has been harshly criticised. There’s no denying that the lyrical content of hip hop is confrontational, and in many instances, violent. But hip hop culture at its core, is built on values of social justice, peace, respect, self-worth, community, and having fun. Take the diss culture as an example, aggravated by HipHop rivalry, diss culture became immensely popular in hip-hop music. A diss track is a song which is released to insult and put a fellow rapper down and often released as a response to someone's diss track. Nevertheless, diss culture is more of a battle on the artists rapping skills and the core of dissing is, as I believe, appreciating and respecting each other’s status and trying to surpass each other, leading to an even more flourishing HipHop industry through these engaging and constructive beefs.
All in all, HipHop itself is a mixture of good and bad values, and since the HipHop trend is unstoppable, what we can do is to be critical while enjoying the culture as youth. I believe as long as we focus on the bright sight of it, this culture can keep shining through history.
Written by: Li Jiahan (22A14)
Edited by: Jenny Huang (21S74), Caroline Ong (21A10)
References:
Hip Hop events clubs parties Cancun Los Cabos Tulum | Hip Hop Mexico. (n.d.). HipHopMex.com. Retrieved April 29, 2022, from https://www.hiphopmex.com/
Hodge, K. (2018, June 7). Why Rap Beef Is Good For Hip-Hop Culture. Highsnobiety. https://www.highsnobiety.com/p/rap-beef-is-good-for-hip-hop/
Maza, E. (2021, December 1). Virgil Abloh Takes a Bow in Miami. Town & Country. https://www.townandcountrymag.com/style/fashion-trends/a38389600/virgil-abloh-louis-vuitton-miami-final-show/
R/philosophy - top 10 philosophical hip hop songs. reddit. (n.d.). Retrieved April 29, 2022, from https://www.reddit.com/r/philosophy/comments/18pbtl/top_10_philosophical_hip_hop_songs/
Touré. (2019, December 2). Hip-Hop at Middle Age: Rap Pioneers Reflect. AARP. https://www.aarp.org/entertainment/music/info-2019/hip-hop-at-middle-age.html
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