How Does Hip Hop Influence Popular Culture
Hip Hop Culture began in the South Bronx, New York in the late 1970’s. In the beginning, Hip Hop music was the artistic expression of the black teenagers living in the South Bronx or inner city. Back then, the genre has been considered representative of the voice of the black community. Over a short amount of time, Hip Hop music has become an industry, and a major influence on mainstream culture in the United States. Commercialism dilutes its messages so that the genre no longer truly represents the voice of the black community toward the social meaning.
In today’s commercial industry, Hip Hop has even gone so far as to represent various companies and products. Historically, Hip Hop music talked about rappers’ frustrations of a society in which …show more content…
Before the commercialization of Hip Hop music, the lyrics focused on social, political, and cultural issues. In contrast, the lyrics now were becoming more hyper-violent and hyper-masculine. Eventually, a new genre emerged known as “Gangsta Rap” which being heavily promoted by the major labels and rose in popularity in the Hip Hop music industry. Through commercialization of Hip Hop, the major labels had more control and influence of Hip Hop music content. In order to appear more marketable, they created music videos to become what it is called “quasi-cinematic, sensationalized illustration of the persona of the artist”. The industrial standard of Hip Hop videos of this modern day often displays the contents of wealth and power. One will often see hot women staying in the rapper’s mansion, entertaining the rapper and his posse. It has gotten to the point where it’s all about the hot girls; and the social and political messages behind the lyrics have taken a back seat. Once again, hyper-masculinity and violence were major genres present in the music videos produced by the major labels. In Byron Hurt’s documentary Hip-Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes from our class discussion, Hip Hop appears to have faded away from the culturally, socially, and politically critical messages to a themes of wealth, power, and
In today’s commercial industry, Hip Hop has even gone so far as to represent various companies and products. Historically, Hip Hop music talked about rappers’ frustrations of a society in which …show more content…
Before the commercialization of Hip Hop music, the lyrics focused on social, political, and cultural issues. In contrast, the lyrics now were becoming more hyper-violent and hyper-masculine. Eventually, a new genre emerged known as “Gangsta Rap” which being heavily promoted by the major labels and rose in popularity in the Hip Hop music industry. Through commercialization of Hip Hop, the major labels had more control and influence of Hip Hop music content. In order to appear more marketable, they created music videos to become what it is called “quasi-cinematic, sensationalized illustration of the persona of the artist”. The industrial standard of Hip Hop videos of this modern day often displays the contents of wealth and power. One will often see hot women staying in the rapper’s mansion, entertaining the rapper and his posse. It has gotten to the point where it’s all about the hot girls; and the social and political messages behind the lyrics have taken a back seat. Once again, hyper-masculinity and violence were major genres present in the music videos produced by the major labels. In Byron Hurt’s documentary Hip-Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes from our class discussion, Hip Hop appears to have faded away from the culturally, socially, and politically critical messages to a themes of wealth, power, and