Hip-hop Essay Example for Free

Hip-hop Essay Sociologists say that the styles in music, literature and other arts are reflecting the processes that take place in the society where they emerge. Hip-hop culture gained power in ninetieth America. Nowadays various opinions exist about the nature of this phenomenon. David Abe said in his article ‘Tupac Plus 10: Hip-hop’s Diminished Potential’ that hip-hop had the power to change the world back in ninetieths, but due to commercialization its potential â€Å"had significantly diminished†, while David Brooks wrote about hip-hop romanticizing crime and violence against women, calling it a â€Å"culture of resistance† in his New York Times article ‘Gangsta’. The music of the rebels, of youth that felt they had no place for them in the society they had been raised in, hip hop became a way to express their thoughts and feelings. Hip-hop was music for youngsters who were not afraid to declare they wanted to change the world, and young people rarely share a non-resistance tactic. Hip-hop explained the world was corrupt, but the only way out it offered was active resistance – antisocial behavior and crime. This kind of ideas tends to attract lots of youngsters, and huge flocks of people around some idea tend to attract money. Soon hip-hop became business, like lots of culture phenomena before. The idea of hip-hop has deceased at the moment it became a merchandize available in nearest mall. Young and poor people in USA and outside it usually do not have means to change the world they live in. They dwell in slums, do not have medical insurance, their chances to get decent education and job are poor. Violence becomes their only way to express their anger and disappointment, and a seemingly easy way to get the things they see on TV and in fashion magazines, like expensive closes, gadgets and money. Hip-hop and rap music describe this problem-solving method in detail, and it is often introduced as the right thing to do, the one that makes boy a real man. â€Å"The gangsta is brave, countercultural criminal† – says Robert Brooks. It builds the image of â€Å"strong violent hypermacho male, who loudly asserts his dominance and demands respect†. And it is no wonder this image attracts ghetto teenagers from all over the world. There is some bond between Robin Hood and gangsta, as they both have this image of the noble bandit. Being gangsta means being â€Å"cool†, being powerful and able to change things that ought to be changed, it means becoming respected and significant. Violence especially that against women is seen at this context as one of the ways to prove significance and masculinity, and assert one’s right to get everything desired by force. In the same time Xzibit, a famous American rapper proves that rap and hip hop should not be blamed for its negative imagery. â€Å"If society wasn’t violent†, he says, â€Å"then hip-hop wouldn’t be violent. You can blame hip-hop but we’re like reporters; we tell you what’s going on in the neighborhood, and we tell you how it is. † Xzibit insists that hip-hop is just a mirror, where all the societal imperfections and problems are reflected. Thus the youngsters who listen and sing hip hop are just confessing about the things they see, and the world they are living in. Before blaming rap music and videos for encouraging children and teenagers to commit violent acts, people should try to find out why is this music so popular among them. Why American teens and young adults, at list part of them, want to listen and watch songs, clips, and movies where people abuse, rape and kill each other? Maybe something is wrong with the educational system, as it’s unable to persuade the youth in the futility and danger of violence, to teach them that their goals can be achieved using other methods? Or the problem lies within the society that cannot offer some of its young inexperienced members other sphere for actualizing their potential than that of crime and violence? Some journalists and psychologists prove that rap videos are just one of the ways of â€Å"selling† hip-hop culture. It’s true, that for many of the rap singers their music is just the way to earn money and popularity, thus they fill their songs with the content that sells successfully. Unfortunately, there is always a demand for violence on our market, and hip-hop is a good form for selling it. David Abe noted that: â€Å"†¦the content of the most requested rap songs and videos overrun in an exaggerated manner by rims, jewelry and thongs, as the business model evolved. † Now hip-hop is quite a profitable activity to be involved in, as Forbes. com website announced that in 2006 the earnings of such rap stars as 50cent, Jay-Z, and Sean â€Å"Diddy† Combs were $33 million, $34 million, and $28 million accordingly. It proves that there is quite a demand for the culture of resistance on worldwide market. Actually hip hop culture, which had been a culture of resistance transformed into a notion of culture of resistance that could be sold and bought in the department stores. Now hip-hop is not an element of cultural resistance, it is just an image of a social position, and even a fashion trend. David Abe proves that nowadays hip-hop â€Å"consistently fails to challenge and inspire critical thought in the people who listen to it† †And the more commercialized hip-hop becomes the more fans it has, as the thing that can be bought and sold is understandable to most people, while concepts that require some brain and spiritual efforts for understanding them are not very popular nowadays. At the beginning of the history of this cultural phenomenon it really had potential to change something, to influence the opinions and actions of people. While there were real emotions behind the words of the songs, while singers told about the things they saw, and that bothered them, asking their listeners questions they were encouraged to answer by themselves, hip-hop was an instrument to make world a little better. In the same time there always existed danger that young listeners would accept role models from often violent hip-hop lyrics. But in the end of ninetieths, when money came to hip-hop culture, hip-hop became the culture of people who wanted to look â€Å"cool† and to act â€Å"cool†. Its change-driving potential diminished; nowadays most of hip-hop lyrics telling about violence has no inner sense in it, no ideas of cultural resistance and changing the world, just poor role models for youngsters. Works Cited 1. Abe,D. ‘Tupac Plus 10: Hip-hop’s Diminished Potential’. The Times 2. Brooks, D. ‘Gangsta’ The New York Times 10 November: A29 3. Goldman, L. ‘Forbes And 50 Cent Get Money’. Forbes. 7 Seb 2007. http://www. forbes. com/home/media/2007/09/18/igetmoney-remix-50cent-biz-media-cz_lg_0918bizigetmoney. html 4. Rodriguez, K. Xzibit Defends Rap Lyrics, Hip-Hop Stigmas. 19 Sep 2006. http://www. nobodysmiling. com/hiphop/news/86714. php