In his first two chapters Marcus Reeves weaves the rise in black power alongside new cultural outputs of the black community from the start of Soul Train to the advent of the first major commercial rap artists in Grandmaster Flash, Sugarhill Gang, among others. In addition, Reeves describes periods of political and social tumult with the waning Civil Rights Movement seemingly closed by the election of Ronald Reagan. To what extent should we connect Hip-Hop's rise with politics? What role do you see for Hip-Hop in the future--will it be more commercial--or less so? Should rap promote change and social commentary, or will it be resigned to simple entertainment? What does Hip-Hop mean for you and future generations? These are just a few questions I pose when considering the future of Hip-Hop. Feel free to add your own thoughts or questions.
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
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46 comments:
1.We should connect Hip-Hop's rise with politics to the extent that hip hop is the voice of African Americans speaking out against what is going on in the black community and the world.
2.The role that I see for hip hop in the future is that it will be even more commercial because hip hop artists are still going to be advertising their music and clothing lines on television,on the radio, and in the magazines.
3.I think that rap should be used to promote change and to entertain people because, if rap was used to just entertain people, then we are losing the main things that rap music was based on.
4.What hip hop means for me and future generations is that it will become more competitve because there will be more hiphop artists, more types of music, and more clothing lines.
I personally think that you could say it connects together just a little bit, because hip hop to me doesn’t really connect with politics. Unless you bring up the fact that some hip hop artist are encouraging African Americans to vote, and that’s about it. I would say only 10% of rappers try to encourage people to vote. And the only time they even mention voting is if something bad is happening and not if things are some what ok in the world. When you say hip hops rise, I really don’t think politics are like helping hip hops rise I believe it is the opposite way around.
In the future I believe hip hop will be most definitely more commercial and unrealistic. Rap music has become more commercial overtime, to me back in the day when rap music first came out it had meaning. It meant something to everyone it touched you regardless. Now a days its all about who has the most money, the bigger car, house, and it really revolves around sex. Trying to reach things that you cant really have but want, and it makes their listeners want the same things. Hip hop itself will never have that heart touch affect on it anymore in the future. Hip hop will definitely be a huge cliché overtime.
Some entertainers will try to make rap about change, but mostly everyone will try to stick to entertaining. Why, because entertaining makes the most money. They believe that people don’t want to sit and listen to change but they want to sit and listen to how to kill one another, and how to get money.
To me hip hop just means entertainment, there is no true meaning in hip hop. Everyone wants to be a hip hop artist, because they believe everything that rappers say. There wont really be any growth in hip hop, its just going to be the same everyday. And maybe there will be one artist (hint hint: Nas) that wants people to see and understand that the world is changing, and that we as a people need to stand up in unity and take advantage of this change.
(KESHANTE)
Just an FYI--you don't have to answer all of the questions, although I welcome you to do so if you wish. The questions are just to get you thinking--feel free to focus on one or a few--or pose your own questions and reactions.
I believe that hip hop connects to politics because "we" as African Americans hesitate the rights of speech. Hip hop is our voice (generally), most black hip hop artists rap about daily problems we face, government issues, and life period for African Americans. Few artists recently highlights P Diddy saying "Vote or Die". Ths connection only occurs when artists view things as way out of hand. Only few artist implies this.
In the future, hip hop will be more of a get rich quick scheme. Hip Hop will be more commercial, advertising the glamorous life everyone wants. Hip hop has lost the meaning of it. Hip hop is all about sex, money and jewelry. Compared to the past, hip hop was portrayed as an urban culture with a message delivered to an audience of diversity.
To answer the first question i think yes we should connet hiphop to politics because people that can't get what they want out will have a chance to be heard through a universal genre of music. Hip hop is just a way to get wat some people are afraid to say out.
In he future i see more problems being targeted to hip hop because in todays society people are blaming their personal problems on hip hop so in the future i can see less people purchasing music from the hip hop genre
Just like a explained in the paragraph above i do think hip hop should be about change i think it should promote well being for the people but at the same time let the people no whats really going on behind the camera and in the ghetto where most crimes do actually happen
Hip hop changes every generations so i think it will be something totaly different from what it is now but again it will still beable whats going on in the real world, how people really live and what not.
I guess when i become a mother i'll be saying what are you listen to... turn that nonsense off lol
i just like hip hop, it's another way of explaining yourself and getting the message out about how you live a different kind of life
I personally, see hip hop going down the path of just being “entertainment” due to the mere fact that contemporary rap lost its substance. When hip hop originated, it started in an era of an oppression of whites against African Americans. Blacks trying to get there voices heard while proving that they were creative with their own mind and way of life. Where as now rap has become just number one club bangers with a nice hook. It doesn’t have that passion of flow in the music anymore. Hip hop has went from poetry with a powerful beat to just a tune that makes your body rock.
The music that still represents the black community and its struggles barely gets airtime or the artist isn’t signed to a label. So its labeled as Underground Music. Even the artists who are signed still generates quality music of the twenty first century, Common, Kanye West, Talib Kweli, Lupe Fiasco and more (backpackers) has commercial music but still represents progress of hip hop. Rap that is put on to the streets is condensed to where it has no feeling at all. It doesn’t make you think or realize what is going on around you as the lyrics of Tupac, Public Enemy, and more. The music of that time sole purpose was to discuss issues that kept blacks under a racial stone. Today, its all about how many girls a rapper and his entourage slept with or how much money they have and how many cars and chains they can buy. Rap is degrading to the people who its suppose to be shining a positive light on to. Its disregarding the foundation of music laid out by the founding fathers to take pride in their people.
As time goes on black music will become commercial. As more and more upcoming artists are blinded by their competition’s bling bling and their wanting to get out of the ghetto to reach that opulent stage, rap will become redundant. As artists rap there’re prewritten music by a producer about how many karats are weighing down their necks, it obviously never occurs to many of them who had to get those diamonds. What circumstances they had to go through? Hip hop has went from music to expressing how one feels from undergoing pressures of every day life to music that helps companies sale their products from oppression of other countries. Hip hop is dead.
I think when it comes to hip hop and future generations there is going to be less and less artists trying to get an actual message across other than sex, money, and drugs. The artists that are actually trying to make a difference and talk about the real issues and be of some use other than entertainment are being drowned out by the Souljah Boys of the younger generation. Most young men want to become rappers or entertainers because of the money and the fame, but the older original rappers had a purpose for their music which I believe is becoming less of a requirement. As we get older and younger rappers come on the scene I think it will eventually be all about the money and about what they can get from the job.
Hip-Hop should only be connected to politics when necessary. When factual information is used with evidence to back it up, then that is when Hip-Hop and politics can have a connection. If there is no evidence, this can cause unnecessary and unwanted conflict between Hip-Hop and politics.
Hip-Hop is considered a culture to most people. In the future, hip-hop will be even more commercial than it is now. Hip-hop will continue to rise because it's life, it's the truth.
Rap should be used to promote change and social commentary because if it is used negatively, it can promote violence as well as many other negative factors.
Hip-Hop for me is apart of my lifestlye and culture. I prefer to only listen to political activist type rappers but hip-hop as a whole is meaningful to me. Future generations will most likely also use hip-hop and sooner or later hip hop will be turned into a culture in which people actually live by daily.
I feel like hip-hop has some realtion to politics in the aspect of the rise of the African-American culture, and the African-American voice because of the civil rights movement. I think that when rap first started it was all about speaking out on social issues and problems in the black community as well as in the world. However, as time progresses so has the culture of rap. It has changed from just being black to various diversitites. It is more than just speaking about political and socail problems. As time progressess rap is changing to become more entertaining. In the future I see the Hip-Hop cutlure just being more entertaining than anything else. Even now, nobody's really talking about any real issues. they just talk about themselves and violent,nonchalant things. For me hip hop is defintely entertainment because of the vast amount of newcomers in the industry and the fact that hip-hop has become a worldwide culture, however if something seroius ever happens in America(like Hurricane Katrina) it'll probably switch to a political stance.(Alicia Blumenberg)
I personally don’t feel that hip-hop is alive anymore. To me hip-hop is the only way a black person was able to express them, a sense of freedom of speech. It was our chance to discuss the government, everyday lifestyles, and just life in general through a song. Now hip-hop has basically turned into rap. Old songs that made you jump or bob your head are no longer around. The only songs you can hear now are either sexual or degrading to "African American". What happened to the songs that were used to praise women instead of degrade them. I do believe that hip-hop has a tie into politics in a way, as the presidents keep changing, the world of hip-hop degrades. The question is will hip-hop ever come back, will Barak Obama's view in office give Hip-Hop back it's thrown?
Honestly, I don't think that Hip-Hop has a big connection to politics. I think that it used to back in day when Public Enemy was rapping about "Fighting the Power", but now-a-days it's all about materialistic things or other things along that line. Hip-Hop today is extremely commercial. Every rapper out here has rapped at least once about what they have. However, with the beginning rise of African-Americans in politics I think that Hip-Hop will have a connection with politics in the future. Slowly Hip-Hop artists have begun to make tracks promoting candidates and promoting the idea of voting. They're using their status to get a positive message out there to the public.
We should connect Hip-Hop's rise with politics to a noticeable extent because it plays a factor in one of the motivations of the upbringing of hip hop in countries like Afghanistan and Iraq, who are in turmoil right now with the war on terror. The Iron Shiek for example, one of Mr. Pond's favorite artists, describes his experiences and life so far in colloquial language in a rap song. I think Hip-Hop will be more commercial than it is now not just advertising on one channel, but on many channels because there are many humanitarian companies which own commercial media and if they notice that hip hop bleeds politics, they will definitely sponsor Hip-Hop. Rap should try to at least make an effort to promote change and social commentary if it is not already doing so because the artists' experiences throughout life can lead to another person's upbringing of life from bad to good, such as rap sensation Young Jeezy; who, in his beliefs, feels that his music should motivate and inspire listeners to do better in life. To me, Hip-Hop does not have a strong meaning nor' impact because in the environment which I grew up, this type of music is not really heard throughout my neighborhood. Hip-Hop to me is just a good sound to the ear, while Hip-Hop to future generations and also to generations now is life, mostly in the ghettos of America where it is clearly relateable.
We should connect hip-hop with politics to the extent that we remember that hip-hop was a way to show the U.S. that African Americans have something to say about whats going on.
2.I believe that hip-hop in the future will still hold true to what it means now, because hip-hop is almost always about topics that involve our world. It could get less commercial but that's like saying the world will be free of problems.
3. Rap should promote change and problems in our society, because this reaches out to millions of people, until one decides to do something about it.
4.What hip-hop means to me is a way of expressing topics around the world that don't normally come up when one is talking about world problems.
I would like to answer the first question by saying that we should be able to relate and connect becuase this is the only way that some people are able to hear and get to know politics. This is sad, but its true becuase there are alot of people who do not really now much about politics but try to learn using different ways, and being able to learn and understand politics through music is really intersting. Even though it may not be the best way, connecting hip-hop with politics is the only way that some are able to do so.
Today, some people say hip-hop is still at it’s peak, while others say “hip-hop is dead”. These judgements have to do with distinguishing hip-hop between being real or being commercial. In the future there will always be commercial rappers for entertainment such as Soulja Boy, Lookin’ Boys, and D4L, but on the other hand real rappers who desire to speak about politics such as Nas, or rap about there city and their struggles like Kanye and Common will not live in the shadows of commercial rap. Of course every person who is put on a label won’t put out songs such as “The Message”, but some will. When thinking into the future I do believe that rap should promote change and social commentary especially when it comes to encouraging the youth to do better and fight for change; such as voting. For example Hip-hop icons such as P.Diddy encourages youth to vote by simply wearing a t-shirt as a fashion statement that says “vote or die.” In my generation not to many kids are saying “I want to be like Bill Cosby when I grow up” it’s more of “I wanna make money like Jay Z or look like Beyonce.” Music artist are seen as big influence to what youth want to be in the future, so why not be positive and promote change in violence and poverty stricken communities.
Although that may be true America will always need a dance track to “get down” to, because not only would it make life fun and ease tension created by corrupt government, it would be pretty hard to try and “two-step” to a song talking about teenager pregnancy.
I’m a SUPASTAR and that’s my shine of the day!!!
Hip Hop & Politics are only are only able to be said in the same sentence for now and the time being simply because rap artists today don't really feed into politics, it's mostly about their money, drugs, sex, cars...etc. (Sad to say). They are only able to be said together now because we have Barack Obama running for president and like some of the other students said only if times are extremely bad. Rap should most definitely promote positive changes but too bad it won't! I hate to say it but rap and hip hop sells to the younger generations and we really wouldn't be interested. Sorry! You do have some positive rappers such as Common :-)& Nas (at some points) but they aren't as popular when they make music like that. Because you can't play it at clubs or just on a regular unless you really like that type of music.
I think we should connect hip-hop with politics because the way I see it is that people back then and today rap about the changes they want to see. I know there is also rappers who just rap about money, sex and drugs but that may be because that's what they grew up around which change could of helped prevent. Some rappers today rap about the war going on and the problem with drugs and violence in the streets. Another thing is that sometimes people learn more from music than they do in school which should be of some concern to people who what to help save the world from its problems. If that were to be taken into consideration more rappers would want to start rapping about what's going on and what we should do to change it.
The connection between hip hop's rise and politics is a connection that I would argue is very strong. Throughout history hip hop has played a role and always been involved with politics. From the early rappers who rapped about the struggles of African Americans, police brutality, and oppression from the government to Kanye West's political statement about George Bush. Even now in the present hip hop is stilled connected with politics with rappers making songs that support Obama's campaign.
In my opinion rap will be more commercial. The rappers of today are more in it for the money and less for the people. The don't see the oppurtunity they have. They have a big voice but they don't use it to give out a message that'll will benefit our people or people period.
It should promot change because I believe if anyone is in a position where they have a big voice they should use it in a positive way but I know it will be resigned to simple entertainment.
Hip Hop means alot to me because it's the best type of genre of music I listen to. I love hip hop. To me, hip hop is still something one can relate to and it still can be used for some good purposes like relaxation, information about the world, and other things.
A question of mine that I have is: Do you feel that it's okay for rappers to use hip hop as just a way to become rich? I ask this because with people getting angry at the modern day hip hop and how it's so dead and it's not the same anymore does that mean it's wrong for rappers to use hip hop for a get rich scheme? I feel as those it isn't because most blacks want to gain wealth and if rapping is the way, then why not?
I think that rap music should promote change and social commentary. It got its start from that I think it should continue. nowadays rapper are just so called thugs spittin' about sex, drugs, murder, and money. In addition, it funny how half of these so called rappers ain't never been shot. They glamorize the ghetto and make it seem like being from the worst neighborhoods without having a pot to piss in is something to be proud off. To me it is all mindless garbage with a bangin' beat. Hip Hop got started with politics and the social injustices that Reeves discusses in the first two chapters and i beileve that it should have continued that way.Back in the day people of all ages could relate to "Rapper's Delight" even though it was geared towards the younger generation. Now if you ask most older people what lil wayne is saying on any one of his songs they won't know. In a nutshell, i beileve that the hip hop that reeves described is dead, just like nas and kanye( i think ). In the future hip hop will probably be even worse than it is now. It will only get more explicit, violent, sex crazed, and ignorant.
Rap music has just became mere entertainment and nothing more. It seems to have no meaning, its just another hit to make more money. Unlike the early hip hop when they rap about actual problems people face and were able to relate to. Hip Hop/ Rap today only seems to be about money, cars. girls and clothes. The music today does nothing for black people its just about getting more any way possible and sleeping with many women. It's about a competition of who makes the most money and not the quality of the music. Hip hop today is meaning less its about selling records and not connecting with the people.
I think that hip hop in future generations will be for entertainment. I don’t think rappers will be rapping about things that are going on but rather things that they think people would want to listen to. Hip hop will essential lose its original meaning and generate into a meaning given by the future generation.
I feel that the rappers should rap about things going on in the communities because most young kids listen to music. It could be a great way of causing people to stand up and make change. Hip hop can be used to influence young people’s minds because they take the things said in the songs into deep consideration. I think hip hop could be useful in the future as long as it is used for a good cause and not just for entertainment.
I believe that to no extent should we connect the two. hip Hop and politics to me are two totally different things. I believe that they have their own way of expressing their views and beliefs and that they simply could not be compared.I believe that in the future Hip Hop is not going to be the same. As you can see that example has already been set. People have nothing to Rap about, and they are beginning to pitch alot of crap, that actually has the nerves to sell. Where is Hip Hop going in the Future? Nowhere. I believe that rap should promote change and social commentary, and some rap does that, but moreso it is resigned to simple entertainment. Hip Hop to me is basically, people's cultural values, and how they take things when it comes to there views. Hip Hop is a way of expressing how you feel without worrying about someone else's feelings.
I believe rap should be used to promote change since it is a very popular form of music that a lot of people listen to (especially young people). Even though most rappers today rap only about violence, sex, drugs, and money, they should still try to promote change with their big voice. People say they rap about these negative things because they grew up in these conditions, why would rappers want to keep themselves in these conditions? If rappers grew up in horrible conditions, this should motivate to try and create change. This is why some people believe hip hop is dead, rappers rap about the same thing all the time.
I think rappers believe that they could use their music to promote change, but positive songs that do promote change are never heard or air-time on the radio. The most popular rappers today rap about what the public wants to hear. If songs talking about violence, sex, etc., is getting you a lot of money, then you will continue to rap about the same topics over and over. today, it's only a form of entertainment, and it seems that rappers are in it just to make the money.
To every extent because politics has to do with government and government controls everything about media which is where the idea of censorship comes in. As far as Hip Hop in the future, looking at the way American society is now and the way our youth is going I think it’s safe to say that the music will probably become more commercialized. I think that rap should promote change and social commentary but as I stated before the way society is now, with people only looking out for self, the music will only be for simple entertainment as a means for profit gain. Hip Hop to me and future generations is a culture that we can be both proud of and ashamed of. I think this means that as present and future generations of this culture we should takes strides toward bettering this culture so we can restore “Black Pride”.
1.) I feel that Hip-hop should be connected with politics to the extent that it can be the voice of the people of America. I say this because when hip-hop was brought up it was used to express the feelings or the situations that were going on throughout African Americans lives then.
2.)I feel that rap should promote change because it promotes positive things as well as negative. When a rap is written its written to express current issues within the world and I think if its a positive rap it shall be written and looked at as to promote change. In the current presidential election Barack Obama is looking to make change and he had to make a speech as to why he wishes to do so. That speech can be transferred into a rap and that will be positive change to the world. So I do feel that rap should be able to promote change!!!
3.) For me and my future generations i think hip hop has changed tremendously. The meaning of hip hop I would say. I say this because hip hop, today, is now becoming more of a negative promotion my generation and the younger. Hip-hop is looked at in a whole total different way now. It used in a form to represent women as whores and so forth so I do feel that hip hop today can be a negative influence on my generation as well as the future generations.
I think that we should see hip-hop as a political translator for the streets. Given that there are some less than significant hip-hop songs out there, some rappers are actually socially conscious. Hip -hop will be more commercialized in the future because the music will become less of a phenomenon and become saturated in everyday life. I think that rap should use its grasp on audiences which it gained from just entertainment and promote change in the communities of America. I rap myself so for me hip hop is a big deal and when I don't see it used to its full potential it upsets me. I see hip hop as a vehicle to express myself, teach people, and change the world.
I think it would be an under statement if we did not include Hip Hop with Politics. To me the two topics/ ideas are very much related. Most rappers talk about Politics. In Politics majority of elected officials I see try to get upcoming rappers caught in the system. In the future Hip Hop seems to have no future simply because Hip Hop's meaning is gone, it will in fact become commerical, because people want do Hip Hop from the heart but instead, they will do Hip Hop based on what the media wants it to be. Rap is loosing its meaning, people are rapping about irrelavant topics. To me Hip Hop was a way that people could express themselves, awawy to escape society, and actually become succesful. Now I honestly dont know what Hip Hop will be in the future. Hip Hop isnt dead but I must say it's damn near in a coma.
I personally don’t think that hip hop and politic connect to each other in to many ways. Every so often you’ll hear a rapper speak about their political views I a song or interview, and they do promote voting, but that’s about it. As far as what I see for hip-hop in the future, I think that it will become more commercial. The music has already started becoming meaningless thanks to artists such as soulja boy, Plies, etc. It seems like all rappers want to have clothes and shoes with their names on them these days. That it what I think that the future hold for hip-hop, fashion. I think that rap music should promote change but I also realize that the younger the younger the artists get the more meaningless their lyrics become. Not saying that this is right, but this is just the way that it is. So, to answer that question I think that it will become more of a means of entertainment. I think that hip-hop for my generation is only going to be entertainment and that it will only get worse from here. I don’t think that the times will change and rap music will become meaningful anymore. I’m afraid of what the future holds. I think that I will end up just sticking to R&B.
I personally don’t think that hip hop and politic connect to each other in to many ways. Every so often you’ll hear a rapper speak about their political views I a song or interview, and they do promote voting, but that’s about it. As far as what I see for hip-hop in the future, I think that it will become more commercial. The music has already started becoming meaningless thanks to artists such as soulja boy, Plies, etc. It seems like all rappers want to have clothes and shoes with their names on them these days. That it what I think that the future hold for hip-hop, fashion. I think that rap music should promote change but I also realize that the younger the younger the artists get the more meaningless their lyrics become. Not saying that this is right, but this is just the way that it is. So, to answer that question I think that it will become more of a means of entertainment. I think that hip-hop for my generation is only going to be entertainment and that it will only get worse from here. I don’t think that the times will change and rap music will become meaningful anymore. I’m afraid of what the future holds. I think that I will end up just sticking to R&B.
Hip Hop is America's voice. Many artist such as ludacris,Big Boi, Mary J. and many more speak about what's going on now in the world with the election and gas prices and the struggles black s have everyday and people love thier music and agree with what their saying. I think Hip Hop will become more commercial in the future as well as entertain because after all they all are entainers that has gained great respect from America. Hip Hop is way for artists to get their opinions out and becasue they also go through what regular people go through they can speak for us and be our voice and get our issues out to and the world would be able to relate and understand. Hip Hop in the future would become more competitve because the artist will get better and a lot of different people are now getting exposed to Hip Hop therefore their will be more different opinions out there.
I think the biggest problem people have when referencing Hip Hop is getting it confused with main stream rap. Hip Hop is a social movement where rhymes are layer down to a beat and the MESSAGE of the song is one that reflects the life of a people in a struggle and/or how they overcome it. It's not in one song call every woman a bitch or a whore. Then talk about how much money you got and how you glad you didn't complete high school because saling drugs was more profitable. Hip Hop is a medium to educate. To get people to realize "man, he had it rough - I'm do whatever I can to stay away from that type of lifestyle." Rapper, not Hip Hop artist, are glorying the negative things within our community and painting a picture that African Americans are fine content with the way they are living. That they enjoy living in poverty, not being educated, and selling drugs. Whereas, Hip Hop speaks to the evils of those who have put us in that situation. It fights to shine a lot on out situation so others can see how bad we actually have and calls for CHANGE! Stop confusing Hip Hop with main street rap.
I believe hip-hop has gone commercial and is most likely going to stay that way. People seem to identify with commercial hip-hop, in their struggle to get rich, have lots of cars and and sex. Should rap be promote change and social commentary? Yes, but does it? No. Rappers have the power to make our generation do whatever they so please (for the better or worse).
For the first question, I agree with rae. The African American voice needs to be heard.
2) In the future, I see hip-hop as being more commercial because more and more people will want to be rappers or hip-hop artists, and the current artists will still be selling their name brand stuff.
3) Certain rap should be used to promote change and/or social commentary, unless it is rap that has no meaning what-so-ever.
The rise of Hip-Hop and politics are definitely connected because Hip-Hop was the voice of the Afro-American people through music. African-Americans expressed themselves about situations that occuring in their everyday lives and communities (police brutality, not having a say in the gov't, being placed in poor and dirty neighborhoods, etc). In the future, Hip-Hop will definitely become more commercial because it has already started. Hip-Hop is kind of officially dead because most rappers in today's society have forgotten what true Hip-Hop is. Artists seem less concerned with problems that once occured and still do now and if they do care, they don't show it. Today they rap about sex, money, cars ,jewelry and about how fly or fresh they are. Don't get me wrong! I like some aspects of this new music but I miss Hip-Hop because it was inspirational and not just something to dance to. It was something to think about. The more and more this music changes, the more most of us who listen to it will. We will all forget the struggle of African-Americans to gain a voice. We need to ask ourselves how and why Hip-Hop has changed. I believe in the future, my generation will be stuck on what rappers/MCs are rapping about now.
First of all, I feel that hip-hop has a lot to do with politics because rappers voice their opinions about it through their lyrics; therefore, leaving it up to their intended audience to decide who they should elect or who they should believe. In the future, I do think hip-hop will lose touch with it's roots because look at it today. There are so-called rappers out there doing it just to make money and many will admit to that through their lyrics, but I also think thats why there is an uprise in bootleg music because people are not going to pay 15 dollars for a piece of (excuse my language) crap. Though I do have to give major credit to those rappers who are trying to keep it real. It will be more commercial and more geared towards audiences that they can target and persuade them to believe non-sense.
I think hip-hop should promote change because if it isn't going to be used for change then it will be used to slander the name of some other rapper or talk about b's and h's. Get me? It's always been that way, but I mean sometimes they just need to grow up. Also I do feel it will be mere entertainment at some point in the future because already are they starting to give hip-hop a bad name.
Hip-hop to me I think has a different meaning than it does to others. Most feel that the "stuff" they rap about today is real hip-hop, but its not. My mother was young when she had me so I grew up listening to underground hip-hop, house music, and especially freestyle music which in some way all branched off the same roots. So I think for other generations the real hip-hop will not as important to them as it would be to us, unless we make sure to bring it to surface.
I would argue that hip hop is very political because it is used to convey a feeling about political inequality is just politics in general. My argument can be proven through looking at major events such as September 11th or Hurricane Katrina and the way that rap artists consistently make songs to speak on the inequality that occurred in America during both of them. I believe Hip Hop should do as it pleases. You may be a fan of Common, I’m not. I love Lil Wayne and I can vibe with Young Jeezy and T.I. They things that they say in there songs have meaning to me and they represent the various issues that I am going through. I think that to make a specific criteria as to what Hip Hop music should or should not be takes away the creativity and meaning of the piece. In order for music to be meaningful it does not have to revolve around a social issue, that’s a misconception. I personally believe that hip hop is self expression. It was meant to express things that others are afraid to say, and it upsets me that so many people want to generalize it because it takes away from its substance. Hip Hop needs variety to survive.
Hip-Hop influences the youth of the generation. Through music, people are able to connect politics to the people who may not be so interested in the matter. Hip-hop is and I believe always will be more than just entertainment for the simply fact that politics are talked about through this music. Hip-Hop has its pro’s and con’s of course because we have rappers who rap about being in the “hood” and the struggles where the listeners then begin to believe that being in the hood is a good thing. Although, we also have our great minds who encourage education and voting which is a great thing because it is very difficult to get the youth to be involved with such great and impacting events and why not hit home and have it come from some of our favorite idols. Therefore, I believe hip-hop is more than just entertainment because it is important to get people to be involved with the political “family” to have a better future and make a change, and through hip-hop people are more informed and influenced to get into the political spectrum.
I see hip hop being in the future what it is now, an outlet for people to express themselves when they don't know any other way. When it comes to politics the music will only be a reflection of whats happening in the world the good thing about hip hop is that it don't matter what your race is, if you got something to say than say it hip hop ain;t going nowhere
I don't think politics and hip-hop are connected. I mean there's a connetion as far as people who rap had their own idea about who they think should win or lose, or what politicans should do but everyone has the right to their own opinion and are able to express it in any way. However everyone is untitled to do that so i do not think just because you rap about makes you have a special connect with politics.
I believe that politics doesn’t connect with hip-hop the way that it used to when it first came out. When rap and hip hop first came out it had a message, there was a meaning for it. Today most stars just rap about what people want to hear. Very seldom does hip-hop artist connect their rhymes to politics. I think that if more hip hop artist took the time to incorporate politics into their lyrics then more youth would be aware of what’s happening in politics and wouldn’t be ignorant. But… I think that if all hip -hop artists incorporated politics in their lyrics people would become bored and wouldn’t listen to hip hop as much. In the future I see more hip-hop artist incorporating politics into their music because politics is very important and today there are already a lot of artist incorporating politics into their music. I think don’t think that rap should be entertainment all the time; I think that sometimes it should have meaning. For me, Hip Hop is entertainment. I don’t take it seriously.
I believe we should connect Hip-Hop's rise with politics to a full extent, because the rise has a great influence on society and actions of teens now. If we were to do that, we could get a new perspective on how to view music and interpret it everyday. I believe hip hop will be somewhat commercial, because Common and many natural artists are coming back to the plate and changing things back around. However, this is what we have set our music and preferences to be and the only thing we can really do is keep it going or try to change it over time. I believe that rap should do better for the community, but I don't thinmk it will do so. Just as music is today, many artists just do it for the money, but only few do so for the actual influence of their own community. I believe hip hop will either help us or hurt us in the future-it just depends on what we decide to uphold.
Hip hop was basically the voice of the african americans and should be linked very closle to politics. Hip hop was a way for blacks to be able to express themselves about how they felt about what was going on in politics. Hip hop began to become popular because of its involement in politics and people began to relate to what they were saying about politics.
Hip hop in the future will become more commercial do the fact of the public response to it. People these days tend to like the commercial things and they do not really tend to care for politics in there music. Since people care about fashion and whats hot and whats not, artist will feed off of that and that is where most of there music will come from.
I dont think that we should limit what rap artist can and cannot do. If they will that in there work they can promote change they they do it, if not then they dont. Hip hop to me is a way to express yourself through music
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Hip-Hop started during the time period of Black racism. Hip-hop was originally created for blacks, especially young black adults, to voice their opinion about different situations during their time period. Mainly these situations were relating to the government and it's mistreatment towards Blacks. Since Blacks could not speak publicly about these issues, they would rap about them in songs so that their voice and opinions could get heard. The songs normally would promote encouragement for blacks to keep their heads up and never give up. They would also promote a positive change. Today's Hip-Hop has clearly changed. Although some artist today still try to promote positive change, many believe that it is their meal ticket out of the ghetto. Some see Hip-Hop as an opportunity to make money, and not to make change. In the future, Hip-Hop will become more commercial, because of artist trying to make money and forgetting what Hip-Hop is really about.
I think that hip-Hop has a lot to do with politics; rap and hip-hop are the only genre’s that I hear about talking about politics overall. I believe hip and rap talk more about politics or issues than any other genre. It would be more commercial because hip hop is more of politics and speaks its mind. Nowadays we still hear about hip hop and politics and have been going on for quite a while. Rap should stay the same, don’t change because it still speak out to the public. Hip-hop means speaking out of the mind of an issue and and exploiting it in a message through a song
I think that hip-hop should be connected to politics because people who never would have gotten involved in politics now consider it because they were reached through hip hop artists. Not only African Americans but youth in general who would not have voted now see that the artist that they listen to and love vote and it inspires them to vote. Hip-hop is just a way to get people who would have never been heard speak out for what they want. Music period is very influential. Whether we realize it or not the music we listen to plays a part in the way we act. Hip hop has become very main stream which means more people are being influenced by this music. People now a day are blaming hip hop for the way that black male are viewed. It is also seen as the reason why black men are at their current social status. I think that if the way hip hop music now continues, it will become worse. Hip hop pushes the limit which is why it will always be under scrutiny.
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