Hip Hop: Losing sight of the Message

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Introduction

Hip-Hop artists and producers work tirelessly to put out the best music that they can. They want people to hear and understand their stories and know their truths. In order to do that, people have to appreciate what they’re hearing. What is being said by these individuals is amazing and they put out stories of their childhoods and their struggles. Most of the rappers today are within the black community and the things that they have been through and scene are different than a lot of people who listen to this music, specifically the younger generation. Hip-Hop can be seen as controversial because of this and because parents and guardians try and blame hip hop for influencing their children in bad ways because the don’t understand hip hop. They do not understand the rappers or their lives nor do they want to even try to understand it.

This blog contains two papers that I wrote. One about the use of the n-word. Since these rappers live and come from the black culture, they tend to use the word more frequently than other people and it also has a different meaning. I decided to write about how hip hop has influenced society in everything from actions to words. My second paper I wrote is about sampling. Whether or not it is “lazy” or “creative”. I personally think that it is a creative way for people to make new music out of the classics that made people love hip hop in the first place. Throughout this blog, are many posts that I have found to be related to my topics of discussion.

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I can hear something I love in a piece of media and I can co-opt it and insert myself in that narrative or alter it even

Mark Ronson

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Here’s my second Thought Paper for my AFH course at Stony Brook University. I think that sampling is a great way for producers and artists to put their own spin on tracks that are hot and expand on the art that was made originally.

[npr]

Why do hip-hop producers gravitate toward jazz samples? For a mood, for sonic timbre, for a unique rhythmic component. Swing is a precursor to the boom-bap. “If you’re a hip-hop producer that wants a lot of melodic stuff happening,” pianist Robert Glasper says, “you’re probably going to go to jazz first.”

Glasper has lived in an area of overlap between jazz and hip-hop for more than two decades — and you can hear it in his piano playing, which often drifts into cyclical rhythms akin to a beat-maker’s loops. It’s all one and the same to Glasper: recasting the music of Miles Davis for an R&B audience or rocking live shows with Q-Tip; playing acoustic jazz with his trio or streamlined soul with his Grammy-winning Robert Glasper Experiment.

In this short documentary video, Glasper identifies three jazz samples, from tracks by Ahmad Jamal and Herbie Hancock, that have served as source material for famed hip-hop producers J Dilla and Pete Rock.

‘Jazz Is The Mother Of Hip-Hop’: How Sampling Connects Genres

[urbanubiquity]

SAMPLE OF THE DAY! 

J. Cole, ‘G.O.M.D’, sampled from Branford Marsalis, 'Berta Berta’.

[oldschoolhiphoplust]

Hip-Hop Queens.

REAL ONES.

[oldschoolhiphoplust]

this don’t need no caption.

Heart of New York City Hip-Hop.

[hip-hophistory-blog]

N.W.A. Story

           Some who are familiar with the hip-hop/rap music genre have most likely heard that there have been several crazy stories and moments that surround the environment of this type of music. Some figures that surround this genre are born in cities and built around them. They are used to being around trouble and taking the bad routes to try to get wealthy. As these certain individuals progress with his/her music, they carry these qualities that they had taken from the streets and use it while being involved in the rap environment. You might’ve caught on by now that these rappers are involved in a gang or type of group. Some folks may be familiar with a movie had recently come out on the date of August 14th, 2015 called “Straight Outta Compton”. N.W.A is the group that is being talked about in this documentary film. N.W.A. is a hip-hop group that is from the streets of Compton, California. Member of this group include Arabian Prince, Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, MC Ren, Eazy-E, and DJ Yella. Eazy-E is the individual that started this rap group. Dr. Dre then came along to help improve Eazy-E with his raps. Dr. Dre and Eazy-E would perform at clubs together. Later on, Dre brings in his friend DJ Yella to join the crew as well as Eazy-E adding in Ice Cube and MC Ren to to the group. Before this crew started, Ice cube was apart of a group known as C.I.A. which would later start commotion with N.W.A. Before the name was chosen, the group would practice in Eazy’s garage. The crew thought that they needed a name, so Eazy came up with the name “N.W.A.”. This described their group and where they were from also. N.W.A stands for “Niggas Wit’ Attitudes”. The album Straight outta Compton was released in 1988. The opening track introduced the group which is known by “Straight Outta Compton”. The next track was disfavored by many, and also idolized by many. This track explains racial profiling as well as police brutality. The second song is called “F*** Tha Police”. According to wiki, the group “N.W.A was one of the earliest and most significant popularizers of the gangster rap and West Coast hip hop subgenres, and is widely considered one of the seminal groups in the history of hip hop music”(Wikipedia). This group was around “from about 1986-1991″. This group went through some altercation when individuals starting complaining about the lyrics of the hip-hop songs they were producing. Drugs and crime had a big positioning in the lyrics of their songs, and women felt disrespected from it. This group had an immense hatred for the police. It caused much drama for N.W.A. and slowly started to digress. This hip-hop group has sold over ten million units only in the United States alone!

http://www.agapes-production.com/tag-nwa.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/N.W.A

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCqFuZaAxHM

[hip-hophistory-blog]

“Is Hip Hop Dead?”

        Mickey Hess, the author of “Is Hip Hop Dead?” (August 30, 2007) is a self-critical book suggesting a side to chose whether his hop is dead or not. Mickey develops his thesis with opinions by other rap artists and individuals followed by feedback to argue the topic. The authors purpose for writing this book is to inform and offer two different arguments in order to persuade you to one side of the scale or the other. Mickey Hess is writing this book to formally address the lovers and critics of hip hop music.

        I recommend this book for anyone with a hip hop/rap topic because it shares many individual opinions of several rap artists and more about their views on this argument. The book has many facts as well to do with a hip hop topic.

 http://www.amazon.com/Is-Hip-Hop-Dead-Americas/dp/0275994619

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Check Out my First Thought Paper for my AFH215 course at Stony Brook University. Focused on the n-word and the type of audiences that Hip-Hop attracts 

[hip-hophistory-blog]

Top 5 Controversies

1.Hip Hop music is bad for children

           The top controversial topic today when talking about Hip Hop is the influence. Parents and older adults that don’t know much of anything about hip hop try to blame it for its influence that it has on their children. As their child starts to listen to the music, he/she starts to adapt and absorb the music. Then, something bad might happen and the parents want to blame the music for the child’s actions. Is This style of music actually bad for children? Or is it just something to blame.

 2.Who Controls hip hop

           Most would say that the black culture controls hip hop. The black culture does not have control over hip hop. Companies that control hip hop include Warner Music, Sony Music Group, Universal Music Group, EMI, and BMG. These companies own the majority of music.

 3.Snitching

           I don’t know many people who like snitches. The rap genre has a big deal with snitching. Usually in the hip hop world, if you snitch someone out for killing or hurting someone, you might just be in big trouble. A story on drake happened before he was famous. Someone robbed Drake in Toronto years back. He helped the local cops find this guy. Now he is seen as a snitch to some rappers and listeners.

 4.It’s not the Hip Hop Music; It’s the Hip Hop Words

           Most people who are big fans of Hip Hop are fans of the music and the flow of the music. The problem rap has is the lyrics that are being put out. It is becoming more of a controversy as time goes on. The words and images that are being provided include stereotypes, drugs, and as well as half-naked women… Hip Hop is known for this rather than the music because it is such a big epidemic.

 5.Racism in hip hop

           Most rappers nowadays are within the black culture. The use of the “N” word has changed since older history. The black culture use this word everyday now. A human being is referred to as this “N” word in their eyes, except they spell it with an “a” on the end because “it is not racist”. It is a whole different story if someone who is African-American uses this word rather than Caucasian-American. It is considered racist if a Caucasian says this word even with an “a” like an African-American says it.

http://elitedaily.com/news/politics/stop-blaming-hip-hop-for-racism/966074/

http://www.laweekly.com/music/five-hip-hop-snitching-controversies-2404988

http://www.laweekly.com/music/five-hip-hop-snitching-controversies-2404988

http://www.newafricaradio.com/hip-hop.htm

[hiphopculture-radioshow-blog]

HIP HOP

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Conclusion

Through this course I have been able to grasp a better understanding and create a deeper love for Hip-Hop. Before I took this class, I wasn’t fully aware of where it came from, how and where is started and how much is affects people’s lives. As I got older, I started to really listen to the lyrics that were being said by these MCs and I could hear their message through the language and tone. After taking this course I believe that I can now understand the messages. No matter what I am doing, it usually involves music and Hip-Hop is the most common genre within my playlists. I am extremely happy that I took this course because I feel that this course has cultured me more and had given be a better appreciation for music and how it is made. I was also to learn and recognize how much music speaks to other people and how it influences a lot of young people to act or look a certain way. This course has shown me the Hip-Hop is so much more than just a genre of music. It’s a lifestyle.