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What Needs To Be Kept In Order for Hip-Hop to Be Real
Keeping hip hop real or staying right with it and its roots can be traced back to the South Bronx over four decades ago. Hip hop’s originality can be evaluated through its pillars, which comprise rap, breakdance, DJing, and graffiti. Its content mainly addressed the economic constraints experienced by minority groups that earned low wages in New York. The challenges experienced comprised the high cost of living due to gentrification, social challenges such as racism against Black-Americans and Latinos, and the complex in industrial prison.
According to my assessment, I support the fact that hip-hop authenticity is achieved by cultivating quality music involved in an open and honest conversation with listeners concerning their perceptions and life experiences. To show that the music, hip hop, has not been corrupted by some musicians and essential record labels, it has to maintain its originality. To understand this better, Rhymesayer in “Save Yourself,” Aesop Rock says, “Promise me you gon’ … recognize, what you holding ain’t really broken?” Blue Scholars, in their research, feels that hip hop culture has not died, but it has continued to grow. The only difference is that the music has transformed from an independent producer scene.
Responding to Yifan Hu, I agree that hip hop music in most if not all cases should reveal meaningful thoughts or ideas. For many years, the relationship between hip hop music and politics has not been constructive. Both parts have been addressing each other instead of them talking to each other. The political class viewed hip hop artists as criminals. On the other hand, hip-hop rappers viewed politicians as Americans who did not understand the realities experienced in urban areas. However, in recent years, both groups have been seen working together, indicating that politicians are concerned with minority communities. Besides, the fact that hip-hop culture has acknowledged the political process suggests that they have now begun to discover their power politically.
Works Cited
Watkins, Samuel Craig. Hip hop matters: Politics, pop culture, and the struggle for the soul
of a movement. Beacon Press, 2005.
Stovall, David. “We can relate: Hip-hop culture, critical pedagogy, and the secondary
classroom.” Urban Education 41.6 (2006): 585-602.