The Good And The Bad Associated With Hip-hop

Name Tutor Course Date The Good or Bad of Hip Hop Music Hip-hop is a music genre that was originally developed by the African Americans in the 1970s in New York. The multi-cultural exchange between African Americans and young immigrants from the Caribbean formed hip-hop as culture and music. The culture entailed stylized rhythmical music, commonly supplemented by rapping, rhythmical and rhyming speech that was vocalized. Additionally, it also comprised different practices such as graffiti writing, rapping, deejaying, breakdancing and hip-hop music (Hoyler and Mager 237). Hip-hop culture initially began in the undeveloped metropolitan backgrounds of Harlem and South Bronx in New York (Hoyler and Mager 237). In 1970, block parties were increasingly popular in New York, mostly among the African Americans and Latino youth in the Bronx. In these events, the first hip-hop DJs could play their different pre-recorded musical mixes using two turntables, an audio mixer and speaker boxes, and then the rappers and MCs would back up such mixes lyrically. Eventually, the hip-hop music became popular (Hoyler and Mager 237). Hip-hop started evolving following the wide availability and affordability of the sampling technology and drum machines, which increased the simplicity of music production, reaching a wider audience both at the national and international levels. In 1979, hip-hop music became the mainstream genre. Later, in the 1980s, the genre diversified and developed more complex styles, such as the fusion of hip-hop with electro. The proliferation of electro and hip-hop records made producers and beat makers gain new beat making abilities. The newly available drum machines made this possible. Finally, in the 1990s, hip-hop spread globally, with provocative “gangsta rap”. This paper examines the good and the bad associated with hip-hop. The Good of Hip-Hop Music Unifies and Provides Education Rap music has been used to bring diverse populaces together globally. Initially, it started as a small subculture amongst the African Americans, Latino youths, and immigrants from the Caribbean, but eventually became a phenomenon of worldwide culture. Furthermore, it cuts across the global culture. This makes hip-hop unify millions of youths across the globe. Globally, hip-hop music is a channel where people speak freely about their views on politics and social matters. This engages the teenagers and enhances their alertness as well as keeping up with the issues affecting their lives such as political issues. As a result, this educates them by increasing their awareness of the issues they face in the society. According to Hoyler and Mager, hip-hop led to the creation of community centers and youth clubs for the youth in the respective communities (238). Most importantly, this brought them together and educated them on aspects of the genre. They discussed ways in which they can make positive changes in the society. For instance, by creating awareness of racial discrimination. Source of Hope Some rappers usually rap about their daily encounters in life while growing up (Hoyler and Mager 249). After achieving their success, they usually pass the message of overcoming obstacles and rising to the top. Passing this information, gives the youth undergoing through similar encounters some hope in their endeavors. For example, when a rapper raps about how he made it in life despite living with a drug addict parent. Eventually, this gives a teenager living in the same situation some anticipation. According to Hoyler and Mager, teenagers in the community centers were able to communicate about their personal experiences (249)....