Impact of Hip Hop Generation on American Life

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Impact of Hip Hop Generation on American Life, How and Why Did it Evolve as it Did
Part I
America is a metropolitan country with various cultures, races, and ethnic groups. The pre-colonial and colonial era was characterized by the different treatment of the country's diverse groups, a habit that continued post-colonization. The most affected groups were of Asian and African origin, who fought hard to end discrimination by the native Americans and the governments of the land. The African Americans, particularly, faced discrimination, injustices and were mistreated. They exhibited strong body structures, which subjected them to slavery, working for long hours in the fields of the wealthy native Americans. The injustices continued until the rise of hip-hop music within the last four decades to protest the injustices as hip hop became a means of airing their grievances. However, the African Americans struggled hard to gain recognition, pushing their agenda through different avenues, including hip hop music.
Hip-hop generation is a suitable transformative economic issue to discuss because of its impact in the fight against discrimination of the black race and subsequent transformation into a livelihood source to the hip hop artists and their families. This community attributes vast achievements to the music genre in fights against racial discrimination and their economic prosperity. The hip-hop genre has a strong global influence, which necessitates research on its history, impact on American life, and its evolution.
This paper breaks down this topic into three subsections to help the reader understand it well. First is a summary introduction of hip-hop music to introduce the reader to the genre's background and prepare them psychologically. The second section is the impact of hip hop in American life and beyond and how and why hip hop evolved as it did. I aim to show how hip hop's rise led to reduced discrimination and racial injustices among African Americans.
I intend to use the following resources to support my research;
* Chang, Jeff. Can't stop won't stop: A history of the hip-hop generation. St. Martin's Press, 2007.
* Morgan, Edmund S. American Slavery, American freedom. WW Norton & Company, 2003.
* PQ, Rory. "Hip Hop History: From The Streets To The Mainstream | Icon Collective." Icon Collective College Of Music, 2019, https://iconcollective.edu/hip-hop-history/.
* Saddler, Naia, and Professor Markle. Has Hip Hop Changed Overtime?. 2019, https://commons.trincoll.edu/groovy/hip-hop-done-harm-to-communities/. Accessed 25 Feb 2021.
* Boyer, Holly. "Hip hop in the United States." Reference & User Services Quarterly 55.3 (2016): 215.
* Penney, Joe. "The Trump Administration Keeps Targeting African Immigrants - The Mail & Guardian." The Mail & Guardian, 2020, https://mg.co.za/africa/2020-11-03-the-trump-administration-keeps-targeting-african-immigrants/.
Part II: Research Paper
Introduction
Hip-hop has a unique history compared to other genres. Its initial purpose was to champion justice and equality before later being commercialized through a gradual transformation. Hip-hop emerged as a crucial trend in the last decade of the 20th century, the 1990s. During this time, hip-hop culture emerged as a socioeconomic champion tool fighting historical injustices against the US's black race. Among other freedom-fighting tools, the African Americans used music to fight discrimination, turning music into an excellent protest tool that bore good fruits (Boyer, 215).
Hip-hop's inception dates back to the 1960s, but its full development came in the 1990s. The composition of the genre entails vulgar language, which raised concerns over its legitimacy. Nonetheless, it marks a national and international movement, able to mobilize the community. Factors like the Cross Bronx Expressway construction contributed to hip hop development indirectly. It subjected African Americans to suffering through displacement and loss of jobs, forcing them to improvise on ways to voice their problems. Until today, hip-hop culture has impacted American life in a greater dimension. However, it is important to explore how and why the culture evolved. Therefore, this research explores the impact of hip-hop culture in the US and the reasons for its growth.
Background of Hip-Hop Culture
Hip-hop came into existence in the 1960s in the Bronx, but its popularization peaked in the 1990s. The Cross Bronx Expressway construction in the late 1960s caused several African Americans' displacement, leaving them helpless. The construction only escalated the existing socioeconomic problems and worsened the relationship between the native Americans and the African Americans displaced to the south of the Bronx. The Americans refused to accommodate the blacks in the northern part, and up to 600000 blacks lost their jobs in the south, increasing the region's crime rate (Chang, 60). The unemployed people had no means of livelihood, and soon crime rate increased in the South Bronx. The unemployment led to a rise in slum landlords, gangs, and drug wars, leading to hip hop music emergence.
The mid-1970s fueled hip hop spread because it clashed with other musical compositions, especially in lyrical delivery. The controversies emerged about the target audience and to whom the musicians were trying to sell the music. The artists and the communities found common ground in the hardships they were going through. Therefore, they supported the artists through consuming their music, which criticized the whites for marginalizing the blacks. This way, they worked together to grow hip-hop culture among the black community in the US.
The 1990s marked the climax in the development of the hip-hop culture. The communities living in the Bronx soon adopted music to express their anger toward the government. By the late 19th century, hip hop was about criticizing the government, silencing black politics, racism, and social conditions. In his book, Chang notes that hip-hop culture went back to serve its original purpose in the 1990s since it voiced the suppressed black community's anger, making it a form of resistance against white supremacy (Chang, 63). The unique function of hip hop in fighting for justice led to its spread, with the blacks getting recognized and treated well by the whites and the government.
Impact of Hip Hop on The American Life
The inception and acceptance of hip hop have impacted life in American society and beyond. The African Americans enjoy their rights in the US even though some regimes and whites do not acknowledge it entirely. President Donald Trump's policy was America first, a policy approach that seemed to discriminate against other ethnic races. During his tenure as the 44th President of America, several Africans were deported to Africa (Penney). Despite these isolated racial discrimination cases, hip hop has promoted social awareness in the black American community, redefined cultural norms, justice in various races through its activism role, and improved living standards through earning revenue.
Hip hop is popular among African Americans, who have been profiled as criminals for a long time. This stereotype developed among the African Americans when they had no option but to steal to survive. It was a necessary evil then. The stereotype and the initial purpose of hip-hop culture have made most people think that African Americans are criminals who should not hold descend positions in society or even be considered a presentable race (Saddler and Markle). However, hip-hop commercialization has ensured that the notion is brushed off and the American society embraced other races. The white people realized that hip-hop is a means to survive and began enjoying rap music. But this has not been the case since not all whites embrace all races.
America has faced several cases of racial discrimination in contemporary life. The most recent is George Floyd's killing in the hands of Minneapolis police officers who were caught on camera choking him despite not resisting arrest. Floyd's death sparked an anti-racial discrimination campaign under the hashtag black lives matter. People globally cursed the killing and calling for legal action against the murder. Until today, the English Premier League still carries on with the campaign by letting all players take a knee to mean that the league does not give space for racism. Floyd's murder indicates that hip-hop's role in enforcing racial acceptability has not reached its full course. Artists should put more effort into educating the public on the need for fairness, love, and unity despite the races. Already, Lil Baby released a song that talks about the aftermath of Floyd's death. This is a constructive route to take for other artists.
The hip-hop generation has contributed a lot in changing the country's injustices, leading to a fair representation in most sectors. The African Americans and Asians particularly faced discrimination with the regimes denying them political representation. Laws criminalizing white people's interaction and the blacks existed with the blacks and the whites using separate transport buses. It is a crime for black people to use buses, washrooms, and restaurants labeled "whites only." This attracted riders who joined civil movements to fight equality (Morgan, 84). The fruits of the riders who suffered and others died have been enforced through rap music. Therefore, rap music has championed equality and justice in the US, leading to reasonably satisfying results.
Hip hop has promoted social awareness in the US. The country, as earlier mentioned, has registered several cases of social injustices with racism and other discrimination instances. This is because the white people thought African Americans are lesser people because of their skin color; hence, it was right to mistreat them (Saddler and Markle). The problem is with the country's slavery which existed during the pre-colonial era where blacks worked for the whites. Generations were brought up thinking that was the routine; hence they adopted the discrimination practice from their forefathers. It is the reason the regimes upheld the ...