What is Hip-Hop?
To me, hip-hop is a culture. This has been argued time and time again. I find that no matter what the melody is, in order for a song to e classified as hip-hop, one must present a message that has one or more elements, such as: soulful, strong-willed, sad, happy, prevail. Most importaingly the ability to not only tell a story but also awaken your soul and make you feel that story to the core with every word, beat and vibration.
Songs I’ve never heard before:
1. Eric B & Rakim (1987) “I Aint No Joke”
This song was about how everyone who doesn’t understand the artist nor supports him still manages to take all of his own ideas and puts their name on them. The singer is stating that he isn’t the joke because he’s the one who has all of the original ideas.
2. N.W,A. “Express Yourself”
Similar to song number one, the rapper states, everyone’s “perpetratin.” The music isn’t for the “pop-chart” it’s just about expressing yourself and not trying to “be what society wants you to be.” That’s not reality. The song also says…Be who you are… It’s not all about the money.
3. Afrika Bambaataa “I Go On”
This song is all about feeling the vibe in your bones. Everything else can wait. When you’re feeling the music all that really matters at that moment is getting up and dancing.
4. MC Lyte “I Go On”
I could relate to this song and by the end of it I had more respect for the rapper. It’s about how nothing can stop her (the artist). She’s never letting a “punk” get the best of her. She’s not going to end up in the news for rape etc. She uses her head which is why she goes “on and on and on and on….” She doesn’t let a man define who she is.
5. The Roots “You Got Me”
This song is about a man who is hardly home with his girlfriend due to traveling with his band on tour; therefore causing himself to worry about his girlfriend going out on him. The girlfriend says she doesn’t even have time for temptation with school; much less he shouldn’t listen to his home boys because she is his. The only thing to do is speak to each other about their hesitations.
Videoes I’ve never seen before:
1. KRS “MC’s Act Like They Don’t Know”
The whole video focused on the rapper rapping and throwing his arms around. He talks about how MC’s don’t know how serious or legit their job is. Music is about the lyrics and having respect through the lyricism skills.
2. Whodini “One Love”
I noticed that right off the bat that the focal point of this video is that it is set in NYC. Throughout the entire music video the camera would show the NY skyline with the twin towers or another scene in central park. This song is about how love is different than “like.” Love is when you and another person shared the same feeling even when that person isn’t present. In the video all the guys were portrayed as playboys in the past but now they know they’re lucky to have just “one love.” The song also says that men shouldn’t be so greedy with material things and lust where they make the woman number two in their life.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtUIUebrod8
3. Cypress Hill “Insane in the Membrane”
The setting in this music video was set up as a concert show. Throughout the entire video it showed the band as the main focal point. When it didn’t show the band the camera would occasionally film the crowd (audience) with everyone’s hands in the air jumping up and down.
4. Public Enemy “Can’t Truss It”
This music video was filmed in all back and white. It opened up the first scene with African American slaves migrating from place to place. The video compares blacks from being in slavery to working in a blue-collar work settling today. The video portrays that when something good starts to happen, you can’t trust it, regardless of what it is. The main focal point in this video is that in every scenario it shows that the blacks are always getting beat down one way or another by a white man.
5. Slick Rick “Street Talkin”
The majority of this music films the rappers rapping in a nice car. The focus point that remains consistent through and through is the heavy emphasis on money. Every scene is expensive, portraying the rap artists buying new suites, jewelry etc. I did notice that this was the first video out of about a dozen that I viewed for this assignment that shows a link to slutty girls and expensive alcohol with the nightlife setting that comes along with them.
Radio Stations
The two hip-hop radio stations I listened to were Hip-hop Nation on XM Radio as well as Heart & Soul, which is another hip-hop station that can be found on XM.
You can also find an influence of hip-hop in the media through MTV. The TV show, “Cribs.” It influences people’s perception on how hip-hop artists live. I noticed the other day when I was watching it that there was a clear blanket on all the homes that were owned by hip-hop artists. Meaning, Every home was extremely large as well as had all of the “bells and whistles” to go along with it, especially when it came to unnecessary things that cost more than most people’s homes. The public is then trained to think that every successful hip-hop artist blows all of their money on mindless objects, generally neither appreciating nor valuing money like one should.
Things if any that have come from hip-hop and become part of mainstream culture? The word “grill” for one’s gold or silver diamond covered teeth.
Ex. True pimped out gangstas party in their “grillz.”
Back in the Day
When my parents were young, my mom said she listened to:
1. The “flower child” genre aka sonny & Cher as well as some others….
2. “Phycodelic rock” genre which included The Beatles
3. Wasn’t sure what the genre was for the Carpenters and Barry Manilow
After listening to all five songs I realized that in each one there were real-world scenarios and points being made. Though the five that I listened to were all considered extremely “old school” they had a positive message. I was more impressed with how they got their message across without any swearing within their lyrics.
I was surprised and intrigued by the lessons that I learned through listening to these hip-hop songs. For example:
Lesson 1, song 1- People may joke about you because they are too ignorant to understand you but it doesn’t matter because the majority of the time, when one is eccentric, it means that they are original. The majority of the public is made up of followers. People will begin to copy your original ideas and put their name on it when it becomes socially “cool.”
Lesson 2, song 2- Similar to lesson one, everyone is a perpetrator. True rappers don’t write their music for the “pop-charts,” true rap artists express what they feel and believe in. It’s not all about a paycheck. Don’t put yourself in a box, be who you are.
Lesson 3, song 3- Live in the moment. There can be a million different things going on around you but if you don’t take a minute to step back and enjoy what it is then you could miss out on a special moment that you may never get back.
Lesson 4, song 4- It is ok to be an independent woman. Women don’t need men to define one’s self.
Lesson 5, song 5- Don’t listen to gossip. The woman singer tells her alleged boyfriend to forget the rumors he has heard from his homies. If what they have is real, they should talk to one another and not listen to outside sources that have been trying to sabotage them since the beginning.
Video Reflection:
Out of the music videos I watched, I couldn’t help but notice that the majority of the videos only focused on the rapper or singer themselves. I don’t know if this was something that everyone just did in the past? Again, the hip-hop videos I viewed were older ones consisting of very early 90s. However, when comparing them to videos today, that’s what stood out to me mostly. The more present videos, I feel like, are more concentrated on portraying the story that’s being told through film. Though you may not know what the song is about or know what the rap artists are saying, one can usually put the pieces together through the song’s music video; Whereas past videos most likely only show and focus on the rapper rapping to the camera.
Hip-Hop Representation
Overall I think the state of hip-hop in reference to representation and images is sometimes misrepresented. Before I thought of hip-hop under the umbrella of gangster and mostly “ghetto” with the way hip-hop artists speak with slang jargon as well as dress with the 2-pac shirts and gold chains. After looking further into the notion of “hip-hop” I see more to it than that. The meaningful messages that many hip-hop artists get across as well as their lifestyles are completely different then what I’ve been picturing in my head. I don’t think it’s possible to limit hip-hop or put the term in one box. I think hip-hop is very flavorful and I have a more profound respect for the art of it and its culture.
