Hip-Hop Can’t Stop

From the first disc jokey (DJ) spinning and scratching his records, to the current pioneers of the movement, the presence of Hip-Hop has transcended beyond borders, as well as racial and socioeconomic barriers.

Hip-Hop music remains a significant influence, and despite claims that this urban-based genre corrupts minds by degrading women and praising violence, Hip-Hop music cannot be silenced.
 

Rap and Hip-Hop

To evaluate Hip-Hop culture, it must first be understood.
While many classify Rap and Hip-Hop as selfsame, there is one fundamental difference.

In the documentary The MC: Why We Do It, KRS One, an early pioneer of Hip-Hop, assesses that, in general, Rap music, derived from Hip-Hop, is less focused on the purity of life and social equality, and more about power and fame.

“An emcee (MC) is a representative of the Hip-Hop culture. A rapper is a representative of corporate interest. An MC can be a rapper, but a rapper will never be an MC,” he said.

Rap gives people what they want, whereas Hip-Hop gives people what they need.Regardless, Rap and Hip-Hop are more similar than they are different.
 

Hip-Hops Universal Influence

Hip-Hop began in the inner-cities of New York in the late 1970s, as an alternative to the violence and the cycle of killing, proclaimed Guru from duo Gang Starr in The MC: Why We Do It.

It consisted of 4 elements: DJ-ing, graffiti art, b-boying (break dancing), and finally, MC-ing. This was Hip-Hop culture.

Large crowds gathered at local parks and vibed to the sounds of the DJ mixing his records. It unified people.

Ultimately, the power of the microphone overshadowed the other elements.
By the early 1980s, Hip-Hop music focused more on the troubles of the inner-city youth, ranging from poverty, violence, drugs, and other hardships.

Songs like “The Message” by Grandmaster Flash portrayed the every day struggles of the inner-cities by using raw sensory details in their lyrics, such as “Rats in the front room, roaches in the back. Junkies in the alley with a baseball bat.”

By the 90s, Rap was emerging as a more fierce, less-witted, gangster genre, depicting a life of power and fame, with songs like “B*tches ain’t Sh*t” by NWA.

Political activist, C. Dolores Tucker, like politician Bob Dole, worked effortlessly to eliminate explicit language in Rap and Hip-Hop, but ultimately, all efforts were in vain.

2Pac Shakur took Hip-Hop to an unprecedented level. Songs such as “Dear Mama”, “Keep Ya Head Up,” and “Changes” reached a world-wide audience that no rapper or MC had ever accomplished.

He broke records in album sales during the 90s that current artists cannot emulate nowadays.

More importantly, 2Pac spoke to the oppressed masses all over the world, and this paved way to Hip-Hop being adopted in foreign countries.

Hip-Hop in the Middle East

The article “Middle East Hip-Hop Revolutionizes White American Rap Sputters” argues that Hip-Hop is essential in the grassroots movements in the Arab revolutions (www.policymic.com).

Like early Hip-Hop in America, current Arab artists, such as Tunisia’s El General, use this method to rally the masses against the oppressor(s).

Author Cory Davis, wonders why Rap in America turned so superficial, whereas Hip-Hop’s roots are fresh in other parts of the world.
 

Why Hip-Hop Won’t Die

Hip-Hop isn’t what it used to be. Rap distracts the masses instead of inspiring.

Artists like Nas, Common, Mos Def, The Roots, Immortal Technique, are, however, testaments that Hip-Hop’s roots will never die, despite rappers who solely yearn for power and fame.

California State University, Monterey Bay student and MC, Evander Blakely, or Ruger Rooney, said Hip-Hop gave his community a voice.

“Hip-Hop gave the people in my neighborhood a voice, to communicate what goes on to those who aren’t from there.”

Originally from Compton, California, Evander strives to return home to educate the under-served, as a teacher and as an MC.

As long as minorities in American inner-cities continue to suffer inequalities, Hip-Hop will never stop voicing their struggles.