Essays on Hip Hop

Hip Hop, which is a style of music featuring rap, originated 45 years ago, on August 11, 1973, at 1520 Sedgwick Avenue in South Bronx. It was a simple back to school party thrown by a girl and her brother, Kool Herc, was the DJ...

A subculture created in 1970’s South Bronx of New York, sparked a worldwide change in the perception of the Black individual. Created out of a need for self-expression, freedom and a longing for lack of restrictions that was not often found in a society created...

I chose to do my project on the evolution of rap music. Rap is a leading genre of music and a large part of American culture and my own life. Therefore, I wanted to bring awareness to the genre, how it came to be, and...

As stated in the dictionary, “Hip hop is a style of popular music of US black and Hispanic origin, featuring rap with an electronic backing.” Now, although that may be true hip-hop is more than a musical genre. It is also a way of life...

Kendrick Lamar’s third studio album, To Pimp a Butterfly, works as a continuation of black poetic literary traditions and its uses to document the Black American experience. To Pimp a Butterfly, has pushed Lamar’s status as a leading voice in the new generation of hip...

In the mid to late 1980s the cultural shockwave known as hip hop with its roots of rap and “gangsta culture” flourished in the economic and social insanity that paralysed American cities and neighborhoods. The form of music was a cultural response from the neglected...

Rap has changed and evolved since its birth in the late 1970s. It is a very popular genre in music where the rapper recites words rhythmically over a prerecorded instrumental backing. It had a start in the United States of America but since then has...

In today’s modern Hip-Hop, it has become commodified and evolved into an inappropriate type of culture. Hip hop has more of a focus on negative messages rather than positive influence. Teenagers are receiving severe consequences for the negative actions they want to pursue since they...

The Rodney King trial and verdict was a reflection of the injustices that African Americans of the West Coast had not ceased to face. However, this was the first instance in which such an incident was captured on video and captivated nationwide attention. Police brutality...

Robert Bryson Hall is an American rapper, singer, songwriter and music producer better known by his stage name Logic. Coming from a broken family, he has had unfortunate experiences as a child. Growing up, he witnessed his brothers selling drugs, his father buying those drugs,...

A 1999 mixtape entitled Falling on Your Arse recently surfaced online and it features DJ Eddie Too Tall (Eddie Tracy) and rapper Tommy No. 1, who is world famous actor Tom Hardy. The {Dark Knight} actor revealed in 2011 that he began rapping at the...

If you consider yourself a fan of rap music, you have probably screamed the lyrics of A$AP or Kanye or Drake in your car, but have you ever realized exactly what you are saying when you do it? A large part of rap music’s appeal...

For many of us, music forms an integral part of our lives. For instance, the type of the music we listen goes beyond entertainment to shaping our personalities. With several infectious grooves and stray lyrics, we can filter what we think, hear, see and understand...

The genre of rap and hip-hop music has been a fundamental part of American “black culture” for decades. Since coming to America on slave ships, black people have always had outlets of song and various forms of music through which to express the incessant burden...

Seattle is not considered as cosmopolitan as other large American cities like New York City or Los Angeles. Therefore, it is surprising that such a large portion of current hip-hop music and culture originates from Seattle. While I knew of artists out of Washington state...

In the past few years, hip-hop as a genre has skyrocketed in popularity, even surpassing the popular reputation of rock. According to the end-of-year report published by Nielsen Music, “hip-hop represents 24. 5 percent of all music consumption in the US – the largest share...

In the article, Beyoncé, Sex Terrorist: A Menace for Conservatives and Liberals Alike” by Noah Berlatsky, Noah covers the differences and similarities between conservative Bill O’Rielly and liberal Bell Hooks on what kind of example Beyoncé is setting with her actions. Throughout this article Noah...

In the book and the performance showed by Danny Hoch, he used unique ways of solo performance to show communications between different hierarchy people in New York City. Hoch describes 10 different characters who have their own characteristics with different ethics and backgrounds in order...

Did you know Hip-Hop music was greatly inspired by Gospel music? When slaves came to America from Africa, they brought much of the culture with them, including their music. This music flooded into the streets in the 1900s and evolved into Hip-Hop. Hi everyone, my...