Shifts and Changes in Hip Hop and Pop Music Industries

The music industry has been growing significantly in the past decades and becoming more dynamic. The industry has evolved to become one of the leading in terms of revenue generation characterized by shifts in music styles. The popularity of different music genres continues to increase while in some cases, others are experiencing a decline. The evolution of music includes rising and fall of different genres over a specific period and also explore various factors which have been influential in the course of their development. The change of music over time is a mirror of how society is changing, given that it reflects the ideal human life. The evolution of music genres has been characterized by different developments, including diversification and blending of different types of music to form new creations. This essay will focus on the assessment of how hip hop and pop music have changed over time. On the internet and technologically advanced era, there are large sets of music from different genres with new versions of content.

Through the history up to date, the pop and hip hop music has changed significantly in terms of language. For instance, most of the pop artists in the earlier years around the 1970s and 80s composed their music mostly relying on the standard vocabularies of poetry and also others with literal meanings. The rise of hip hop music around the years of the early 90s, there was more diversification in terms of vocabularies. Additionally, there was an increase in the range of topics which the musicians sang. In the following decades, most musicians placed more focus on the aspect of 'self' whereby the word “I’m” appeared more frequently in most songs. However, from a generalized point of view, musicians are just singing about the same or usual human feeling throughout the years in a closer analysis of pop and hip hop music. For instance, in the case of pop music, love remains to be one of the most sang subjects, but the noticeable change is that musicians have shifted to a diverse range of topics. The subjects, in this case, have changed from a simple sappy to a diverse mix of upbeat, including other aspects like partying, lusting as well as losing and living. Generally, most of the materials contained in pop music today are similar to the past but with improved specificity in terms of the subjects. However, from the trends in the hip hop and music genre, every single decade has a specific form of priorities.

The hip hop music in the earlier years of around 1970s, this genre was highly ignored in the mainstream media only to become highly sought both locally and globally in future years. Throughout the years, the African-American music has been highly used in informing the masses within a specific cultural network by use of a unique language which can only be understood by the people in that particular setting. Throughout the years of hip hop evolution, different phrases and words have been integrated and used by various communities using different languages. This development of cultural adaptation has been evident in multiple communities, although it was an African-American form of music.

The language of hip-hop music, as observed from the current trends, includes the extension of the past as well as the recent vernacular. Different words, for example, 'hot,' 'smooth,' and 'cool' among others have been twisted and included in the language of hip hop. In the current structure of hip hop, there is no real message, but only overused songs and musicians are not more concerned about whether they carry any meaning to the fans. One of the main complexities of hip hop just like pop, is language. When hip hop music was being established, apart from the aspect of entertaining people, the music was highly used by the African-Americans to express their social, personal as wells political concerns. This is unlike pop music, which was purely designed for entertainment. However, with the evolution, hip hop music no longer serves those purposes, and it has completely taken a different shape. The creative content which was used to address problems like poverty has been completely replaced with the new modern form of language which includes elements like “bling” despite the continuity of the difficulties which it sought to air. The language used puts more emphasis on material possession at the expense of quality relationships. Nowadays, many hip hop artists have been violating the essence of many words. In the early development stages of hip hop music, the artists had a high level of pride in possessing an extensive vocabulary list and having the freedom of using different words creatively. In the current situation, consonants and vowels are either dropped or even misspoken with the primary aim of forming a consistent rhyme and try to make it fit in the specific song formula. Therefore, the language which the past lyricists had incorporated in the hip –hop music completely lost the essence.

Generally, the current structure of hip hop music has created a different perspective on the people in terms of language. However, critiques cite that hip hop is slowly losing meaning and is not making a substantial contribution to society, including the development of the language. If this genre reverted to the original formation and used creative language to express issues of social importance like in the past, it can remain viable for a more extended period. Unlike pop music which has experienced specificity with diversification in terms of vocabularies, hip hop music has completely overhauled them with the main aim of achieving a particular rhythm. From the lyrics of both genres in the current situations, it appears like people have become contended and appreciate the issues related to drug abuse and obscene type of language in the past decades.

Consequently, over the years, pop music has shifted from the original bands and groups to the full involvement of the sole artists. Additionally, there have been heightened collaborations among different artists from varying generations and also races. For example, one of the noticeable pop music collaborations is the 'FourFiveSeconds' which is produced by Rihanna, Paul McCartney, together with Kanye West. The act of collaborating is prevalent across the entire music industry. Hip hop music, on the other hand, is regarded as one of the topmost leading genres in terms of collaboration. Many hip-hop artists are coming to limelight through the support of what can be termed as the collectives. Hip hop music artists usually seek their powers from the idea of numbers through collaboration. In the past, hip hop music was not dominated by solo artists like in the current situation, and there used to be many groups like the example of 2 Live Crew. The essence of collectiveness represents a significant shift in the entire hip hop genre as well as the music industry. As it is used to be the case, the music labels no longer have spare budgets for the development of artists which facilitated in the career growth of the musicians and expansion of the fan base. Through the collaborations, especially with famous artists, the upcoming musicians are in a position to scale their career and gain significant success. The idea collaboration, which is highly appreciated in the current music industry is a direct reflection of how the culture in modern days has shifted throughout the years. There is need to understand the contribution of the generational differences which have significantly contributed in the combining of diverse populations as well as ideas in a bid to develop new and more stronger items than in the past years.

Technology has significantly changed both the pop and hip hop in diverse ways. The technology has enhanced the production of music. One of the most used technology throughout the industry is the auto-tune. Autotune is highly used in the music industry by artists more frequently hence changing the way people perceive most of the songs. This development has brought different outcomes in different genres of music with others like hip hop gaining more popularity. This technological technique means that music has completely lost the natural essence of pop music and other genres, given that the voices of the artists have been manipulated. Through the facilitation of internet, there has also been a change of how people access the music given that there are many platforms which serve that given purpose. The pop music, for instance, ceased from being specifically for adults as well as children and currently is dominated by teenagers. Younger musicians are developing a new form of music and become more appreciated by the teenage majority fans since they feel more relaxed due to the close age bracket.

The effect technology has also been experienced across the hip hop music genre. This includes how the music is produced and means of consumption. The idea of compressing music in more convenient formats like MP 3 has enhanced the methods of managing the music, unlike in the past when it was stored in large disks. Digital recording has brought more people in the hip hop genre industry and enhanced their capabilities to produce quality music. However, the technology has the impact of creating oversaturation in the music industry. Analysts cite that the new technology has disadvantaged the hip-hop culture more than it has helped in its advancement. However, the impact of technology on hip-hop music is inevitable, given that music technology keeps on advancing throughout the years. The main concern, in this case, should be the means of integrating technology in a way that the crucial elements of the hip-hop culture remain intact.

The revolution cycle of the music is closely linked with the contractions and also the expansion of different musical styles. To understand the change of music over time, it is crucial to factor in elements like how the musicians have been able to modify and also imitate the existing forms of music when coming up with new songs. This process also involves incorporation of the possible constraints and the production dynamics of a new song. The outcomes of the changes in both hip-hop and pop genres show that there has been a gradual shift in music in the last decades. The trajectories of both genres have been by far and large similar with only small noticeable differences in the course of the revolution. In the 21st century, most of the pop lyrics have different segments of hip hop. The idea of collaboration exhibited in both genres has facilitated the change. Additionally, the artists have transformed the type of language which was initially used in the music. Consequently, the collaboration between the artists from both genres has contributed to the production of multifaceted songs which have rap lyrics and as well as the pop chorus. Through the aid of technology, there has been a significant change in the production trends of music over the decades. These approaches have significantly contributed to the shift in music and attain the current design.

There have been changing hip-hop trends in Australia with the genre becoming more recognized than in the past. Given the over dominance of the 'Aussie hip hop' in Australia, the hip hop artists have been confronted by different dynamics, including conforming to specific set of expectations. In earlier decades, artists of hip-hop in Australia had to do alteration of the genre and find mechanisms of making it more authentic to their fans. The Australian hip-hop rappers, in this case, had to doctor the music to their accent and integrate the lyrics with their design of lifestyle with the inclusion of the topical issues in the country. The Australian artists have struggled to elevate the hip-hop music in the country to the current level where it is highly recognized. More Australian musicians are coming on board to explore the hip-hop genre. Australia, over the years, has been having a quality scene of pop music, and large numbers of people in the country are embracing the genre. The pop music has also continued to thrive and no imminent threat of facing recession. This change in the uptake of pop music can be linked to the extinction of barriers between different genres.

Conclusion

From the analysis, it is clear that there have been substantial changes in both pop and hip hop music from different dimensions. Both genres have experienced shifts in terms of language throughout the decades but from different perspectives. Pop has grown in terms of vocabulary capacity while that of hip hop has significantly deteriorated. Although most of the fans especially the younger people are interested with music characterized by obscene language, than it was in the past, the idea of collaboration in both pop and hip hop music has aided in the production of quality music as well as the appreciation of diversity. From a comprehensive outlook, it is a direct representation of the modern day style of culture through the facilitation of technology. In Australia, both pop and hip hop music is becoming more prevalent than in the past with a growing fan base.