Introduction
Hip-hop music, also referred to as rap music, is a category of popular composition developed in the US by African Americans with efforts reinforced by Latin Americans. The genre consists of a style of music accompanied by rapping, a chanted rhythmic speech, and vigorous dancing (Forman 158). Hip-hop music was started as a development of hip-hop culture that combined deejaying, break dancing, and emceeing. Graffiti elements, such as painting, are included in hip-hop culture. The other part of hip-hop culture is the consciousness of morality that artists and scholars acknowledge. This essay presents a critical argument on hip-hop music and culture in society by evaluating the gender representations, racial dynamism, and how technology has changed hip-hop culture.
Hip-Hop Music and Culture from the Point of View of Gender Representations
During the introduction of the hip-hop culture, especially the music, the rap field was marked by gender segregation where male artists seemed to dominate the major roles. The sexualization of the culture biasing males over females depicted the notion that women have inferior roles in the genre (Reagan 150). Although ladies have taken a significant portion in hip-hop music, the stereotype that they play minor roles is still evident. Feminine artists have been often discounted, and the underrepresentation has led to key sexualized rap music parts as people tend to assume that is the music role they can participate in (Reagan 149). However, exceptions exist as some songs make extreme anti-feminist wince. Women have mostly not been given platforms to perform, but recently, the culture has changed, with some female artists showing their exceptional skills when given a chance.
Many female hip-hop artists have shown that they are brilliant and more talented than their male equals. For example, Nick Minaj has often proved to be better than male peers to dominate the industry (Forman 160). Minaj has outshined men rappers more than many people could anticipate. The singer has sold more than millions of album units in the US and other countries such as Canada and Mexico (Forman 159). Minaj has become an icon and heroine in hip-hop music and has expanded and strengthened her career (Forman 159). Therefore, despite the culture being dominated by men, women have gradually shown their potential in hip-hop music.
The evolution of female artists in hip-hop songs has been marked by a major change that has entirely been maintained. Male and female comparison in the hip-hop culture is complex because of key elements that have to be analyzed to settle on the issue (Reagan 153). Emceeing is an element where women have taken vital contributions over the past few decades with a determined potency to outperform males who appeared to control the field. Emceeing, which means ‘Master of Ceremony’, is an important role during events where a person is tasked with alternating programs in a given occasion that has many participants and a significant degree of the audience (Reagan 155). Traditionally, emceeing was done by men, with women being their assistants who stood for minor duties. The hip-hop culture engaged women significantly because they started with storytelling and metaphors to communicate specific messages. As time progress, females have taken a sexual turn in their personality. For example, such artists as Lil Kim and Foxy Brown have been associated with vulgarism in their content (Reagan 154). That has earned them fame hence having fair album sales in the music market.
Role of Racial Dynamics in Development of Hip-Hop Culture
Hip-hop culture was perceived to belong to African American society, but the genre has reached many aspects of other races, such as the whites across the US and the world. Hip-hop predominantly increased global acceptance, presenting a vital opportunity to assess how racial tension has been demonstrated (Quinn 75). By closely working in an assumed-black genre, the white rappers have justified their contributions in an industry that was marked to evolve from an African American perspective. Since its origin in the 1970s, the genre has represented an aspect of revolt and disgruntlement (Quinn 77). According to the research, hip-hop has emerged in the consecutive decades in cultural platforms that tend to be urban and less privileged in terms of resources (Forman 160). Therefore, the culture in the music was perceived to be for the minority groups in respective countries.
White rappers such as Eminem have contributed to the pivotal moment of hip-hop music development because of the zeal displayed in their rap music. Other artists showing that hip-hop culture can include the royal groups were Yelawolf, Mac Miller, Lil Dicky, and Jack Harlow (Forman 160). Despite Lil Dicky and Harlow being the recent and outgoing rappers, they have excelled in rapping hence showing that it is not about class but the embracing of the content and genre. Therefore, it appears that there are more well-known white rappers as compared to the past years.
The motivating factor that makes hip-hop culture continue to develop is the welcoming of white rappers, emcees, and DJs. The uncertainty about white artists was because the group was perceived to lack genuineness or had suspicious indecent purposes (Quinn 88). However, due to the need to grow the culture, white rappers came with diversified ideas on what can be incorporated into the hip-hop, making the stereotype invalid. The African Americans feared that the white population would introduce new features to contradict the initial style of hip-hop culture (Quinn 83). Therefore, accepting racial dynamics has changed the perception that hip-hop culture is only for African Americans. Through the advocacy of racial dynamism, creativity has gone to an advanced level, and the genre is still growing in many regions of the world.
How Evolution of Technology Has Changed Hip-Hop Production and Performance
The progression of technology has helped hip-hop in many ways, especially due to the continuous innovation of human beings. First, the introduction of digital music has helped rap artists to record their content with fine quality features in vocals, instruments, and background (Jennings 55). Digital music has shaped the field as many people can get an interesting line that is accompanied by musical art in a clearer way (Jennings 70). Second, hip-hop music production has risen to another fair level because technology can combine various elements of the content with being presented in one way (Reagan 152). Digital music production technique allows a rapper to have numerous sound effects that help to communicate comprehensive and interesting content.
Additionally, the production of hip-hop digital media has been enhanced by modern computerized programs where music can be recorded and then attached to play and automated keys that play as the background of the song. Hip-hop requires a vigorous rhythm beat that plays at short intervals (Jennings 61). Therefore, innovative minds have collected the samples and programmed them as an independent function that can be operated by using buttons when recording music. With modern tools such as YouTube, the artists do not need to sell hardcopy files to upload them in their channels and get paid for the views, likes, downloads, and subscriptions. Other key tools include Pros software, Logic, and Cubase, which has enabled the online presentation of content to the fans (Jennings 59). The introduction of computer science has helped rappers to align their content with the instruments during live performances (Quinn 95). Therefore, the evolution of technology is advancing rapping, which is a key element in hip-hop culture, and people have transformed from traditional to the modern style of the genre.
Hip-Hop Cultural Development in Association with Commercial Products
The commercialization of hip-hop music has been seen to have various effects on society and culture. Most of the time, African Americans are bankrolled by corporations that white people own to sell their products in different ways. For example, the artists have created the perception that they smoke weed because that is what seems to be the current trend in society (Forman 158). That appears to be a negative impact of using hip-hop musicians to sell destructive culture, especially to the young people (Forman 157). An example of a rapper who has commercialized this agenda is Wiz Khalifa because he has frequently been seen in the public smoking while the audience is imitating him (Forman 159). Due to the requirement to introduce new products in the market, hip-hop has been a dynamic genre that has been changed due to commercialization.
Hip-hop has been used in commercial mediums and frequently manipulated to entice people to buy the products represented in the promotion contents. On a positive note, the genre has risen through marketing and capital from digital music in the current society, leading to increased revenue for rappers in the music industry (Forman 159). The genre has evolved because many artists have united to better themselves through marketing tools which is a substantial commercialization factor. It is important to note that hip-hop’s commercialization has worsened instead of improving what the initial framers had started. Many emcees in the 1980s built a culture of music, creativity, and dancing comprised of fun to deliver a meaningful message to the audience.
Conclusion
Hip-hop culture encompasses emceeing, rapping, DJing, and vigorous dancing. From the start of the genre, which was pioneered in the 1970s in the US, many people associated the culture with the African Americans who were of a lower class. The expansion of the hip-hop genre has been related to male artists as compared to female equals. Nevertheless, due to globalization which advocates for equality in gender roles, female artists such as Nick Minaj have revealed that they are able to perform the same way their male counterparts can do. Racial dynamism led to the acceptance of white rappers who have contributed to the genre by introducing more meaningful and diversified policies that help the culture grow. Through commercialization, hip-hop has transformed due to the need for fair returns on revenue and the expansion of many industries worldwide. In the future, hip-hop music is predicted to be more advanced because of artificial intelligence in production, sales, and performances. It is high time people appreciate the culture and discourage immoralities associated with rap music, such as luring individuals into drugs.
Works Cited
Forman, Murray. “Build the Power of Hip Hop Diplomacy in a Divided World, Mark Katz (2019)”. Global Hip Hop Studies, vol. 1, no. 1, 2020, pp. 157-161.
Jennings, Kyesha. “City Girls, Hot Girls and the Re-Imagining of Black Women in Hip Hop and Digital Spaces.” Global Hip Hop Studies, vol. 1, no. 1, 2020, pp. 47-70.
Quinn, Eithne. “Occupy Wall Street, Racial Neoliberalism, and New York’s Hip-Hop Moguls.” American Quarterly, vol. 68, no. 1, 2016, pp. 75-99.
Reagan, Katherine A. “The Cornell Hip Hop Collection: An Example of an Archival Repository.” Global Hip Hop Studies, vol. 1, no. 1, 2020, pp. 149-155.