Hip Hop: Influence on Culture

Through what we have seen and talked about in class and what learn from our own experiences, it is obvious that hip-hop has had an enormous impact on American culture. It has permeated almost every aspect of society from fashion to language to industries. One part of the hip-hop revolution in the United States that I found very interesting was the cross-cultural popularity that hip-hop experienced. We saw in the video that we watched in class “Hip-Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes,” that there is certainly a white fan-base for hip-hop music.

Hip-hop began as a niche genre and began gaining popularity in the 1980s. While there were many different branches of hip-hop music that existed, for some reason the branch that became most popular was the “gangsta” branch. And even though this type of music was talking about the lifestyle of a very small percentage of the black population, and the overall population, everyone was fascinated by it, regardless of race or background. This phenomenon is amazing because the majority of people listening to this music could not really relate to the lyrics in any way. There are a few reasons why hip-hop may have begun to have this magnetic appeal.

One could be the intense controversy that surrounded it from its beginnings. Since in many cases hip-hop music has been associated with offensive lyrics about women and violence, some people were concerned about these lyrics affecting violence rates in urban centers. Even though we can see now that the rise of hip-hop did not have this effect. Regardless, the controversy surrounding the genre spurred sales. Another reason for the cross-cultural appeal could also be attributed to the unfamiliar nature of the music. The lyrics of the gangsta rap music undoubtedly fascinated people of the white middle class since they have no experience living on urban streets. It made it cool and desirable, prompting people to try and replicate the “gangsta” fashions and buy things endorsed by hip-hop music.

Although the explosion of hip-hop music in America has in many ways been a positive phenomenon, there have also been some negative sentiments expressed about the way that some hip-hop artists are representing their race. Since the “gangsta” representation of black people is not the way that the vast majority of the black population wanted to be viewed, the hip-hop revolution has been problematic in that respect. If hip-hop music is the only exposure to African-American culture that members of the white middle class experience it could potentially lead to a negative or prejudiced image of black people.