My Opinion on Hip Hop Music

Hip Hop music has its negatives and positives but at the end of the day it is artist speaking about what they feel and they are expressing their feelings it telling a story. Many artists today in hip hop are being criticized about what they are talking about in their songs. Hip Hop is the way for some people to stay off of the streets and selling drugs or some being killed at a very young age. Many teenagers are influenced by hip hop artist because can relate to with what some of the artist are saying and the struggles that they have been through. Even though many artists do speak about negative things, there are also some artists who speak about positive things also. In many music videos have even said that what they do in videos isn’t exactly how they live. Some say that this is their job and they present themselves a certain way because that is what will earn them more money. Many teenagers who listen to hip hop think that because an artist is doing it on TV that it okay to do the same thing at home and it should not be like this. Overall Hip Hop is a way for people to express how they feel and if we have Freedom of Speech we should be able to say what we feel.

Hip Hop Artist and the Content of Their Lyrics

Lyric content in hip-hop has been controversial for many years now with people saying the lyrics are too sexual, violent and too graphic. When hip hop started in the 70’s artist didn’t say anything vulgar or offensive towards anyone, which has changed a lot since then. During the years music has gotten more offensive with rappers like Eminem, 2 Pac, Dr Dre, and DMX. Hip-Hop has also changed with artists like, Jay-Z, Ja Rule, Missy Elliott, Nelly and Ludacris. Hip-Hop started in 1979 and has not lyrically changed that much. The lyrics are still basically about their lives or the lives around them. Hip-Hop still focuses on the beat of the music for dancing compared to the lyric content on the song. In the 80's a song called, give it up or turn it lose, by James Brown was known as the National Anthem of Hip-Hop. Not all Hip-Hop artists rap about having sex all the time or smoking weed but they also sing about their life and things that go on in other places. Hip-Hop artist Nelly chants about shoes in one of his songs and in another song he sings about a girl. Some says that Hip-Hop needs to be accepted as the musical voice of the 1990's as well as very entertaining listening. Hip-Hop songs are the kind of music you listen to in clubs and dance to, its fun to listen to.
http://www.bgsu.edu/departments/tcom/faculty/ha/sp2003/gp3/

National Hip Hop Political Convention

The National Hip Hop Political Convention (NHHPC) is a non-profit organization promoting political education while encouraging workers and public engagement using the influence of Hip Hop Culture. In the spring of 2003, a group of activists, artists, educators, entrepreneurs, journalists and civic leaders from the Hip Hop generation began gathering to develop a plan to focus on the political and cultural power of the hip hop generation into typical political activities. Out of those meetings came the idea for the National Hip Hop Political Convention, a bi-annual event that would bring together delegates from all over the country to develop, endorse and vote on a political agenda for the Hip Hop Generation, and act as training ground to recognize and support local, state and national leadership to apply that agenda. The work of the NHHPC is grounded in the following: Working class Activism, Civic Education, Economic Self-Determination, Voter Participation and Cultural Inspiration. The founding members of the National Hip Hop Political Convention identified eight social issues that would provide as the foundation around which we would organize. Those social issues were; Criminal Justice, Economic Justice, Educational Empowerment, Equality, Global Issues, Health, Environment and Welfare, Media Regulation and, Organizing the Organizers.


http://www.nhhpc.org/aboutus.html

Hip Hop and Fashion

Hip hop is a unique style of dress originating with the African American and Latino youth in The Bronx NY, and later influenced by the hip hop scenes of Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and a many of other cities. Each city contributed a variety of elements to its overall style seen worldwide today. Hip hop fashion complements the expressions and attitudes of the hip hop culture in general. Hip hop fashion has changed dramatically during its history, and today it is an important part of popular fashion as a whole across the world and for all ethnicities. Black Nationalism was ever more influential in rap during the late 1980s, and fashions and hairstyles reflected traditional African influences. Blousy pants were popular among rappers like MC Hammer. Fezzes, Kufis decorated with the Kemetic ankh, Kente cloth hats, Africa chains, locks and red, black, and green clothing became popular as well, promoted by artists such as Queen Latifah KRS-one, Public Enemy, and X-Clan). In the early 1990s, pop rappers such as The Fresh Prince, Kid n’ Play, and Left Eye of TLC popularized baseball caps and bright, often neon-colored, clothing. Kriss Kross also established the fad of wearing clothes backwards. Kwame sparked the brief trend of polka-dot clothing as well, while others continued wearing their mid-80's attire. Hip hop influences are seen in Chanel's fall 1991 collection.The Nike capture of soon to be superstar basketball protégé Michel Jordan from rivals Adidas in 1984 proved to be a huge turning point, as Nike dominated the urban streetwear sneaker market in the late 80's and early 90's. Other clothing brands such as Champion, Carhartt and Timberland were very closely associated with the scene, particularly on the East coast with hip hop acts such as Wu-Tang Clan and Gangstarr sporting the look.
Gangsta rap pioneers N.W.A. popularized an early form of gangsta style in the late 1980s, consisting of Dickies pants, plaid shirts and jackets, Chuck Taylor sneakers, and black Raiders baseball caps and Raiders Starter jackets. Starters in addition, were also a popular trend in their own right during the late 1980s and early 90s. They became something of a status-symbol, with incidents of robberies of the jackets reported in the media.
Hip hop fashion in this period also influenced high fashion designs. In the late 1980s, Isaac Mizrahi, inspired by his elevator operator who wore a heavy gold chain, showed a collection deeply influenced by hip hop fashion. Models wore black catsuits, "gold chains, big gold nameplate-inspired belts, and black bomber jackets with fur-trimmed hoods." Womenswear Daily called the look "homeboy chic."

What is Hip Hop Music?

Hip hop music is a kind of music typically consisting of a rhythmic style of speaking called rap over background of beats performed on a turntable by a Disc Jockey also known as a DJ. Hip hop music is part of hip hop culture, which started in New York City in the 1970s, mainly among African Americans and Latinos (two other elements are break dancing and graffiti art). The word rap is sometimes used similar with hip hop music, though it originally referred only to rapping itself.
Rapping also referred to as MCing or emceeing, which is a vocal style in which the performer speaks rhythmically and in rhyme, generally to a beat. Beats are usually sampled from parts of other songs by a DJ, though synthesizers drum machines, and live bands are also used, especially in newer music. Rappers may perform poetry which they have written ahead of time, or make-up rhymes on the spot. Though rap is usually important components of hip hop music, DJs sometimes perform and record alone, and many instrumental acts are also defined as hip hop.
Hip hop arose in New York City when DJs began isolating the drumming break from disco or funk songs for audiences to dance to. The role of the MC was originally to introduce the DJ and the music, and to keep the audience excited. The MC would talk between songs giving exhortations to dance, greetings to audience members jokes and anecdotes. Sooner or later, this practice became more stylized, and came to be known as rapping. By 1979, hip hop had become a commercially recorded music genre, and began to enter the American mainstream. It also began its spread across the world. In the 1990s, a form called “gangsta rap” became a major part of American Music causing major conflict over lyrics which were perceived by some as promoting violence, promiscuity, drug use and misogyny. By the beginning of the 2000s, hip hop became a staple of popular music charts and is now performed in widely varying styles around the world.

Exploitation of Women and Hip Hop

Hip-hop is the latest significant display of the past and current experience as well as the combined awareness of African-American and Latino-American youth. But more than any genre of music of the past, it also expresses normal American ideas that have now been internalized and set in into the mind of American people of color over time.
A part of the learned typical American culture is sexism and misogyny. Hip-hop culture is often destined for its exploitation of women. Hip-hop can be explored and used as a valuable tool in investigating gender relations. It brings the issues that face many young people, such as discrimination, peer relations, and self-worth that can be considered in order to bring about change in the aspects of hip-hop culture and American culture, in general. For young people that do not hold sexist ideals, hip-hop may influence them to do so as it spreads and constantly gains popularity. And others are directly and indirectly supporting an environment that allows sexism to continue.
Exploitation of women in hip-hop culture has become an accepted part of it for both the artists and audiences alike, and many critics blame the music without looking any deeper as to who the artist is behind the lyrics. When going to any hip-hop related event, women tend to feel as though they need to be prepared to be verbally, and physically abused. So they have to watch what hot how they carry themselves, and have to be careful of what they choose to wear, and watch what they say. Much of the music and many videos specifically send out, promote, and effect negative images of black women. All women, but mostly black women in particular are seen in popular hip-hop culture as sex objects. Almost every hip-hop video that is regularly played or listened to today show many dancing women (usually surrounding one or two men) wearing not much more than bikinis, with the cameras focusing on their body parts. These images are shown to go along with a lot of the explicit lyrics that commonly have name calling to suggest that women are not worth anything more than money, if that. Women are described as being only good for sexual relations by rappers who describe their life as being that of a pimp.

Oprah Winfrey On Hip Hop

Oprah Winfrey says it's time to stop the hullabaloo: She don’t have beef with hip-hop. "I'm not opposed to rap," the mogul said Saturday in Manhattan while celebrating L.A. Reid's 50th birthday with Jay-Z, Young Jeezy, Babyface, Janet Jackson and Ciara. The question of whether or not Winfrey likes hip-hop arose in recent weeks after Ludacris and Ice Cube alleged that they've been mistreated by her. Luda says some of his comments about hip-hop lyrics were unfairly edited out of Oprah's show when he went on late last year to promote "Crash." Ice Cube says Winfrey insulted him several years ago after inviting cast members of "Barbershop" on her program but excluding him. "Maybe she's got a problem with hip-hop," Ice Cube told FHM magazine recently. "She's had damn rapists, child molesters and lying authors on her show. And if I'm not a rags-to-riches story for her, who is?" 50 Cent has also publicly scoffed at Oprah, saying she doesn't make efforts to appeal to hip-hop fans. "I don't have an opinion, because I am my own person," Oprah said on the birthday party's red carpet. "I respect other people's rights to do whatever they want to do in music and art and whatever. So I am my own person, they are their own people. I respect their rights. "I am a woman who has worked very hard for my status in the world and as a human being," she added. "I don't want to be marginalized by music or any form of art. ... I feel rap is a form of expression, as is jazz. I'm not opposed to rap. I'm opposed to being marginalized as a woman." Early last week, Ludacris, while promoting the basketball documentary "Heart of the Game," said that contrary to rumors, he's not calling for a boycott of Winfrey's show. He said he would go back on the program if it were filmed live. He also said Oprah should invite a gaggle of MCs on at one time to have an intelligent discussion about hip-hop.

Hip Hop and Censorship

Hip hop has probably encountered more problems with censorship than any other form of popular music in recent years, due to its extreme use of profanity. For example, Public Enemy's "Gotta Give the Peeps What They Need" was edited without their permission, removing the words "free Mumia"
After the attack on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, Oakland, California group The Coup was under fire for the cover art on their Party Music, which featured the group's two members holding a detonator as the Twin Towers exploded behind them. Ironically, this art was made months before the attacks. The group, having politically radical and Marxist lyrical content, said the cover meant to symbolize the destruction of capitalism. Their record label pulled the album until a new cover could be designed.
The use of profanity as well as graphic representation of violence and sex makes challenges in the broadcast of such material both on television stations such as MTV, in music video form, and on radio. As a result, many hip hop recordings are broadcast in censored form, with offending language "bleeped" or blanked out of the soundtrack (though usually leaving the backing music intact), or even replaced with "clean" lyrics. The result – which sometimes translates the remaining lyrics inarticulate or conflicting with the original recording – has become almost as widely identified with the genre as any other aspect of the music, and has been parodied in films such as Austin Powers in Goldmember, in which a character performed a imatation of a hip hop music video – performs an entire verse that is blanked out. In 1995 Roger Ebert wrote:[7]
“ Rap has a bad reputation in white circles, where many people believe it consists of obscene and violent anti-white and anti-female guttural. Some of it does. Most does not. Most white listeners don't care; they hear black voices in a litany of discontent, and tune out. Yet rap plays the same role today as Bob Dylan did in 1960, giving voice to the hopes and angers of a generation, and a lot of rap is powerful writing." ”
In a way to avoid broadcasting regulations BET has formed a late-night segment called "Uncut" to air uncensored videos. Not only has this translated into greater sales for mainstream artists, it has also provided an opening for undiscovered artists to grab the spotlight with graphic but low production quality videos, often made cheaply by non-professionals. Perhaps the most notorious video aired, which for many came to exemplify BET's program Uncut, was "Tip Drill" by Nelly. While no more explicit than other videos, its exploitative depiction of women, particularly of a man swiping a credit card between a stripper's buttocks, was seized upon by many social activists for condemnation. The segment was discontinued in mid 2006.

OBAMA AND HIP HOP

Barack Obama has a promising look in the hip-hop future. He’s been named “B-rock” by the rap music industry. He has been mentioned in some of the most popular hip-hop singles of the summer. He also held a high-profile meeting with rapper Ludacris. Though Barack seems to not be leading the democratic presidential spot in the national polls, he managed to catch the vote from the hip-hop world. Which mainly consist of all races, industry professionals, rap artist r&b singers etc. Despite Barack’s overcritical outlook on hip-hop he still is being played in stereos, on iPods, and music sites throughout the country. One of the past summers biggest songs by world-renowned rap artist Common, “The people” Common drops a line “my raps ignite the people like Obama”, while the music video shows a Barack Obama bumper sticker cameo. Common also stated that he feels Obama is a fresh face, and that he has style. He also makes the connection that the people who have a love for hip-hop have a love for Obama. Another one of hip-hops influential rappers Talib Kweli who hasn’t voted in a few years because he feels that the political system is broken and that Obama’s hip-hop appeal is cosmetic. He also states that Barack’s name happens to rhyme with a lot of words and that Barack is an African-American fresh face, he speaks for the African-American people. With Barack running for president the world has become more multi-cultural. Barack has stated he has grown up listening to Jazz, but he is well aware about the hottest current artist of today such as Jay-z and Beyonce’. It’s still unclear whether or not Obama’s sudden emergence in hip-hop as a byword would have any effect on African-Americans, a demographic which he is willing to cultivate. A lot likely to happen is opponents would try to change Obama’s relationship with hip-hop. Though Barack doesn’t agree with a lot of the things that go on in hip-hop he doesn’t totally shun it out, he tries to understand it. Hopefully Barack will fully embrace hip-hop the way hip-hop has embraced him.

Nas Explains a controversial album titled “Nigger”

Nigger has caused some strong reaction from civil-rights activists since news of the name hit the streets. The Fox News Web site quoted the Rev. Jesse Jackson and representatives from the NAACP, who warned Nas about using the N-word as his LP's name. “I'm a street disciple," Nas responded, quoting one of his earlier album titles. "I'm talking to the streets. Stay out of our business. You ain't got no business worrying about what the word 'nigger' is or acting like you know what my album is about without talking to me. Whether you in the NAACP or you Jesse Jackson. I respect all of them ... I just want them to know: Never fall victim to Fox. Never fall victim to what they do. If Cornel West was making an album called Nigger, they would know he's got something intellectual to say," Nas continued. "To think I'm gonna say something that's not intellectual is calling me a nigger, and to be called a nigger by Jesse Jackson and the NAACP is counterproductive, counter-revolutionary." Nas also stated that we are taking power from the word. No disrespect to none of them who were part of the civil-rights movement, but some of my n---as in the streets don't know who [civil-rights activist] Medgar Evers was. I love Medgar Evers, but some of the n---as in the streets don't know Medgar Evers, they know who Nas is. The album includes ideas and feelings he wanted to express for years that aren't exactly meant to make you dance or sing along in the club.

http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1572287/20071018/nas.jhtml

Hip Hop History

Hip Hop is both a cultural movement and genre of music started in New York City in the 1970s by African Americans and Latinos. Hip Hop first started in the Bronx and Harlem, and now has spread all over the world. Hip Hop involves breakdancing, graffiti, rapping, beat boxing, and hip hop fashion. When hip hop first started it was based around DJs who created rhythmic beats by scratching with record players, and rapping.In the early 1970s, Clive Campbell, a Jamaican born DJ who went by the name "Kool Herc," arrived in New York City. In Jamaica, Herc was known for his dancehall beats, a key component to the movement of music in NYC and the Bronx. This idea of dancehall had nothing to do with where the music was played, but more of a feeling of getting the people of Kingston, Jamaica to get on their feet and dance. This music, known as reggae, became a staple in the new music made in the Bronx. The Bronx building "where hip hop was born" is 1520 Sedgwick Avenue, where Kool Herc started spinning records and is now eligible to be listed on the national and state register of historic sites. The approach used by Herc was soon widely copied, and by the late 1970s DJs were releasing 12" records where they would rap to the beat. In the 1970s, rapping developed, as MCs would talk over the music to promote their DJ, promote other dance parties, or take light-hearted jabs at other lyricists. This soon developed into the rapping that appears on earlier basic hip-hop singles, with MCs talking about problems in their areas and issues facing the community as a whole. Early hip hop has often been credited with helping to reduce inner-city gang violence by replacing physical violence with hip hop battles of dance and artwork. Though, with the appearance of commercial and crime-related rap during the early 1990s, an stress on violence was included, with many rappers talking about drugs, weapons, misogyny, and violence. Though created in the United States by African Americans and Latinos, hip hop culture and music is now global.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hip_hop_culture

Freedom Of Speech

Freedom Of Speech

The First Amendment was ratified on December 15, 1791. The First Amendment to the United States Constitution is a part of the United States Bill of Rights. On its face, it prohibits the United States Congress from making laws "respecting an establishment of religion", laws that violate the freedom of speech, infringe the freedom of the press, limit the right to assemble peaceably, or limit the right to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
Freedom of speech in the United States is protected by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution and by many state constitutions and state and federal laws. Criticism of the government and advocation of unpopular ideas that people may find distasteful or against public policy, such as racism, are generally permitted. There are exceptions to the general protection of speech, however, including the Miller test for obscenity, child pornography laws, and regulation of commercial speech such as advertising. Other limitations on free speech often balance rights to free speech and other rights, such as property rights for authors and inventors (copyright), interests in fair political campaigns (Campaign finance laws), protection from imminent or potential violence against particular persons (restrictions on Hate speech or fighting words), or the use of untruths to harm others (slander). Distinctions are also often made between speech and other acts, such as flag desecration, which may have symbolic significance.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_of_speech_in_the_United_States

http://a248.g.akamai.net/f/1261/5586/1/images.art.com/images/-/The-Bill-of-Rights-First-Amendment-B10085093.jpeg