Hip Hop a subculture

In
examining music and focusing on hip-hop there’s need to examine what hip-hop
constitutes, hip hop is an urban subculture which arose in the early 70s and
80s and it involves the use of words usually accompanied by the rhythm and
beats, it’s a spoken form of music which is an offshoot of Deejays and the
clubbing scenario, it was characterized initially by free styling and accapella,
which involved the artist using words to deliver a message and to entertain an
audience. As a branch of poetry hip hop uses the lyrically spoken word to
entertain, educate, inform and influence.

The
subgenres or offshoots of hip hop include, rap music, spoken word, Rhythm and
blues, crank and underground hip hop which is considered hardcore as it is used
as vehicle to carry revolutionary messages or influence societies
consciousness. A hip hop artist aims to articulate an idea, in a popular mode
such that he broaches the topic in a way that is appealing to the audience, as
such publicity which they refer to as hype plays a major role in hip hop such
that the deejays and mc’s (event host and hostesses) have to perform to a crowd
or fans making sure they are properly attuned to receive and accept the artist.
Stunts and the use of hype language which includes curse words or unsavory
language is used in street battles of rap and hip hop to intimidate and
influence, the music usually uses punchline, these are sentences which attacks the
opponent artist aimed at making a rapper or artist who is on the offensive appear
to be at the top of his game or at the helm of this literary form.

Hip
hop has over time gained cross-cultural appeal with the music being enjoyed globally,
there is need to examine the versatile aspect of this genre in that hip hop is
very adoptable with many cultures and languages and nationalities adopting it into
their music. On whether hip hop has its origin in Africa or united states it of
importance to understand the African American link to hip hop and cultural
background and the use of music as tool to pass messages, in uprisings and
slave revolutions.In the black consciousness movement hip hop continues to make
waves, or gain grounds with hip hop music being used as a tool to pass coded
messages to recipients.

            Hip hop as a culture can be viewed
against the backdrop of African American liberation struggle or the slavery
upsurge, also in the black consciousness movement hip hop, R and B, spoken word
and the use of poetry plays a center stage, in hip-hop it draws heavily from
the struggle of everyday life intertwined with folklore and as such music and
this part hip hop and its subgenres are used to preserve culture. Oral
tradition in Africa was used to pass down information in the absence of the
written word and special messages were usually embedded in song and dance,
after the upsurge of hip-hop African American history ultimately got
intertwined into the words and phrases of this art form, that forms the hip-hop
and subsequent subgenres’ recorded oral tradition. That is hip hop when its
written as lyrics it forms a document that is researchable and storable for access
by future generations.

In
examining Hip-hop music and culture it is important to examine the growth of
technology and especial communication infrastructure that is the growth of
information communication technology from the days of lip-synching and drumming
to the days of guitars and jazz to the days of video recording machines, iPhones,
pod devices and ultimately the current models of cloud computing where music is
stored in cloud servers. Not to deviate from the topic such infrastructural
backgrounds have aided the growth, geographical reach, sourcing and ultimately
consumption of hip hop and it sub genres. Keyword is commercialization of the hip
hop genre of music, the music industry worldwide has a huge portion covered by
hip-hop and its subgenres.

A
musical journey is incomplete without delving into pop and hip-hop
personalities who are also known as celebs in popular urban lingo, an acronym
for celebrities. The idolization of the greats in hip-hop especially in USA and
Africans in diaspora in never complete without the mention of the idols,
Jacksons in pop, Biggie, T Pac and the directors of great re-know who at this
juncture is imprudent to discuss. This ultimately brings us to the next
discourse that is the role of scripting, writing, direction, and production in
an age where hip hop became audiovisual that is it moved into cinematography
as Afrocentric movies gained acceptance: the soundtrack had a backdrop of hip
hop, pop and ultimately fusion which is urban music.

The
birth of neo hip hop school of thought where hip hop evolved beyond hip hop and
roots influence, into the arena of afro-fusion, that is a fusion of genres to
create a contemporary urban sound which is was longer of African American
orientation but on the verge of world music. As such it can be argued we no
longer have or that there never was a unique or exclusive hip hop sound but a a blend of flavors, having in mind urbanization and technology forms the backdrop
of this urban popular culture. With desirability of flashy lifestyles inadvertently
revamping the fashion industry as flashy outfits had to be created to support flashy
lifestyles.

This
then brings us to the notion of music and hip hop as part parcel of aesthetic
culture that is in dealing with aesthetic (notions around beauty and
appearances known among hip hop circles as swag or floss.), the hype
surrounding hip hop generation has been of great influence, statements from
artist e.g. I know I can be what I wanna be, which is a line from famous
artists delivered as punch line or key heavy note sound line articulates the
aspiration of the underdog and in street-language that is it inspires and urges
the people of color at self-emancipation or actualization. That is for the
youth in ghetto and projects hip hop is the only avenue and mode of address left
to bargain with the system and pass the info of the need to unite, up-rise and
overcome the slave and slaver mentality. Which takes us to the next frontier
which is the role of music and in particular hip hop fusion in feminism and
feminism movement and in particularly black feminism, where they argue that the
African American or persons of color are considered underdogs who don’t have an
equal fair play at the game of life or is it thrones all pun intended.

Game
approach concept in info-dissemination has been misconstrued to mean hip hop is
an externality to revolution and black consciousness movement, with the cry for the liberation of the motherland gaining a foothold in Africa. And the blend of hip
hop influenced by revolutionary messages of the likes of Che Guevara and reggae
maestro Marley Bob, Hip hop has been used as a tool to create societal
awakening and ultimately playing into the hand of black supremacist an
oxymorican approach in that an underdog can hardly claim to be at the top of
the game. As the African American suffers in the project he portrays a hyped view
of a grandiose life meanwhile, gangland wars and drugs rule, with force and
godfather syndrome affecting hip hop battles ultimately degenerating to live
bullets and untimely death of musical geniuses, as they mark a moment of
silence and pour a drop of wine for our dear departed.

Is
hip hop dead, this a question of scholarly concern as hip hop is the very life
that they live: by they; I and the You is included and the Was. Spiritism at it
essence, worship and idolation: ultimately hip hop became an urban demigod with
the priest being at the centerfold as the poets go giga and enter giga dollars
(affluence and wealth) as it became a multi bullion dollar industry. The evil
nose of selfishness showed up as godfathers and the mafia ruled the day, with
every son of color angling for a piece of the cake. Lutheran ideologies were
forgotten and Martin Luther the king poetically received the response: ‘forget,
our eureka is better than your nirvana or paradise’. Your average artist became
a junkie or and a peddler, a gangland underdog, a fixer as Lords of mischief
financed the recordings and shows. In sports icons hold sway as basketball the likes
of above the rim with the great sharks ruling, the world of hip hop is not yet dead.
The ball is just above the rim in the words of philosophers its aluta continua,
the battle still rages fierce, battle for world domination as the eyes of
masses open up; with the liberation, awakening, kabala your average artist
being a key practitioner.

In
philosophy it is deemed an expose and the relationship and deviation from
purpose and mound abound. Why the musical journey as we expound the beat of
chaffr acronym for the journey and is this art form leading us to the pit a place
of gloom a fiery hell, as they promise unfolding delirium utopia of heaven. Can
an intelligent being argue hip hop is not ordained in the alter of drugs,
alcoholism and all social ills as the underdog precipitates conflict while a
select few are smiling all the way to the bank, as the brother of kafira calls
himself nigga and shoots any Caucasian attempting the same. As anger forms the
basis of the script theologians in future will they but ask was it worth
burning our urban villages over. Did it bring us close to home or unto ultimate obsoletion,
in Darwin’s theory: are we the last kick of the legendary dying Trojan horse,
as rhetoric is left to scholars: and in conclusion, there is need to re-examine
the content and throw out the weed, that is this animals farm needs
extermination of vermin, hip hop was a pure sound and in the words of Messiah
my father’s house has become a Harlem of brothels and prostitution. It is no
longer conscious hip hop as we crank up the sound with tattoos of all manner
and kind, surrounded by nudist, may the Lord bless the fountain and ink of
knowledge never to dry. May the most blessed and beloved of art forms hip-hop
be grafitted over our beds, may the headboards be a sound of inspiration. Hip
hop is a plus in summarization the undesirables can be removed. Sanitization is
the basis of self-awareness in quotes from the blessed scripts clean plates
hardly make you sick (improvisation). It’s of essence the artist goes back to
the drawing board and thinks about the eye of God it’s all-seeing all deeming.