American hip-hop music has achieved its global popularity over decades. It gives young people a lot of acoustic and visual pleasure as a music genre, but it also shows public issues, like poverty, race, human equality, etc. Young people are often attracted to this kind of music because those lyrics reflect their own living situations and mental states. Because of its provocative nature, the influence of American hip-hop music can be a double-edged sword: On the one hand, it can encourage people to participate in social movements; On the other hand, it can be used as a propaganda that polarizes people to go to extreme, particularly, to use violence against their own government (Parker-Pope). Moreover, in the process of cultural globalization, the influence of American hip-hop music on other nations can also be positive or negative, depending on the nature of that influence. Therefore, it is important for us to realize potential benefits and threats of American hip-hop music in a global context.
The influence of American hip-hop culture in Japan is positive. Author Ian Condry introduces the example of Japanese hip-hop group Rhymester in his book “Hip-hop Japan”. They wore military uniforms on the cover of their album "Respect” in order to mock the Japanese militaristic nationalism during the Second World War (Condry). The Japanese government has never admitted their war crimes to Asian countries, especially to China and South Korea. Under the influence of American hip-hop, Rhymester realized that in order for politicians to speak truth to people, they have to be outspoken in criticizing the government. They depicted the cruel and cold-blooded Japanese troops in the lyrics. Even though “Respect” seemed quite controversial for the Japanese government, the song was still popularized throughout the country. Another American hip-hop styled song “Society’s Window” by Japanese singer Utamaru also addresses social problem (Condry). He condemned Japanese government for deliberate deletion of Japanese war crimes during the Second World War in history textbooks. Furthermore, he argued that the pride of nation relied on acknowledging its history. Utamaru indeed raises public attention to the social issue by presenting the reality to the young generation who are blinded to the distorted history. Both Utumaru and Rhymester started their rap careers under the influence of American hip-hop culture and eventually contributed to their own society by writing socially and historically meaningful hip-hop songs.
However, American hip-hop can also cause adverse influence on the society. The documentary “Resistencia: Hip-Hop in Colombia” reveals the situation of Hip-hop music in the context of national wars in Colombia. Paramilitaries and guerrillas have been fighting each other for the control over land and resources in Columbia for years. War has caused many Columbians to become homeless and destitute. At the same time, American hip-hop spread to Columbia and soon gained popularity in poor areas where most refugees lived. People found that Hip-hop is a great outlet for them to express anger, agony and complaints to the government. Columbian Hip-hop singers loved to expose the darkest side of society, which even deepened people’s hatred toward government, as the music made the people more aware of the challenges they face compared to the rich in the country. In the article Under the Influence of Hip-hop Music, Parker-Pope depicts hip-hop as a form of music that is meant to elicit the feelings of people dissatisfaction with the societal imbalance while also glorifying the “ghetto life” which includes drug use and unconventional ways of life. It was so noticeable in the movie Resistencia: Hip-Hop in Colombia that a female teenager, who was supposed to be a student considering her age, sang rap songs with violent and dark lyrics on the street (Feiling). This is indicative of the side of life that the genre of music glorifies which is getting money at all costs and living an orthodox life.
Some musicians have adopted hip-hop music to blend with other music such as Ragga to produce more entertaining and danceable music. This form of music is less about the lyrics of the songs but more about the entertainment of the audience rather than the use of the music to inform. In author Dennis’s book “The “Afro-Colombianization” of Hip-Hop”, some local Colombian hip-hop artists commercialized the hip-hop music under the influence of American hip-hop music companies. In order for songs to be widely accepted and popularized, American music companies made singers compose more danceable and entertaining rap music. Therefore, those singers who wanted to make a great fortune out of rap music, abandoned hip-hop’s original purpose of speaking for poor people and turned hip-hop into a commercially successful entertainment. In a typical commercial hip-hop music video, we could see a nice house, fancy cars, the singer surrounded by a lot of dancing girls. On the contrary, most hip-hop singers were living in a poor area where they could not even guarantee their basic needs. Disharmony in the society split hip-hop industry in Colombia into two sides. Mainstream hip-hop artists conflicted with commercial hip-hop artists for the actual nature of hip-hop, blaming them for copying American hip-hop culture and losing their own cultural identity.
Hip-hop music is one of the more popular music genres in the world, with the young people more involved and attracted to the particular music. Despite the “gangster life” of most Hip-hop musicians, this form of music is loved more by the young people who still have adrenaline running in their body. The advent of new media such as Facebook and YouTube have sent the previously “black American” culture to the rest of the world (Parker-Pope). This genre of music does not only entertain but it also educates and informs the audience like other genres only that the target population of oppressed and low-income populations is more likely to understand the particular use of themes such as violence and drug abuse. The topics are the daily occurrences in the life of black Americans have become the most important points in the hip-hop music and adoption of the music in other parts of the world means that they have to change the themes but retain the rhythm.
In conclusion, American hip-hop music is indispensable to us, especially to young people; but its influence may bring serious consequence to other places in the world depending on how artists understand the nature of it. The new media has made the world a global village transferring the hip-hop culture from the ghettos of United States to the rest of the world. The reasons for adoption of Hip-hop music by different musicians in the world are diverse, ranging from sensitization to purely entertaining the audience.
Works Cited
Condry, Ian. Hip-Hop Japan. Durham: Duke University Press, 2006. Print.
Feiling, Tom. Resistencia: Hip-Hop In Colombia. 2002. Web. 4 May 2016.
Parker-Pope, Tara. "Under The Influence OfMusic?". Well. N.p., 2008. Web. 4 May 2016.
