Introduction
While they claim that a picture is worth a thousand words, it may portray different meanings depending on culture. Music is extraordinary; it is a universal language that is poses minimal cases of discrimination. Music is a language that conveys emotion across all cultures. Regardless of the previous exposure or culture, individuals can watch or listen to a song and detect whether a song contains happiness, fear and sadness. The lyrics, the dance, melody and tone bring people to unity. For this, we can refer to the Shakira’s Waka Waka song in 2010. The song was a hit all over the world despite being sung by an artist from Europe who adopted the African style; and populations in the love of the song watched the World Cup from start to end. Music is thus a language that considers each person’s interest, taste and preference with no bias. On understanding that music is a language, the second point to consider is that music as a language reveals our identity.
Connecting language to music, it is without doubt that music acts as a catalyst that connects individuals. With music, individuals come together; let their past regardless of what it is to pass and they let the tunes and harmony flow in them. Music thus lets people to interact with minimal or no discrimination as compared to other forms of language in real life. Music is appreciated and termed as an international treasure. It attracts, connects and harmonizes different cultures together. It boasts of a magical power which is then transmitted to the audience. For this case, we shall refer to hip-hop music and how it has had the impacts stated above in this world, as the famous musician, Davey D, puts it, when brothers and sisters start flexing their verbal skills; they reflect what happens economically, politically and socially. Music is a language that causes listeners and viewers to think, question, cry and laugh. These are only examples of the identities that music as a language portrays.
Just like language, music reveal’s a person’s identity of which the identity dictates the respect or the degradation that one is bound to receive from the community. The term ‘Nigga’ is common in the hip hop genre. However, if the is at times perceived as offensive in regions where hip-hop is not accepted as such. When one develops to be a good rapper amongst hip-hop lovers, he/she is not only admired, he/she is a celebrity. For example, in today’s world, we have Jay Z, Outcast and A Tribe (Rodriguez 2006). However, there exists environments that still do not appreciate hip-hop and it is regarded as music for the ruthless and gangsters in the streets. In such, that is a disdaining situation.
Music is entirely a language that reveals, restructures and shapes one’s identity. Now, music is related to personal taste while it reveals an identity depending on the genre one goes for. In the conclusion of their research on the influences of music, researchers Jason Rentfrow and Sam Gosling reported that accurate judgments on an individual’s level of open-mindedness, creativity and extraversion would be made after listening to ten of their favorite songs. The report further indicates that rap fans have high-self esteem and are actually outgoing; there was no link to them being violent or aggressive (Richardson 2006). The whites now engage in hip-hop while the blacks have loved the rock music which was a genre that was believed to be for the blacks (Blacking up). According to Reese, 75% of hip hop lovers were actually from the whites and this led to this genre being the fastest growing in the U.S dating back to 1998 (Krims Adam 2007). Unlike sound, music carries with it a cultural and a background or history. The melody and lyrics are in most cases cultural but the data indicates that people understand it and have accepted it.
Hip hop should be viewed as a language that has become universal and has pruned the behavior, character, belief and lifestyle of individuals (Hip hop Planet, 8). This genre is a great unifier of diverse populations through understanding that it was created by black youths on the street, it is now influential in the commercial world as the big organizations such as Sprite, Nike and McDonalds have used the genre to run their advertisements. This then determines their identity. Hip hop as a language does not only transform an individual to become a ‘gangster’ and a thug attitude. It has developed and transformed over time.
Since hip hop is broad in terms of the fan base and the content in the rap, it is essential to bear in mind that different identities will come out depending on the kind of hip hop listened to. In rock music, it has been identified that there is secular and gospel music amongst other genres. The same applies to hip hop music. It is a personal decision as to the kind of hip hop music one ought to listen to. In essence, there are those rappers who have developed from harsh conditions either economically or socially. In real life there are the kinds that some young kids living in harsh conditions look up to (Hip hop planet, 4). For instance, a child living in harsh conditions and being brought up in a family that lives from hand to mouth listens and views a rapper performing motivational music, they are encouraged. They may not be rappers but they listen to that music when they feel discouraged and abandoned. This music will eventually reshape their identity in that, they will listen be encouraged and eventually decide to work hard to achieve their goals. From this point, this person will receive respect from the members of the society (Hip Hop Culture 2006). An example can be listening to a rap song like ‘Started from the bottom’ by Drake. Such music will end up motivating and establishing positive characters and behaviors in the society. History holds that rap grew when the youths had a collective message from stories on crime, violence and drugs. Through this, they were in a position to portray their attitude to the treatment they received from the police system.
Looking at the past, hip hop music has been sincere and carries with it true expressions and feelings. Mainly this was due to the environment that was harsh and ruthless. Currently, hip hop music tends to pay more attention to ‘swag’, it brings about the aspect of which rapper has more money than the other (Hip hop Planet, 6). Further still, this music has been popularized differently such that due to targets of making it through the financial market, the lyrics and the videos the rappers portray is rebellious and at times adopts offensive words, actions and images. In such, there is no truth. When an individual commits to loving such music and always practicing what he/she hears and sees, the society will end up viewing the individual as one with a corrupted mind. The identity will be tarnished by this music. The music will in the end transmit wrong information to an innocent mind. The innocent mind may end up becoming a rude individual, a drug user and one who uses offensive words when interacting with peers. The identity that develops in this case is morally and ethically unacceptable. To some extent, this identity will always be on the wrong side of the nation’s law. To get the point home, Katie Smith shares a story of a male kid who copied Lil Wayne’s tattoo on to his body (Smith & Helena 2003).
The kind of hip hop music one is exposed can either influence an individual’s character positively or negatively. The famous philosopher Plato held the view that music affected emotions and could actually influence an individual’s character. His counterpart Aristotle taught his students that music had an effect on one’s soul and would be used to purify emotions. If an individual is cruel and rude in real life, when it comes to music therefore, he/she will most probably opt to listen and view to the hip hop music that is not only secular but also offensive. This is the niche that the kind of person belongs to. In the end, if the community previously viewed this kind of person as being naughty, rude and all that, the character will deteriorate further due to listening to such music. Upon observing the way the individual behaves from talking to the clothing, an illiterate person would without a doubt have a negative perception towards hip hop music. As a result, hip hop music will be tarnished if analysis of the genre will be based on such a fan (Hip Hop Culture 2006). On the other side, there is that one person in the society who is morally upright and carries him/herself with utmost respect. This individual is also a fan to hip hop music. However, he/she is selective, he/she decides on the rappers and the hip hop music that he/she would listen to. In most cases he/she will listen to motivational, educative and at times gospel hip hop music. The outcome will be that he/she tends to amplify the positive identity, he/she will still enjoy the hip hop music but the community will always respect him/her due to the identity presented. This is because, gospel hip hop music pays positive encouragement to morality, ethicality and to some extent includes respecting the law of the land.
It is evident that hip hop just like most genres has established individuals and groups that have a unique identity. The identity goes to their mode of dressing, the words that come out of their mouth and the attitudes they adopt (Hip Hop Culture 2006). Many critics share what to some extent is a wrong perception that hip hop artists and the fans possess a rather ruthless and offensive identity. There are many products in the hip hop music and an identity can be developed by being selective on the kind of music that one decides to listen to. From this, members of the community are in a position to judge and analyze one’s identity and thus compare and contrast it to the music listened to. With the examples in this discussion, it is clear that music can influence one’s life positively or negatively. It can make or destroy a person. Therefore, it is essential to be selective in the kind of music one decides to listen to with the idea of protecting and upholding one’s identity.
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