In the current years, there are controversies that surround the American media regarding the hip-hop music that the artist produces. Starting from the East coast there are rivalries that shadows the murders of most rap artist such as Tupac, and B.I.G. most of the politicians have to blame the rappers for making most youths to be violent. Nevertheless, most people criticize that the rappers are not the cause of violence influence to the youths, but rather the hip-hop stars like Herc. Hip-hop music has raised more concern after people came keenly to listen to it. It is considered to have started in New York by DJ Kool Herc during the Halloween dancing party of his sister.
Herc uses innovative turntable techniques to create songs to break the drumbeats; he does that by the time the drum break and he starts to sing in between the breaks. He played two records at the same time, and that is what gave rise to the Hip-hop culture. The role of the hip-hops by the Dj was surrounding the African Americans. Most of the hip-hop cultures define the social classes among the Americans and the African Americans. It is full of the African Jazz, soul, reggae, and gospel that were started by the working class. The songs are now shaping the New York youths and culture of the Back Americans (Clay, 34). The DJ Kool’s music relates to the African oral traditions that give the rappers a social significance. Nevertheless, the Zulu people believe that Herc did not start Hip-hop and that I just a misinterpretation of the African American culture and identity. According to the Shakur, he is only a founding father, but afterward the whole culture has been misinterpreted, especially on the outlets of his starting of the songs. According to the Zulu, Herc failed to give respect to the women, and most of the songs he produced were insulting to the women, though women seem to represent the culture according to Herc. However, he should have gone further to state in his songs that the sister is the first lady of the Hip Hops according to the Zulu, Herc’s sister only symbolizes falsehood.
Herc could take advantage of the event that he could be invited to rap on the history and shape the identity of the African Americans. The rapping resembles the oral traditions of the African music, and this had a social significance to the Africans. The composition of the songs is more of the destination of the blacks in America giving respect to the African culture, social, economic and political development (Rose, 56). It could consist of the tribal history of the prominent people, their lineage tree the historical events could be coined within the rapping such as war, the colonial period among others.
The DJ could come up with songs that symbolize the African's political advocacy that started from the predecessors, such as the rhyming games of the Africans resistance. Others include racial discrimination, slavery, and a sense of insecurity. However, some songs are full of inspiration and entertainment aspects that characterize the slaves. For an instance, the slave rabbits being the fox master, the tales of the rabbits, and that is how it connected with most of the African Oral traditions and narratives. Even the slaves were smart as they could challenge their masters on the plantation, and that shaped the modern day’s rappers.
Works Cited
Clay, Andreana. The Hip-Hop Generation Fights Back: Youth, Activism, and Post-Civil Rights
Politics. New York, NY: New York University Press, 2012. Print.
Rose, Tricia. The Hip Hop Wars: What We Talk About When We Talk About Hip Hop-and Why
It Matters. New York: BasicCivitas, 2008. Internet resource.
