By Sonia Barinskaya '26, Loomis Chaffee
Bitch Media.
Hip Hop culture is historically vibrant, uplifting, and expressive. It consists of DJing, MCing (rapping), Breaking (break dance), Writing (painting graffiti), Theater and literature (drama, poetry and stories that are inspired by and contain the elements, passion, liberty and emotions of Hip Hop). Regarding the musical aspect of Hip- Hop, there are many subgenres of it, such as gangsta, Latin hip - hop, trap, crunk and more.
What they all have in common is a clear and catchy, rhythmic beat with rapping layered on top of it . The range of subgenres shows how accepting and non- restrictive Hip-Hop is, and this is carried through into the music that is created. Some examples of Hip Hop artists that you might know are Tupac, Lauryn Hill, the Notorious B.I.G, Queen Latifah, Kanye West, Cypress Hill, Niki Minaj, Jay-z and Salt’N’Pepa.
Hip hop culture originated in the Bronx, NYC, in the 1970s, within a population of economically disadvantaged young black, LatinX, and other marginalized American identities. In the 1970s, the U.S.—especially the lower class and poorer parts of the nation—were struggling financially and therefore socially. The hope and optimism of the 1960s Civil Rights Movement was gone. Drug usage and crime rates grew; and yet, the urban youth maintained their energy. Hip hop was created as an escape from the harsh reality. Its forms of music, dance, and visual art were outlets, the expression of a mistreated people.
Messages that were commonly portrayed through Hip-Hop were political, since the genre came out of a politically and financially unstable period. These messages touched on the unjust treatment and violence that black people were receiving, a result of the police brutality empowered by law enforcement and how disproportionately black and other marginalized peoples were treated by the incarceration system. As a result, Hip-Hop found common and effective use in real-life protests.
As the popularity of Hip-Hop expanded into the broader population and ownership extended to white and other Americans, the music continued to be predominantly male-generated. Increasingly in modern day, male artists have been criticized for Hip-Hop’s sexual and degrading representation of women that tends to override messages of black and LatinX empowerment, with ignorant mentions of rape in particular songs.
Vibrant, uplifting, and expressive, Hip-Hop still must be recognized in its problematic practices. More recently, women have occupied a space in Hip-Hop, with artists like Niki Minaj and Cardi B dominating the music business. Seeing how strong and expressive Hip-Hop is, from its beat to its lyrics, led women to make empowering and assertive music, to spread important messages, make their voices heard and oppose the inappropriate representation that had been cast on them. And in its next steps, Hip-Hop must do more than continuing to involve and promote the work of female artists. In order to come to terms as a genre that has degraded identities as it simultaneously empowered others, it is integral that Hip-Hop correct and advocate against misogyny on the part of the dominating, male, artists.
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