The Contraversy and difference between Hip Hop and Rap

Many people categorize Hip Hop and Rap to be the same culture and music genre. The truth is that these two styles of music and cultures are extremely different and stand for nothing alike. Hip hop is a representation of artistic expression thru several different elements. Rap is an expression of negative messages consisting of mostly degrading lyrical content and repulsive musical videos. Most individuals do not conduct their own research to clarify the definition between the two cultures which usually leads to a severe amount of misunderstanding and confusion. Many factors of our society today join the two in a mutual category due to the misconception of most people including our teenagers and younger generation. My purpose for this essay is to clarify the truth and help those who do not understand gain a truthful outlook about a culture that was invented in the early 70’s to stand for definition and pride.
Rap music has been given a bad rap due to the enormous amount of negative output from artist and their affiliates. We have been faced with a new found culture that has corrupted our younger generations mind thru deceiving people into thinking this is what hip hop has evolved into. The truth of the matter is that hip hop and rap are not the same nor do they have any of the same values. Most people think they are the same due to one element that is similar in the art form which is emceeing. Emceeing to the real hip hop generation was to be a form a rhyming that would be positive and become a source for artist to discuss their life and struggles and also become a motivating happy party sound thru music When hip hop was created in the early 70’s the culture was designed by a man named Afrikka Bammbatta, and when he founded hip hop it originally turned into a new found trend that was said not to be around for very long.
Bambatta wanted to create an organization to help keep the younger generation and others aware of their artistic talents as well as incorporate values of knowledge and righteous beliefs. He originally created the black spades, and soon after it origination Bambatta soon noticed that most of his member were abusing the original motive with violence, this led him to recreate an organization and build a stronger foundation for his original purpose. Soon after the black spades he founded the Universal Zulu Nation; this movement was a stronger artistic organization representing the original five elements of hip hop which are emceeing, deejaying, break dancing, graffiti, and knowledge.
Since the 70’s other changes have happened over the years with music leading to several controversial issues in our community and worldwide. Hip hop was said to be a fad and it has not only lasted thru 3 decades but it has evolved into several forms of artistic talent. Hip hop has influenced several positive art forms and artistic talents. Spoken word has become a very strong element in many communities leading to popular poetry slams and a well know show titled Def Poetry on HBO. This show is produced and founded by one of hip hop’s Mongols Russell Simmons. He is the brother of one of hip hop’s well known groups “Run DMC’, and the ceo of Def Jam which is one of hip hop’s well known and successful record labels. Another positive evolution of hip hop has been Gospel hip hop which has been known as a positive form of religious music since most of the artist’s speak of positive things from the bible and thoughts of change in our community. One of gospel hip hop’s well known founders is a man by the name of Kirk Franklin; he is also a lead artist in a well known group called Kirk Franklin and family. These are just two of many positive influences that hip hop has had over the years and hopefully we are fortunate enough to have many more positive changes rather than negative.
Rap music evolved from a group called NWA which means niggaz with attitudes. The group’s members were Ice Cube (O'Shea Jackson), Eric "Eazy-E" Wright, MC Ren (Lorenzo Patterson) and Dr Dre (Andre Young). Their first album hit the streets in 1988 with the debut title “Straight Outta Compton”. One of NWA’s first members to go solo was Eric "Eazy-E" Wright, with Eazy-Duz-It and probably the crew's most recognizable character who died of AIDS in 1995. Two of NWA’s other former members, Ice Cube (O'Shea Jackson) with AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted,, and Dr Dre (Andre Young) with The Chronic , gave gangster rap music its new beginning. Dr Dre went on to produce the debut album of his friend from California Snoop Doggy Dogg. His material was highly influenced by George Clinton's psychedelic funk, also creating a subgenre commonly known as "G Funk". NWA had several controversial issues to face in the community when their first album came out and none of the member had any idea their music would have such a strong effect on urban America and the nation.
Though the album had a tone of criticism in regards to the negative lives blacks were forced to lead, it spent the majority of its time glorifying tales of murder, drug dealing, gang culture, and disrespecting women. Signed by Ruthless Records, the group recognized the potential of violence to generate record sales. They figured violence sells in the media, so why not put it to work in the music business? The enormous success of the album created a new era we called gangster rap music. Aside From the traditional DeeJaying and classical rhymes like positive hip hop, the group achieved great success and national notoriety. The news media became obsessed with N.W.A.’s and the Impact they were starting to have on society. The media
was not concerned with hip-hop culture anymore, but with this violent form of music straying from hip-hop’s original goal that promotes positive actions. The truth of this scenario is that most Caucasians’ control media companies with profit generating intentions. By removing positive motives and replacing them with pure violence, consumers were no longer directly asked to question social issues. Absorbing these violent messages, the consumer could simply drift along through the record without critically considering the content (a much more rational alternative to analytical thinking for most people). The common stereotypes of African Americans by white America also provided an environment for the uncomfortable issue of music that reinforced these racist stereotypes. When catering to American consumers, the majority of which are white, an album that diminishes tension between the finished product and everyday life makes the values more agreeable, and more likely to sell. The news media, which is also controlled by a very small group of rich Caucasian Americans, was able to resell the violence of Straight Outa Compton to television audiences and magazine subscribers. The same situation of catering to and reinforcing stereotypes can be applied in this situation as well.
Since the release of NWA’s album so much has changed and many negative effects have taken place in music. The original split of real hip hop could say to have taken place in the late 80’s, and the original form of hip hop from then has taken a turn to be considered as underground. Some real hip hop artist such as Mos Def and Talib kweli have been give mainstream notoriety, but compared to the millions of other artist that exist, this has pretty much hidden the true meaning of the culture. Many of today’s real hip hop artists have also been forced to distribute their music online and thru independent record labels. This is said to have happened since most of the major label would rather be associated with rap music and the millions of dollars those record sales generate. Real hip hop has become a major issue in the educational loop for many of America’s most prestigious educational institutions. Yale University has placed a class in their curriculum that is part of a whole serious dedicated to real hip hop and the culture. Temple University gives a class called Hip Hop 101, and this is just to name a few. Many people are concerned about hip hop’s health and future. Hip hop has traveled out of the U.S. ranging from Cuba to Germany and the culture is actually appreciated more in place like Japan, London, and Paris. In Cuba when hip hop first started to emerge the, government soon had problems with the culture due to the lyrical content sounding political with details of the oppression. Soon after giving hip hop it’ respect, Cuba decided hip hop was an artistic way of expression funding a government run organization called (The Cuban Rap Agency).
This constant change of music and our future generation has a strong point to be made. This is similar to the times of the late 60’s to 70’s when the youth and others started to experiment with drugs like acid, mushroom’s, and marijuana. The blame even then was put on popular groups such as The Door’s, The Beatles and Jimmy Hendrix. The stakes are higher now in my opinion due to the massive problems associated with the values that are being expressed thru Gangster Rap. The loss of values and glorification of real gangsters like Bugsy Seagal, Al Capone, and Lucky Luchiano is just a remembrance of a horrible History repeating it’s self. The difference between the two could be even gangsters had a code that they lived by. The newer age “Wanna be Gangsters” have no code to be acknowledged or exposed to the music industry or the streets . Unless you are referring to one similarity as said by Cameron (a rapper and member of a Gangster rap group called Dip Set) interviewed in may 2007 on 60 minutes.. The only code or similarity between the two is the rule to not snitch. Rappers will not snitch since they feel this would injure their record sales and loss of reputation with their fans. In the interview Cameron speaks heartlessly looking cold and anxious as he describes his street rules and gangster ethics in detail. The difference is very easy for many to see but the controversy will remain as long as there is no code or ethics being introduced or branded into the new age Rap underworld.