Bring In Noise: The Devolution of Rap or Hip Hop

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Rap Culture is Lost
A close examination of the music genre; hip-hop and rap one can establish a disparity of today’s lyrics and what the norm was in old school era. Just listening to new era rap stanzas a big difference is notable. Rap music back then addressed black oppression with artists using the music avenue to speak on subjugation and liberating the black community. They sang more about the ghetto and the hardships they had to endure just to make it. The game of hip-hop has overtime had a change in the way the genre is presented, and in today’s era, it has been highly commercialized. Sadly, the roots of the music have been lost; record labels have advocated and encouraged rappers to talk more about sex, gangs, and violence.
Vinyl turntables no longer exist and have faded out and replaced with modern turntables. The mainstream media has short-changed artists who wanted to speak out issues in the community. Instead, they encourage an approach that is more into gangs and women objectification. The artists can no longer approach record labels to push such ideas as they are norms that have been set in the modern era. The real spirit and culture of hip-hop and rap are fading away, and the previous elements of embracing graffiti, breakdancing, disk jockeys and MCs are indeed losing popularity (Martinez 270). The MCs were in love with the game where they brought the right energy to the fans and encourage the rap culture. Originally the music was more of expressing rebellion and disgruntlement of the black American community.

The originality in the rap culture that was witnessed in the 70s and 80s has been lost and that unique sound no longer exists.
Changes are being seen in that even the whites; are getting into the black-American genre type of music. The stereotype that existed of the genre being affiliated with the black community is eventually dying. Indeed there is a shift in consumption of the genre as noted by Regina Bradley (Professor of English at Kennesaw State University). She points out in the late 90s suburban white teens were embracing the rap culture. The culture was spreading and adopted by other American classes and ethnicities.
When the record labels realized there was a new market that was in the industry, the rap game changed. It was now eyeing the new white listeners, and there was a shift in the earlier culture of rap. It indeed chose to accommodate the white by changing earlier ideas of political and social annotation. The current form adopted was more into explicit lyrics and violence that was appealing to the white audience (Morales 58). The upcoming white rappers have to deal with fitting in in the culture considering most rappers spoke more of oppression and hailed from poor backgrounds where they had to struggle to make it in the industry. There exists a racial divide between the two races and having to appeal to such an audience is a challenge. The black community may not equally relate to ‘white boy lyrics.’
Interestingly, a rapper like Eminem who is white had a breakthrough in the rap industry. He appealed, given his background gave a clear mental pic of life of the black community. Living in worse conditions with his addicted mother in a trailer park gave him the credibility of having experienced the ghetto life. When he rapped, he overcame the racial divide and was appealing to both races.
Shifting the focus to addressing and voicing issues has been the undoing of hip-hop and rap culture. In this new era of new technology where there are social media platforms, it’s killing the old school culture. Videos no longer address issues in society but rather on women objectification. The lyrics are obscene, and they no longer address how the founders of culture visualized the game. The videos are characterized by skimpily dressed vixens who are dancing to the lewd lyrics.
Erosion of morals has been inflicted on teens that closely follow modern era rap culture. There are exposed to nudity, drugs, and violence as they want to ape what the rappers portray in their explicit music (Dixon et al., 220). With the accessibility of such indecent music being at a click away the moralities level have been affected. Erosion is affecting the teen’s behavior and encouraging them to experiment with drugs and alcohol at a tender age. Cases of teens engaging in early sex is a reality as nudity is exposed, which most modern era rappers are promoting in their music.
In conclusion, the change and devolution witnessed in rap music have been a bad experience, and it has eroded good morals. Rappers way back addressed issues in society that were facing them, from poverty, oppression and bad governance. Modern-era hip-hop and rap culture no longer does that and instead has shifted its course. Record labels encourage artists to sing more on sexuality, violence, and drugs. The followers of such artistes, majority being teens are exposed to nudity which has eroded their moral values.
Works cited
Martinez, Theresa A. “Popular culture as oppositional culture: Rap as resistance.” Sociological Perspectives 40.2 (1997): 265-286.
“The Evolution of Rap.” Harvard Political Review The Evolution of Rap Comments, harvardpolitics.com/covers/evolution-rap/.
Morales, Gabe. “Chicano Music and Latino Rap and Its Influence on Gang Violence and Culture.” Journal of Gang Research 10.2 (2003): 55-63.
Dixon, Travis L., and Daniel G. Linz. “Obscenity law and sexually explicit rap music: Understanding the effects of sex, attitudes, and beliefs.” (1997): 217-241.