Hip-Hop: The Greatest of All Research Paper

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L. Cool J. into box-office stars. Like rock and roll in the 1950s, hip-hop has become the great cultural bridge in these times" ("Hip Hop: The history," Independence, 2006.). However, in some of its manifestations, the original intent of hip-hop music to parody and critique mainstream culture has been corrupted by materialism. There is a distinct contrast with the original voices and visions of artists like Afrika Bambaataa, Grandmaster Flash and Kurtis Blow with Kei$ha. Bambaataa, a Black Spades gang member and DJ said he wanted "to combine his love of music" and "enhance community life (Watkins 22). But while all music that originated in the African-American community has 'crossed over' at some point, no crossover has been characterized by such materialism and dilution as hip-hop. Instead of a critique of materialism, the commercialized version of hip-hop often merely celebrates excess. Ignorant of the real circumstances behind the movement, artists like Kei$ha (what can only be called 'bad artists') coming from conventional backgrounds sing about aspiring to live the life of hard-drinking hipsters from the streets in their music. Once, hip-hop artists dreamed living the American Dream and leaving the ghetto: now, people who have the money and comforts these artists coveted desire to "brush their teeth with a bottle of Jack."

Instead of decrying the injustice perpetrated against black men, commercialized hip-hop today makes money and success look easy, as easy as slipping fake gold jewelry and singing songs about glamorized violence [Simile]. "The unprecedented influence by Black youth" to increase awareness about black anger have achieved through hip-hop is meaningless, if it is not used for advancing the movement's original values (Kitwana xxi). "The Afro-Americanization of white youth has been more a male than a female affair given the prominence of male athletes and the cultural weight of male pop artists.

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This process results in white youth -- male and female -- imitating and emulating black male styles of walking, talking, dressing, and gesticulating in relation to others" like Kei$ha (Kitwana 10).

Today, as a result of hip-hop's influence, virtually every form or genre of music has a little hip-hop flavor in it whether through dance moves, from break-dancing in the 80s to today's alternative rock. Hip-hop continues to be innovative as an art form: The Black Eyed Peas have created a new, 21st century vision of hip-hop that is multiracial, still embraces new musical technology, but is highly politicized enough in their uncompromising vision to use one of Barak Obama's campaign speeches in a song. The Black Eyed Peas are examples of why hip-hop can and should remain meaningful: the message and the art are constantly related to listener's lives and constantly innovated to suit the times. For hip-hop to flourish creatively and remain relevant, artists must have a message and a vision, lest this appropriative, postmodern art form becomes re-appropriated by the culture it was designed to parody. "Tick tock:" the clock of history is ticking away [Metaphor], to see how hip-hop artists will cope with the pressures to make money and to make this satirical, highly verbal form of music still interesting to critical listeners.

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