I think that hip hop could be used as a powerful tool for
activism because of the large fan base, but I do not think it is more useful
than other music genres because all types of music have its own meaning and its
own crowd of listeners. For example, Ac/Dc is an older well known rock band
that also has a large fan base, but their lyrics are about doing drugs and
having sex. Regardless of how provocative the lyrics can be, there will always
be fans and followers.
Common is one of the many hip hop artists that I listen to.
There is more to his songs than just beats, but there is deep meaning and it
delivers a powerful message as well. For example, the song “The People” talks
about the people of Common’s hometown and how he can affect people’s lives by
his music. If you look at the lyrics, there is neither cussing nor does he talks
about killing or doing drugs and yet this is one of his most heard songs. Rap
can still be expressed in a conscious matter and still get the message across
without violence and drugs.
I really like and agree with how you say that hip-hop is now more commonly used for critiquing. More people critique than praise hip-hop. Do you think that hip-hop is coming back around to being more conscious or that other hip-hop artists can influence other artists?
ReplyDeleteI dont think that hip hop is coming back around to being more conscious, but there are still rappers out there that try to deliver a positive message within their rap instead of talking about fancy cars, females, and money. Nowadays there are different versions of hip hop, for example Lil Wayne and Living Legends. Both artist and group are hip hop, but when you actually listen to the lyrics one song has more depth to it.
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