Written by John Stigall
   

The reader may feel disappointed that I have decided to write about Hip Hop. Especially considering that so much has been said and written about it already. I suppose can only promise the reader that I would not write on any subject unless I had something valuable to say about it. My intention is to try and draw a basic outline of the art form and culture so that I can contrast it with some common distorted views. I think the biggest mistake most casual listeners (myself included) often make is trying to distinguish “real” Hip Hop from the “inauthentic” attempts. However, I certainly think there are good and bad views of Hip Hop; I would define a good view as one that appreciates the complexity and diversity of Hip Hop and a bad view as one that does not.

One Bad View

Hip Hop is the music that appears on television and the radio which involves Black men boasting of their financial assets, frowning in an intimidating manner, and directing obscene commands towards women on a dance floor. Its primary dance styles include booty dancing, snapping one's fingers, upside down booty dancing, and jumping up and down while throwing up hand gestures that represent one's city of origin. I love it!

Unfortunately, this is a very common view of Hip Hop. The popularity of this view may have something to do with the ignorance of music industry selected target audiences, and ease with which sex, money, and violence can generate revenue. Stated plainly, combining media, money, and the masses can trivialize any art form. Also note that the view I described above remains bad even if I replace “I love it!” with “I hate it!” because in both cases the complexity of Hip Hop goes unappreciated. Consider another bad view:

Another Bad View

Good Hip Hop includes the socially conscious, creative, intelligent, atypical, and/or “old skool” rappers I enjoy listening to. Anything else is bad and/or not even worthy of being called “Hip Hop.”

People who hold to this sort of view are close to being Hip Hop's version of a jazz purist. Although this view suggests that the listener is not easily impressed, it still shortchanges Hip Hop's diversity. Below is my small brain's best attempt at outlining the whole of the Hip Hop movement within the spacial limitations of this article. I will also attempt to focus on the more musical elements, since a description of graffiti art, fashion, and other elements of the culture would require even more space.

One Good View

Hip Hop is an art form and culture with a history that extends from the 1970s to the present. Although it is very popular in New York and its surrounding regions, the South, the Midwest, the West Coast, and the Caribbean, its influence extends throughout the world, for example, Hip Hop is very popular in England, Japan, and South Africa. Hip Hop is practiced by rappers and MCs, DJs, producers, and beatboxers, and a variety of dancers. MCs and rappers display their talent by battling one another and performing at parties and gatherings. Rapping usually does not involve singing, but instead the rhythmic recitation of lyrics to a backdrop of music created by DJs, producers, and beatboxers. Rappers use their talents to tell stories, describe romantic situations, describe grim social realities, tell jokes, express their spiritual beliefs, or even simply display their verbal ability by using complex combinations of words and poetic devices.

DJs and producers use turntables, keyboards, mixers, and often live instruments to either create completely new music or to recreate music that has already been produced, sound effects and voice samples are often repeated or modified for effect, while beatboxers often have an uncanny ability to simulate the effects created by DJs and the music created by producers by purely vocal means. The various genres of dance include breaking, popping, locking, krumping, several dances associated with the New Jack Swing era, snap dancing, getting krunk, twerking, and there are also several line dances.     

Now, what I have written above suggests that one needs to not only become a sociologist, historian, and aesthetician in order to ever accomplish developing a truly adequate view, but that one also needs to watch and listen to a ton of Hip Hop. But this is not the case because appreciating the complexity of a music genre or culture is distinct from comprehending it. I do not comprehend Hip Hop, but I try to appreciate it. So I hope the following more reasonable view may be more practical for the reader (and myself).

Another Good View
I like/don't like what I've seen and heard so far.

     I hope that anyone who does not like it would avoid generalizing the whole movement and at least understand that it is not all the same. Personally, I like it.