Ben

Arielle, you have done a great job answering your thesis. I learned a lot about rap and hip hop. I didn't know much before, but after reading your blog, I know a lot more. I never knew that there was a genre called Gangster rap. Overall, your blog is very good. You have done a great job.

Peter

Nice job arielle! I like how in your conclusion you referenced the CNN special. Also in your conclusion you answered your thesis and said how there is another type of rap. You did lots of posts and research.

Response from Kiley

Arille- Great job. I think that you have taken up a difficult and challenging topic and done a very good job. You've found some great information and resources. Your topic is really interesting, and I think that your presentation will be just as interesting and informative.
~Kiley~

To answer a question...

To answer Elin's question there is a modern Hip Hop artist that I do find more meaningful then most, i talked about him earlier, with an article as well. Its Kanye West. This is because he writes what he believes in and not just what he thinks people want to hear. If he is a popular artist then maybe people still want to hear the truth and nothing vulgar, like I do.

Controversial topic, but you did a good job covering it objectively. I think popular music generally reflects the culture it is in, and perhaps the shift in themes represents a broader shift in society. Do you have any examples of modern rappers you find more meaningful?

Cameron

Great blog. You posted a ton of information, that completely answered your thesis question. I liked how you included both outside sources, and your own opininons and reactions to the topic and sources. Your posts are well thought out, and all contributed nicely to your blog. You did a good job researching, and it has made a very infromative and interesting I-search. Also, your conlusion does a nice job of summarizing the information you posted, and aswering your question. I never really thought about new vs. old school hip-hop, and after reading your blog, I noticed how it has changed and evolved over the years. I don't have any real suggestions, geat job.

Awesome blog!!!

Hey Arielle!
Your blog was very interesting and informative. Everything that you wrote about was totally new to me, and I learned a lot. Most of the artists that you mentioned I had never even heard of! Your blog was well written and very creatively designed. I was really able to follow your thought process. At first, you were focusing on Old and New School artists in particular. Then you focused on the degradation of women. And then, once you found the CNN source, you channeled your research until you reached a conclusion. I don't have any suggestions for your blog. It is really good. You included a lot of useful information, and you clearly and fully explained why you used each source. Also, I definitely agree with your conclusion. Not all rap is bad, but there as certain aspects of it (like Gangster Rap) that become really popular and influence the rest of the genre. Excellent job! Oh, and by the way, I didn't get a chance to vote on your poll, but I would have voted for country :) !
Chloe

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, I have come to an understanding of hip hop culture. I would probably thank the CNN special the most for what I learned. My thesis was asking the question if old school was about what life really was and was for helping make a statement for the black community and if it transitioned into something of no substance and just in it for the money, demolishing the respect built up by the old school rappers. Or if it just depended on the hip hop artist. I have come to find that it has changed over the years but only because there is a new genre of hip hop called Gangster Rap. That is where all of the hip hop artists with the meaningless degrading lyrics come from. There are still rappers now that do not fall under the gangster rap catagory and still write and rap with meaning.

Gangsta Rap

I think that it seems like Hip Hop has gotten worse transitioning from old school to new school because of what is the most mainstream music and what is played on the radio the most. Since "sex sells" what are people going to be producing and playing on the radio? Music that reflects sex and violence because, as bad as it is, it is the most popular stuff in hollywood! Hip hop used to reflect the streets and the thug life and how hard it was to live. Now just to get out of that these rappers are paying attention to what is popular and going to get them cash. These are not the real Hip Hop artists, these are the ones the as Corey Condry said "Goes to work". They aren't in it for the african american rights and such that so many people in the past tried to work on as early hip hop artists. Its like all the respect over the years that has been built up is now being demolished but the people that don't care about it, but only care for the fame and fortune that comes with it. That is what I have gotten out of this search so far.

CNN: Is Hip Hip Art or Poison

I went and found the transcript to the special CNN had on Hip Hop. This actually completely changed my opinion and I think I found my answer through this. It actually does not depend on old school or new school completely, or what artist it is. Although they are huge factors, but there is a specific genre of rap which is newer, you could call it new school. Gangter rap is what gives rap its bad name. Gangster rap is all about drugs, alcohol, partying, exploiting women. This is a quote from the CNN special:
~GRANDMASTER CAZ, RAP PIONEER DJ: All these guys were out talking black nationalism and then here comes gangster rap where we're shooting and talking about liquor and drugs and this and that and the whole black movement went out the window.
There are also these quotes that impact my research:
~HURT: What you're seeing mostly, though, is you're seeing repetitive images of women as boy toys, as sex kittens, as sex objects, and I think that's a problem. ZAHN: But hip hop mogul Russell Simmons maintains that rap simply mirrors the problems in the real world. RUSSELL SIMMONS: We're a violent and over-sexed country. That's all sad truth, you know. That was our reflection sometimes, a reflection of our sad truths.
I Guess it is the truth when you say that it mirrors the problems in the real world, but maybe the problems started to get worse with this type of music. There is a DJ that they interview on the show as well. His name is Corey Condrey. He is only of the first Hip hop Dj's to play Hip Hop music mainstream on the radio. So he has a big choice to make. To play the hip hop that could negativly effect our communities or be a positive influence on youths minds:
NGUYEN: You know what I find is really fascinating about you is you've take a stand. You've done it personally. You left the number one show to be on this new show. Tell me why. CONDREY: It needed a change. It got to the point where I wasn't really agreeing with all the things I was doing. NGUYEN: And that's hard because it's your job to play the music. CONDREY: Sure. What happens is the deejay actually has to play what the program director says play. It got to point I was sitting back like should I keep playing this music? Should I keep doing it? I'm not saying that all hip-hop is bad. I watched the segment. Is it art? Is it poison? All hip hop isn't bad. Not all.
He Left his job because the hip hop was sending such bad messages and he did not agree with it. Later in the segment he says the he loves hip hop:
CONDREY: Sure. I don't go to work. I go to life and I think a lot of times, people get up in the morning and they go to work. I got to live. To see a soul get saved is like the greatest thing. Salvation is the biggest miracle that can ever take place. When you can sit back, radio is designed for the community. It was always designed for the people, for the community. And when you can sit back and take what we're doing with the spirit of hip-hop and go into the community and embrace the community, then the hip hop generation can change it. NGUYEN: Should more deejays take on this responsibility do you think? CONDREY: Absolutely. I believe what has happened with hip hop is hip-hop doesn't have father figures. It's a lot of people that have grown up in hip hop and they don't have dads in their life. So what happens is you have now a hip-hop generation raising that little girl, that little boy right now. And so what happens is when hip-hop is raising up and then you see the videos, you said that's it. That's what I'm supposed to be. How can you tell a man to be a man of God when there's no man in the house?
All of the points he is making is helping me figure out what hip hop really is, and what happened to it over the years.

Misrepresenting Women

As I was looking the the Hip Hop culture book I saw a section that was titled "Has Hip-Hop Misrepresented Women". In it, it said that during the late 1980's and early 1990's the misrepresenting of women started to show up in the hip hop music. Including Luther Campbell's 2 Live Crew and Easy-E's NWA were two groups that were in the debate about explicit content in music and on the music videos. From the 1990's to the 2000's though it continued and got worse because more groups and solo artists were using women in their music as a sex icon. Calling themselves terms like " Pimp, mack daddy, and playa". As well as other names. Those are just names showing that they have power over women. The hollywood mantra "sex sells" is obviously a huge factor in the music and music videos that these rappers create. That has always been a factor in anything in hollywood though. So how has hip hop changed towards "sex sells"?

Mrs. Jewitt

Good to see you using the Washington Post - Consult databases for more info that is current in magazines and newspapers - Focus now on reading and posting text that helps you deepen your research and add to the answer you are seeking; you site is creatively designed - don't spend time adding more pictures,etc. in lieu of text - You are really doing well, Arielle!

Someone With the Same Opinion

As I was searching online I found someone that wrote for the washington post that shared the same feelings as me that hip hop has changed. One part that effected me a lot I will put on here:

"At the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards, rappers Snoop Doggy Dog and 50 Cent embellished their performance of the song "P.I.M.P." by featuring black women on leashes being walked onstage. This past August, MTV2 aired an episode of the cartoon "Where My Dogs At," which had Snoop again leading two black bikini-clad women around on leashes. They squatted on their hands and knees, scratched themselves and defecated."

The woman that wrote this article loved hip hop since "Rappers Delight", the first rap song that was recorded and released and went big. Then the music over time started to changed into something different and she does not let her daughter even listen to it.

Hip Hop different then Rap?

Hip Hop, to answer Saras question, is different then rap. Rap is more focused on the rhyming and music part. Where as hip hop incorporates more pop and dancing as well as mixing. There are a lot more elements to hip hop then rap. It's more like rap is one of the elements of hip hop and sub-catagory, not its on catagory. In the book Hip Hop Culture statistics show that that largest population of fans are suburban white youth, who seem to be interested in a different type of culture then they live in. Its interesting to see how people are attracted to the exploiting in the hip hop world.

Early Hip Hop

In the book Hip Hop Culture that I am reading, there is a section called "Should Hip Hop Be Cencored". There is a part in that section that gets the point across that I have been trying to say this whole time. It says:

" During the early period, it was the rawness and urgent appeal for equality that captured the hearts and minds of both artists and fans, revealing to the world the next tool of global revolution as countries across the globe imitated, adopted, and appropriated Hip Hop as a method and manner of communication against local, regional, national, and global oppression."

Also in this part of the book that explores both old school and new school hip hop, it is saying that during the early stages of hip hop most of the elements of the music were based on the inner-city life. That would include songs written about gangs and violence, narcotics and alcohol, crime and poverty, and hustling. This showed that their music had actual substance and their words were not written for them. Most of the Hip Hop on the radio these days have worthless lyrics that are just brainwashing its audience.

Mrs. Jewitt

Keep working Arielle!! I'm impressed with your research and comments thus far - and also with the imput from your peers - Remember to cite your sources as you go - excellent!

If an artist has lasted from old school to new school has he/she changed their music to fit whats popular?

Some Hip Hop artists like Missy Elliot has always been about the dancing and even now her music seems to be able her and her passions as it did when she started out in this industry. Then, there are hip hop artists like LL Cool J. He has been one of the rare Hip Hop Artists to succeed in having more then a few albums come out with fading popularity. He was a big deal for a long time. his first album "Radio" when you look up the lyrics to the songs, seems child like, talking about women with out so much as a mention to her body in a wrong way. The songs like "I Give You More" and "I Want You, are titles where you would expect him to be talking about things, we don't all need to hear about. After looking up the lyrics to those songs, I found nothing offensive about the words or the meanings. I then looked up his most resent album "Todd Smith" which was released in 2006. I looked up the lyrics to two more songs, "Ooh Wee" and "Favorite Flavor". I could see the change dramatically in the way he wrote his songs. They were about womans bodies and sex and things he did not even seem to care about in his old music. This showed me that the hip hop artists that have seemed to last from the transition from old school into new school hip hop could have done so by changing their music for the audience. Again, not writing what they are passionate about and then proving what I had thought in the first place that hip hop has changed over the years into something that is creud and ignorant sounding.

Ben

This seems to be a very interesting topic. Although I don't know some of these artists, I think I know what you are talking about. One thing is that you should have more information about the old school rap. I would know how rap has changed more if you had some more lyrics or information about past artists. Also, is there anybody else besides Kanye West that is going against what you thought?

Maybe it does depend on the artist and not on whether it is old school or new school?

Is Kanye West The Future of Hip Hop?
by: Kevin R. Scott

I've always loved when a producer and an artist collaborated on the creation of a sound that was unique and cohesive; when a seamless partnership was the definition of the album ultimately released. Those types of dream teams have existed for years and will continue to be formed. Michael Jackson and Quincy Jones, Missy Elliot and Timbaland, Eminem and Dr. Dre, and even Brandy and Rodney Jerkins are all perfect examples. And there are many more. The albums that have been produced out of these musical think tanks have become the benchmarks for measuring critical acclaim. Each generation has its music revolutionaries; anomalies that elevate the genre. With his soon to be released and highly anticipated Late Registration we are being seriously asked to consider Kanye West, single-handedly, as one of them. The most significant characteristics of such an artist is the way that they seamlessly combine their mastery and love for the spectacle of performance with their skilled, organic compositions and arrangements; in other words being both an artist and producer. The release of Late Registration will be the litmus test that determines if he is truly ready for the curriculum of geniuses. Long before the release of The College Dropout in 2004, Kanye had produced enormously successful anthems such as Jay-Z's "Izzo (H.O.V.A .)", Alicia Key's "You Don't Know My Name" and "Stand Up" for Ludacris. His work as a producer was stamped with approval when Roc-A-Fella records picked him up for his more than buzzworthy ability to blend old school R&B samples and live instrumentation on a hip hop production. This skill set alone is only half of Kanye's musical aptitude but it may prove to be the footprint of his impact on music. Testimony of Kanye "The Great" as a producer can be found not only in the discographies of new artists like John Legend and Keyshia Cole, but his baller status is even further heightened, as he is in demand by a myriad of music executives to save or resurrect the careers of heavyweight veterans like Janet and Mariah Carey. Kanye's often imitated style and approach to production is what has kept him at the top of the game. His official biography states that he left the production booth to focus on his "tremendous talents as a lyricist and songwriter." A statement of that magnitude signifies that this man not only has something to say but that he is uniquely qualified to deliver it. His new video and single, "Diamonds from Sierra Leone" is the first offering from Late Registration and it reassures Roc-A-Fella that a Plan B to combat the sophomore jinks isn't even necessary. The production on "Diamonds" is signature Kanye. The lyrical style is conversational. The message is inspired. It proves that Kanye, though a college drop out, actually learned something, even if it's from the school of hard knocks. However the skeptic in me makes me wonder if it's enough. Is Kanye really here to change hip hop as we know it? Thankfully, he believes that he is. He believes that his music is medicine, like a cure for cancer. Compared to the other hip hop enlightened prophets, Kanye is still in grade school. But that may not be a criticism; it may be a testament of the growth and movement we can expect to experience. Commercial success aside, has Kanye been a breakthrough? Is his creative duality organic enough to cause the well needed paradigm shift in hip hop? He has been called the most important figure in hip hop today. He has proven himself as a producer however I am still standing with baited breath to see if he is indeed the revolutionary of modern music that he has been proclaimed to be. Late Registration is not only his latest solo project but his latest attempt to prove to naysayers, me included, his worth. Maybe Kanye is the greatest artist slash producer of our generation; maybe he does combine that rare creative schizophrenic genius that we are currently punishing Lauryn for. Or… maybe not. Late Registration hits stores August 30.

The article added to this is all about the famous Kanye West. He goes against everything that I have thought before this point (which was that old school was about the music and new school is about pleasing the audience and molding the minds of kids in the wrong way). Kanye West is true to his music and writes about what he knows and believes in. His music is also different then most rappers of this time era (in other words he does not talk about sex, drugs, and cars). Kanye writes about things that we can all relate to, like the hardness in life, and his life, god, and more. He is someone that will be remembered for the right reasons. He represents what he believes in, like his song Jesus Walks, he is a religious man and this just shows how dedicated he is to his religion. He also goes against the grain, he is doing something different then the majority of rappers are doing, that is risky because he could end up selling no records because people are expecting the explicet style of today. This proves a different point in my thesis, there is a chance that maybe hip hop has not changed for the worst, but that it just depends on the artist, I will try to find more informaiton to back this up.

Comment

I believe this is a very interesting topic. Although, it seems that you enjoy listening to rap, but in this blog you tell everyone how bad it is. For some strange reason this doesn't seem right to me if you enjoy listening to rap you should say why and not controdict yourself. I am very eager to hear more about old school hip hop/rap because I am not very familiar about it, and I enjoy the new stuff so I am hoping to discover a lot more.


Michael

Comment from Erin

Hey Arielle, I really think your topic makes a lot of sense and I have thought the same thing quite often. Most of hip hop is very degrading and it is an insult to women and also an insult to themselves for creating such garbage! I guess my advice to you would be to remember that there are some hip hop artists who actually do write nice songs that are meaningful, but the truth be told that most of those songs are never heard on the air. Why would people want to listen to an interesting and meaningful lyric when they can listen to a lyric about slapping a woman's butt that has a great beat? It sounds awful, but it is sadly true. I can't wait to hear more about hip hop and its interesting style. Good luck!
~Erin

Comment from

Stuff I never knew before!

Arielle! This is a lot of cool information. I don't listen to rap and have only heard of a few on the radio, but the reason is precisely what you are talking about in your I-Search. Rap used to be a cool form of people expressing their feelings in music. Now, rap is a bunch of words repeated over and over with no meaning. Usually, if I am listening to the radio by myself, I just let it play and don't pay attention to the lyrics. But if I'm in the car, with my mom or dad, I start listening to the lyrics of some of the songs on the radio, and I switch the station cause they're awful! I think that anyone can appreciate music, whatever kind, but I cannot connect with rap in most cases.

Is there a difference between Hip-Hop and Rap? I also totally agreed with the fact that out of those 49 people, only 6 of them are known to kids. I probably only know about 6 or 7. I am interested about learning more about Hip Hop and whether old school or new school is better.
~Sara

Here and now...

Many of the most popular songs of 2007 were from Hip Hop artists. For example one of the biggest songs was a song most people known called "Crank that Soulja Boy" from Soulja boy Tellem. In this song, the content is mostly explaining a dance, that pretty much is just appealing to the public. If someone that was a real artist writing their own songs, then wouldn't you think they would write about something more meaningful to them, not just to appeal to an audience. I believe that is what popular hip hop has turned into. Also, A big hip hop artist of this year being featured in an emence amount of the most popular songs of 2007 is T-Pain. The song he did by himself a year or so ago was called "I'm in love with a stripper". Now, this song is nothing more then degrating women and just vulgar words that are not needed to prove his point, I mean if your really in love with a stripper T-Pain, you wouldn't be talking about how you love her body...come on. Let's look at MIMS song "This is why I'm Hot". Well that title pretty much tells you what he is repeatedly saying throughout the entire song. How is that really interesting? I think Hip hop is being degrated to something that is just something to dance and jam to. Not so much an important form of music.

Back in the Day...

The "Pioneers" of the Hip Hop culture are the ones that started it all. To name the most influencial people in hip hop here they are: Afrika Bambaataa the "godfather of Hip hop", The Beastie Boys (the first major all white hip hop crew), Beat Junkies, Davey D, Doug E. Fresh, Dynamic Rockers/Dynamic Breakers, the Electric Boogaloos, Eminem, Fab 5 Freddy, Cypress Hill, Fubu, Sugar Hill Gang, the Fugees, Grandmaster Flash, Grandmixer DXT, MC Hammer, Hype Williams, Invisibl Skratch Piklz, Jay-Z, Karl Kani, Kool Herc, KRS-One, Kurtis Blow, Marley Marl, Master P, LL Cool J, Missy Elliott, NOGA, Native Tongues, New York City Breakers, Notorious B.I.G., NWA, P. Diddy, Public Enemy, Queen Latifah, Rakim, Rock Steady Crew, The Roots, Run-DMC, Russell Simmons, Salt-n-Pepa, Snoop Dogg, TAKI 183, Tupac Shakur, UGA, Will Smith, Wu-Tang Clan, and X-Ecutioners. Now this is a VERY long list of Hip Hops Finest, but I felt if I was going to go through the process of comparing some of them to all new Hip hop stars then I would need the best, and that included all of them. Out of these about 49 Hip Hop legends about 6 are still putting out recent records and kids in highschool and younger would know (as a generalized statement) only about these 6. Is there a specific reason (besides death) that only a select few are still going strong in the hip hop industry? It could be because they changed their old school ways to fit the audience now. I will look at that further.

Which is more relatable to the audience, old school or new school hip hop... or maybe it depends on the artist?

I think that people will take different sides on the topic. Who knows, this question is asking how you relate to the music. People can relate to the music in different ways. How I see it, old school hip hop seemed less vulgar and had some meaning in the words they were saying. Not so much " Shake it for me". A lot of it was about how rough their lives were and you could tell that they had problems and they were letting out their anger and frustration through their music. I listen to a lot of the rappers now like T-pain for instance and its nothing more then trying to entertain us with a beat and repeating the same meaningless words the whole song. Yet, there are some rappers now also that do not follow that statement. We could bring Kanye West into this and look at his past albums. He is new school, but none of his music is about meaningless things, it is empowering music. Also we can look at Sir Mix-A-Lot the One Hit Wonder with "Baby Got Back" (I'm sure you can guess what thats about), he is pretty old school, from the early 90's. His song had nothing more then talking about womens behinds, is that relatable?

BIG NAMES THAT STARTED IT ALL

If you go back to when hip hop started it was not accepted by the public. Some thought of it as horrible and "america's worst slum". It was the Sugar hill Gang that made the biggest impact on the recorded hip hop music revolution which their controversial 1979 song " Rappers Delight".Before that though, there was Kool Herc (Clive Campbell). Before him there was no DJ or MC that made beats for dancers, or b-girls/boys. He made the first hip hop crew called cool Herc and the Herculords (1970's). A lot of people have thought that gangs and rap are interrelated. Generally speaking, gangs were here first and that is were rap/hip hop was derived from.