This article represents my opinion, not facts. That is a reason not to link "linkable" phrases , because I don't want to support my opinions with facts (in this article). I would have, if I had better knowledge about the hip-hop culture. But since I'm not a hip-hop fan , I'm not interested enough to study all the stuff just because of one article.
Here we go.
Where did hip-hop develop?
In my humble opinion , hip-hop has a lot to do with Africa and black people. Africa (in general) is a very poor continent , with the lowest HDI (Human Development Index) on earth. Historically , Africa was occupied by white people , who brought a piece of education , religion , but even violence , pain and death.
American people used Africans as slaves , until Lincoln gave Black people their rights. Nevertheless , there still exist a number of conflicts between white and black people in the U.S. .Black gained their rights in 1863 , but they didn't gain any American soil. So how could they become rich? Black were a symbol of a social scum.
In those types of social environment, everybody has to have his place in the society. And you can't gain your place through knowledge , nor money. You have to be special in another way. If you can dance better than others , if you play footbag better than others, etc. , than you're the boss , you gain respect of others , and you'll gain highet pozition in this social-structure.
The negative point is, that if you are not good enough , you have to gain you place by more violent way. You have to show your power , say rough words , and act like a boss. You are an complete asshole, but you are probably in a good physical condition , so showing your power to others is a way. Violent? Dumb? Who cares...
However , this is why RAP developed. Someone needed to present his opinion , but none was listening. So let's try rythm , beats (so common for Africa) , rough rhymes (which presents brain activity) , and what we have here? A popular , catchy form of self-realisation.
Grafity developed , again , due lack of education. They didn't have any paper to draw , and sitting on one place? Without adrenalin? No.. Grafity where a perfect way to tell others who you are. And if the quality was bad? Ok , no problem.. They fixed it with quantity.
Not to mention brake dance , and similar stuff.
Clothing. Elegant and uncomfortable clothes where unacceptable. They needed cheap , comfortable clothes. Couldn't do much about it , so made their own , very simple clothes. But they were comfortable , and cheap , so what was the problem?
OK , you may ask.. what's bad about this? Well, nothing at all. Whole development of hip-hop style was just an natural consequence of what happened in past.
But in my opinion , why should we , europeans , and even asians , mess with this culture? First of all , we have out own. And it's not so primitive. It's has a longer history , developed in much higher social spheres.
I'm not telling hip-hop is wrong , bad, primitive . I'm just telling It's dumb to regress. It's stupid to copy a style that doesn't bring much progress.
But why is it so popular? It comes from the pure human naturality , and it's very close to a simple lifestyle which became popular in our world.
Conclusion ?
Be any style you want. Hip-hop's not bad. Just not a good alternative for "complicated" people in my opinion. It's very easy , kind of primitive in a specific way. That's what i don't like. And I still find kind of dumb , looking at white people from europe following this style , because it's popular.
Anyway.. It's stylish to be a member of a social group. And there even exists a social group , which claims it's not a member of any social group, and they have their own , original style. Yeah , sure , you got me .
(Everything in this article is just my opinion. I don't want to make anyone angry . No offence .. )
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1
lukas1
14. 7.júla 2008 00:49
well, why is all this text in english? there were some mistakes(i mean your grammar) in here, but about the content.. You know, you wrote, that hiphop and rap is primitive. Well, try sometimes do grafiti like some very talented people do. Or maybe you could try rap. Because you think, it's easy. Well i can say, it's not easy at all. To rap is not about the text only. It's about how the lines fit with music too. It's about finding some rhythm too..And breakdance? Well i am not a fan of hip-hop at all, but breakdance is one of the most kick-ass dances in the world, soooo.. anyways, its your opinnion..
2
Sorry about the grammar. I was just too lazy to check what I wrote . My miss . Why is this all in english? I need to improve , this is a good way. Yes , I wrote hip-hop is primitive. I mean it in the social way. There are higher and lower social spheres , and hip-hop came from the lower once. It came from low educated spheres. I never told it's easy to rap. Nor dance break dance. It's a significant dance. Rap is just catchy. It's a sort of art , but it misses roots of pure art. In my opinion, it was created as a form of self-presentation . And preformed so people would listen. Just to gain respect , or a place in the community. Just like in 8-mile , the rap battles . The winner gained respect , and what he said was right. The beats are very simple (as far as I know , in most cases..) , so we can talk only about very simple music (in some cases , kitsch). But not degrading the style. As you told , it's just my opinion , and I can be fatally wrong. thanks for your comment
3
A wanted to ask the same question why you write only in english., but i don"t have to now
hip hop, or how we call it hej rup (it can"t be translated to english, beacause it would not shine anymore then) sucks i think.,
I don"t want to hurt anybody., and I think that people in africa or america., the black people are good in it but all i heard from slovak hip hop was primitive
hip hop, or how we call it hej rup (it can"t be translated to english, beacause it would not shine anymore then) sucks i think.,
I don"t want to hurt anybody., and I think that people in africa or america., the black people are good in it but all i heard from slovak hip hop was primitive
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