The definition of hip-hop is “a style of popular music of US black and Hispanic origin, featuring rap”. Hip-hop is a very complex genre that holds different meanings and value to different people within our shared society and community as it typically relates/pertains to a specific audience. As time progresses, the meaning of this genre becomes more elaborate as it is consistently expanding pertaining to style, audience, topics of discussion and relevance, etc. A consistent theme in hip-hop history is the shedding of light from that of the African American/colored, minority point-of-view and their typical day-to-day obstacles and inequities that this population often faces (racism, economic/social status; starting from the bottom, etc.).

Thus far, we’ve learned that hip-hop is a free form of expression of one’s (or a groups) experiences and perspective pertaining to their surrounding world/society and community that they have grown up in, and what they know about it. We all reside and live our daily lives in the same space, yet we each have our own thoughts, ideas, and perceptions about our shared community and what it all means to us depending on our status and level of importance in society, thus, based on our upbringing as well – we each live different realities and each person’s individual worlds may hold different truths. Hip hop highlights important aspects of life through the lens of those who are oppressed (whether its racial oppression, gender oppression, etc.). In the past, hip-hop was used to express the trials and tribulations of racial discrimination and what this life meant for those who were in the minority group. What types of oppression did they possibly face, and how these daily obstacles have affected them/made them feel.

I’ve grown up listening to hip-hop that has been produced in various points in time, therefore, there’s been prior knowledge and familiarity instilled pertaining to the differences in style and the overall progression of hip-hop throughout the years, etc. With that being said, I look forward to exploring the differences in topics in which special emphasis is placed upon in each song throughout the development of hip-hop culture. For example, how is what hip-hop artists were rapping about back when hip-hop was first being established, different to today’s content and topics of discussion different; how has it changed