Coming into this course I have been the biggest hip hop fan for as long as I can remember. The mesmerizing lyrics and instrumentation from artists such as Lil Wayne, Eminem, Lupe Fiacso, etc. have accompanied me throughout all my life. Taking this course has brought to my attention the origins and initial intentions of hip hop. In my personal opinion, the current state of hip hip is a complete mess. The mainstream artists nowadays are a joke in the sense that they put up a false persona in order to sell records. In addition, many artists hop on the same sound or the same kind of flow/cadence in order to sell records, this simply perpetuates the notion that the current state of hip hop lacks authenticity. For the most part, while picking quotes for this assignment I felt that quotes that displayed the many ways in which hip hop can be used and mobilized struck out to me.
One of the main themes of hip hop that I feel are lost in today’s current climate is the ability to speak on and bring attention to the injustices of our society and how hip hop can be seen as interchangeable with other movements. One thing that many forget about hip hop is the ability for it to provide a voice not just a dollar. I rediscovered this meaning while coming across quotes such as “Hip hop reshapes the terrain of black feminism, making it responsive to the political and cultural realities of women and girls born in the late twentieth century. And black feminism reshapes the landscape of hip-hop, pushing it to realize and elevate its political promise and possibility.” (The Crunk Feminist Collective). This quote embodies the idea that hip hop is reflective of the trials and tribulations of our society and the same way works vice versa. Without the struggles of black women in America “black feminism” itself would not be a thing as well as any use of it as hip hop subject matter. Due to the fact that so many black and brown people suffer from the same if not similar struggles gives hip hop all the more power. But if the content of hip hop is watered down with gimmicks I definitely feel as if some of hip hop’s power is diminished.
Other quotes I have collected articulate different untold truths surrounding hip hop I picked up throughout this course. For example, many believe that hip hop created sexism in our society. However, hip hop definitely has perpetuated sexism by its further use of women as objects of entertainment and as sexual objectification, it most definitely is not its creator. Sexism is apparent in many if not almost all facets of our society. It’s impossible to individually blame hip hop for sexism when it is clear that if we were to blame hip hop then we would unfortunately have to call attention to about everything else we do.
Overall, taking this course has been a lot of fun because it enabled me to view things I have been looking at for several years but through a different perspective. Now when I experience hip hop I pick up on the different ways women are being portrayed and talked about as well as ways hip hop continuously battles with being mainstream and sticking with it roots.
