Hip Hop Reflection

by Trish Fanon

It seems apparent to me that the change in hip hop was not only fueled by a generation aging but the influence of outside interest attempting to exploit hip hop as a way to make money.  Hip hop started to emerge as not a vehicle of change but an opportunity to “main stream” the music to attract others outside of the Bronx, where revenues of sales could increase. Although it was stated that “they were getting older and their taste changed.”, there was an underlying motive from record companies to direct the change which was taking place and capitalize on the sale of hip hop to a diversity of  ethnic groups (Chang, 2005, p. 128).  Rappers Delight, was the catalyst that helped to institute the globalization of hip hop which crossed over to other areas such as graffiti where suddenly the comparison was being made to legitimate recognized are movements such as: Futurism, Dadaists, Impressionist, and Abstract Expressionist (Chang, 2005, p. 148).  The “globalization” process facilitated, in my opinion, the deterioration of the core foundation of hip hop by neglecting a social message in favor of marketing hip hop as “entertainment” qualities only.  The influence of hip hop still reflects the element of “being real” which was a central focus of “…people involved in any kind of struggle are interesting.” stated by Charlie Ahearn. (Chang, 2005, p. 146). The focus was not on what the struggle was about, but how it could be exploited by others. Suddenly the world recognized that the oppressed had a commodity that could be taken from them, and commercialized for profit.

The Bronx suffered the “benign neglect” but the hip hop community has allowed outside influence to direct and dictate what will be presented to the listeners and viewers by controlling the money. Sex, drugs, and money are presented as the way to make someone happy and add character to a person. The message is about self and not a community. I am amazed that others can not acknowledge that although it began as positive (hip hop), it also can have a negative influence when the message deviates from promoting social awareness and change, to the concentration of “being out for one’s self”. 

The author Paul Butler provided a view to another side which I had not given any thought to in the past. The presented view of the oppressed and senselessness of incarceration of nonviolent offenders can only lead to the destabilization of families, communities, and an entire class of people.  The act of incarceration leads to a collection of people who are without representation, employment, and little if any sense of a better future. This act is essential for the few to control the power of all people by rendering the deemed criminals impotent to ever make social changes by rising to positions of power. The constitution is founded on the principle that “all men are created equal”, however through the use of the legal system to selectively target certain groups; this basic right is denied. It is horrifying to me that only certain groups of people have the luxury of making mistakes in their youth, while others are punished a life time for the same mistakes.  It is disheartening to realize that a person will not be judged by their character, hard work, intelligence, or contribution to society but by their race and preconceived stereotypes. I once thought that “racial profiling” was fueled by statistics, and facts only to discover that there is not a correlation between the two which was evident by Ney York City’s profile of a “graffiti writers” profile, which does not match the information that has been presented thus far in our text.