Deejay Illvibe

Wer mehr über mich wissen und erfahren möchte sollte mich einfach adden wer mehr über Hip Hop wissen und erfahren möchte sollte einfach mal in ruhe weiterlesen...
Hip Hop Knowledge (I remember. You’ve forgotten)
The image of the teenagers has changed dramatically within the last decades. Today they are the ones who are born with the television in front of their eyes and with the headphones in their ears. As Sharn Kleiss, Communications, University of the Sunshine Coast, Australia, identifies them as “Generation Y” in her article, they are indeed a technologically developed generation. In the music industry, they are the prime targets for the media corporations such as MTV, Madison Avenue or the Hollywood music industry because of the massive quantities of entertainment they consume. In the PBS Frontline episode "Merchants of Cool" refers teenagers as "corporate America's $150 billion dream", because they are now spending money more than ever. In 2004, a poll done by Mediamark Research Inc. showed that besides clothes, the first thing they want to get is music, totaling as much as 18.5% of what they plan to buy. As marketers dropped their ears down on what the youth demands, it became obvious that most of the teenagers would be very responsive to the term of “cool” music. The answer for them is Hip Hop, a culture that has massively expanded in the last decade. When the mainstream came face to face with it, it was a true milestone for the music industry because marketing Rap music and fashion has literally changed the lifestyle of so many teenagers. But the advertisement of some elements of the Hip Hop culture decayed its original sense, shifting it into the opposite. So instead of a movement which emphasized “on peace, love, unity and having fun” (Afrika Baambaata) that would overcome poverty and the hardships of life, the mainstream portrayed it into the hunger for money, violence, anti-social attitudes, together with the abuse of alcohol and drugs. This has gone so bad that today many have forgotten the true sense of Hip Hop. That is why in my paper I want to show how the capitalist marketing has affected the Hip Hop culture, and what truly means to be Hip Hop. Also, I want this paper to be a tribute for the Hip Hop History Month, celebrated with the annual Hip Hop birthday on November 12th.
In the last one and a half decade, the Rap has been brought in the marketing loop. As the personalities of the MC’s entered the limelight in disfavor of the DJ’s, breakers or graffiti writers, the marketing corporations saw that they could make huge profits out of this, especially out of gangsta rap which focused only on the MC. Ultimately, groups such as NWA (Niggers With Attitude) attracted the audience with their violent stories of gangbangers, drug dealers and racism. Those who were immediately grabbed were mainly young white kids, who wanted to feed their teenage rage with this type of music. In the early 90’s, the shining iconic images of artists like Snoop Dogg, 2Pac or Notorious B.I.G. led many teenagers to believe that Hip Hop is all about smoking blunts, drinking 40’s, wearing a designer label plastered across their chest, carrying a gun, or going to strip clubs. As the mooks from the “Merchants of Cool” video, the lyrics and acts of MC’s like Eminem influenced many teenagers to act anti-social by hating everyone, and it also delivered messages against the family. In many of his songs, Slim Shady speaks about killing his wife or beating his mom. Also, the big product companies sought their profits by sticking their image next to Hip Hop. In the PBS video, “Merchants of Cool” it is shown how Sprite used Hip Hop culture to promote its drink at Rap parties. Pina Sciarra, Director of Youth Brands at Sprite, even put an equal between the famous soda and Hip Hop culture by saying that “Sprite has really become an icon. It's not just associated with Hip Hop; it's really a part of it. As much as baggy jeans and sneakers, Sprite has become an icon in Hip Hop culture”. I totally disagree with that, because Hip Hop is a movement that lives by the community, it is something you live, and it will never be owned by anyone or anything.
As curious at it may sound for many people, The Hip Hop culture is a total different concept. It doesn't represent Rap music that much, in fact, Rap is just one of its five elements, but I personally consider Rap to be mainstream music. According to the teachings of Afrika Bambaataa, the godfather of Hip-Hop and Amen-Ra of The Universal Zulu nation, Hip Hop culture is defined as a movement which is expressed through various artistic mediums entitled as elements. The main elements are known as MC’ing, DJ’ing, graffiti writing, and several dance forms such as breaking, up-rocking, popping, and locking. The cornerstone which holds these elements together is knowledge, also known as The 5th Element. There are also other elements such as beat boxing, fashion, etc. Thus, as Afrika Bambaataa would say, “Hip Hop is the vehicle to deliver innumerable lessons!”. In his book, Hip Hop Culture, Emmett G. Price III concludes that the Hip Hop movement started around 1974 when the father of Hip-Hop, DJ Kool Herc, invented a new kind of sound, the breaks, and created a local cultural movement in the Bronx area. Its initial goal was to stop the gang violence in the ghettos of New York. According to the Universal Zulu Nation, the birthday of Hip Hop is considered to be the 12th November 1974, but the movement existed way back than a year earlier when Afrika Bambaataa, the godfather of Hip Hop, founded what was later to become an international Hip Hop awareness movement: The Universal Zulu Nation. In its early years, the movement went untitled until Afrika Bambaataa, started calling it "Hip Hop", a term originated by Lovebug Starski. In the 70's, Hip Hop was a celebration of life because people gave up gang fighting for local shows where they participated as DJ’s, MC’s, B-Boys/B-Girls, many of them taking up Graffiti. Gradually, each of its original 4 elements developed to form a cultural movement. Due to its energy, dynamics, and momentum, Hip Hop culture has become, ultimately, a key to upliftment and reformation, as well as a billion-dollar industry. From the 80's on, the Rap industry and media have helped to make the terms "Hip Hop" and "Rap" synonymous, leaving out the other elements included in the culture. In light of this enormous oversight, the Zulu Nation promoted the "5th element" of Hip Hop (knowledge, culture and overstanding) and actively tried to educate the masses about the history and foundational elements of true Hip Hop culture. Afrika Bambaataa declared: "When we made Hip Hop, we made it hoping it would be about peace, love, unity and having fun so that people could get away from the negativity that was plaguing our streets."
The Hip Hop story shows exactly the processes in the giant media feedback loop, as they are presented in the “Merchants of Cool” documentary. When a new form is discovered, it's totally ripped apart from what it is truly is, and turned into a digestible product that the media-hungry mass feeds on. In the case of Hip Hop, the wrong ideas were sold to the public. It is the reality that I had witnessed from the first time I started to listen to rap music. I consider that I wasn’t too negatively influenced by rap, perhaps because I grew up in a country that recovered from communism, where commercialism didn't have that much power over the people. But I too got the wrong idea about it, and I remember the time when I was "just another face on the bus, tapping my foot to the beat on the radio, dreaming about the mic and the money and the ladies" (Atmosphere), but fortunately I grew up and realized that the rap videos I saw on TV didn't define me at all. But there are still more and more kids my age who just don't get it. Back in my hometown in Romania, I there are many teens that wear baggy clothes, get drunk almost every weekend, smoke blunts, and get into trouble just because this is their perception of being Hip Hop. And that is what the TV and radio showed them! Once, I met with one of these lurkers and I gave him some of my own music. He didn't like it and in exchange, he sent me one of his favorite songs, nothing but cursing and disregarding everybody. I imagined that people are more Hip Hop culture wise here in the United States, but I think the problem is the same everywhere, maybe worse! Just for the research of it, I listened to some "Hip Hop radio stations". Their slogans were "All Hip Hop all the time..." or "Jammin' the most Hip Hop". They were all playing the same kind of rap which was relating to materialistic things like money and fame. Also, I've never heard them mentioning anything about b-boys or graffiti artists. So how can you claim to be "All Hip Hop all the time" when you are barely representing the mainstream version of one single Hip Hop element?
In response to the fast rise of rap music on television and radio, and the increased mainstream popularity of the MC, many teachers of the essential Hip Hop have formed organizations such as The Universal Zulu Nation, The Temple of Hip Hop or The Universal Federation For The Preservation of Hip Hop Culture that are committed to preserve the foundational elements but also to spread the truth to interested individuals. These underground communities are accessible only to those who know where to look for them. Guided by a foundational and fundamental consciousness these institutions are guided by a loose hierarchy of practitioners, they offer equal opportunity for DJs, graffiti artists, b-boys/b-girls, and MCs. These enclaves are against the high media exposure of the MC and are reversing the demise of the other elements by presenting opportunities for members to grow as practitioners, as knowledgeable patrons, and as committed Hip Hop heads.
In conclusion, that is how together with the record industry, the giant corporations have exploited and shifted the sense of the Hip Hop culture at the expense of the youth’s state of mind and morality. I think that the teachers of true school Hip Hop must continue to actively fight against commercialism and educate the teens. If we want to preserve Hip Hop, we must educate the children because they are the looking glass for the world of tomorrow. So as Slug, the MC from the Atmosphere band would say it, “Respect the life and the fashions of the children, It's the only culture I've got, exactly what we've been building”.
Thanks for this great words TessellatedMind...