CULTURE HU1440 – IMPACT OF HIP HOP MUSIC ON AFRICAN-AMERICAN SCOCIETY
Running Head: IMPACT OF HIP HOP MUSIC ON AFRICAN-AMERICAN SCOCIETYModule 4 Project Part 1: Writing an Argumentative PaperHU1440: Rhetoric in Contemporary CultureHip hop music plays an important role in the African-American societyIMPACT OF HIP HOP MUSIC ON AFRICAN-AMERICAN SCOCIETY2Sources with arguments for the topicChang, Jeff. (2005). Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop: A History of the Hip Hop Generation.New York: PicadorIn this book, Chang provides an illustrative history of Hip Hop. He put highemphasis on Hip Hop as a product of the culture of African-Americans. Chang believesthat it is the through the African roots that artist that developed the Hip Hop movement.Unlike other authors, Chang spends much of his time tracing the political and activistelements within Hip Hop culture. He believes that African American greatly used HipHop to show their political affiliations and to adverse their activism. This book is veryuseful as it clearly outline the role of Hip Hop in promoting African American’s politicaland activism culture.Rose, Tricia. (1994). Black Noise: Rap Music and Black Popular Culture inAmerica. Middletown: Wesleyan University PressRose writes that Hip Hop acts as the voice of African-Americans from themargins of society. In her book, she places Hip Hop music within a larger landscape ofblack popular cultural practices. Rose looks into the commercial, technological, sexual,ideological, and gender politics aspect of Hip Hop. For any reader interested in AfricanAmerican popular cultural expression, this is a must read piece to him or her. The bookis has interesting collection of information on how Hip Hop music influences AfricanAmerican culture. However, the author derived most of elaborations from New York thatIMPACT OF HIP HOP MUSIC ON AFRICAN-AMERICAN SCOCIETY3makes her work very New York centered as opposed to other major dwellings inAmerica.Wilkins, Craig L. (2000). “(W)rapped Space: The Architecture of Hip Hop.”Journal of Architectural Education. 54.1, 7-19.By using Afrocentricity perception and Hip Hop Culture, Wilkins challenges theWestern assumptions that regards space and architecture. The author uses theoriesregarding the collective memory of African-Americans to enable him build his theory ofAfrocentricity that support his argument of seeing Hip Hop as a form of art and AfricanAmerican cultural orientation that carries with it African ways of being. From hisargument, Wilkins imagined a Hip Hop space that depicts the four elements of Hip Hopaffirming Africa-American’s personal and group identities. By re-imagining architecturalpractice and space in his attempt to explain his argument that Hip Hop as a form of artand African-American cultural orientation that carries with it African ways of being,Wilkins provides an elaborating and engaging piece discussion. From the book, thediscussion that is of interest to my project includes the discussion of Hip Hop as a formof art and African-American cultural orientation that carries with it African ways of being.Collins, P. H. (2006). From black power to hip hop: Racism, nationalism, andfeminism. New York: Temple University Press.In this book, Mrs. Collins explores the experiences of African-American men andwomen to aid him in breaking down interracial barriers that still exist in the Americansociety. She explores these experiences by taking into account the history of the “HipHop generation of the black,” that includes Black feminism, Black Nationalism, and hiphop music. Mrs. Collins explains that the Black Hip Hop plays a great impact inIMPACT OF HIP HOP MUSIC ON AFRICAN-AMERICAN SCOCIETY4promoting women awareness, black race acceptance, and Black Nationalism in theUnited States of America. This book brings out Hip Hop as a tool that African-Americanuse to make their views known to the world and to fight vices that faces them in thesociety. As a result, this book will act as a very important source of information to myproject.Reese, R. R. (2000). From the fringe: The hip hop culture and ethnic relations.Popular Culture Review, 11(2)In this journal article, Dr. Renford R. Reese discusses Hip-Hop culture as he triesto explain Hip-Hop has come to be stereotyped today. In his study, the author showsthat majority of popular rappers are black. The author also says that about 75% of HipHop listeners are non-white. Reese looks into the stereotypes of rappers like streetlanguage, clothing wear used by Hip Hop rappers and how the media influences thesestereotypes. According to his views, Reese considers breaking down these stereotypesand let people focus on the positive messages Hip Hop rappers convey againstnegative messages of violence, sex, and harsh language used by Hip Hop rappers. Thisarticle provides statistics on the percentage of racial Hip Hop listeners in America. Thearticle is very essential to my project as I will use it to give statistic of population ofpeople affected by Hip Hop music in America.IMPACT OF HIP HOP MUSIC ON AFRICAN-AMERICAN SCOCIETY5Sources with arguments against the topicQuinn, Eithne. (2005). Nuthin’ but a “G” Thang: The Culture and Commerce ofGangsta Rap. New York: Columbia University PressIn this book, Quinn looks into the contested space between gangsta raps and itsinfluence to the common antisocial acts. Quinn critiques Hip Hop gangster rap and itsproblematic hyper masculinity, misogyny, and materialism. The author argues thatgangsta rappers often speak through both sides of their mouths; thereby, pushingproblematic representations into the mainstream as they also speak through the pitfallsof the same images. She reasons that Gangsta rap does all of these that constantlyattempts to appropriate its meanings in order to sell its authenticity, but ends up sellingthe vices in the show as opposed to entertainment part of music. This book is veryappropriate to my project since it offers well discussed opinion contradicting my studytopic; hence, it will help me provide sufficient critique to the main topic of my discussion.Young, Mireille (2008). “Hip Hop Honeys and Da Hustlaz: Black Sexualities in theNew Hip Hop Pornography.” Meridians. 8.1: 261-292.Miller looks into the relationship existing between the aesthetics of Hip Hop andthe pornographic industry. As a result, she attempts to articulate the ways in which blackmale and female bodies find liberation even within the white’s patriarchal economy ofpornography. From her discussion, she finds that the sexual subjectivities found in HipHop porn offer challenge to black middle class respectability. She realized that a largeusage of pornographic content in Hip Hop music has allowed for more opportunities forblack folks to engage in the porn industry. As such, Miller views Hip Hop music as aIMPACT OF HIP HOP MUSIC ON AFRICAN-AMERICAN SCOCIETY6promoter of pornography which is one of vices that is greatly affecting the AfricanAmerican society. This book is also very appropriate to my project has it also offers welldiscussed opinion against on my topic of study; hence, it will also help me in providingsufficient critique to the main topic of my discussion.Rose, Tricia. (2009). The Hip Hop Wars: What We Talk About When We Talk AboutHip Hop and Why It Matters. New York: Basic BooksTaking into account the commercial Hip Hop in this book, Rose looks into thenumerous arguments happening around Hip Hop music culture. According to herdiscussion, she finds fault on people who staunchly defend commercial Hip Hop andignores the problematic elements of this kind of music. She also finds faults on thepeople who blame Hip Hop music for societal ills that existed long before Hip Hop musicwas developed. In general, Rose argues that the commercialization of Hip Hop musicplays a huge role in depleting the cultural movement of its nuance as it perpetuates thegangster trilogy that is very damaging to the culture. The theme content of this book isbacked with very well elaborations how Hip Hop music plays a huge role in depletingthe cultural movement.IMPACT OF HIP HOP MUSIC ON AFRICAN-AMERICAN SCOCIETY7ReferencesChang, Jeff. (2005). Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop: A History of the Hip Hop Generation. NewYork: PicadorRose, Tricia. (1994). Black Noise: Rap Music and Black Popular Culture in America.Middletown: Wesleyan University PressWilkins, Craig L. (2000). “(W)rapped Space: The Architecture of Hip Hop.” Journalof Architectural Education. 54.1, 7-19.Collins, P. H. (2006). From black power to hip hop: Racism, nationalism, and feminism.New York: Temple University Press.Reese, R. R. (2000). From the fringe: The hip hop culture and ethnic relations. PopularCulture Review, 11(2)Quinn, Eithne. (2005). Nuthin’ but a “G” Thang: The Culture and Commerce of GangstaRap. New York: Columbia University PressYoung, Mireille (2008). “Hip Hop Honeys and Da Hustlaz: Black Sexualities in the NewHip Hop Pornography.” Meridians. 8.1: 261-292.Rose, Tricia. (2009). The Hip Hop Wars: What We Talk About When We Talk About HipHop and Why It Matters. New York: Basic Books(The Lesson) http://www.wordsmithlesson.com/p/course-material.htmlIMPACT OF HIP HOP MUSIC ON AFRICAN-AMERICAN SCOCIETY(Intro to Sociology) https://sites.google.com/a/uw.edu/intro-to-sociology/week-4annotated-bibliography8