Influence of Rap Music
Popular culture is defined as the ordinary culture people make for themselves (McLeish, 1993). From the nineteenth century onward the term popular culture took on new meaning, referring to pop culture as somewhat beneath higher culture (1993). In other words, things that the common people enjoyed were looked down upon as opposed to say, opera, cricket or intellectual pursuits. Popular culture belonged to the common man whereas the higher forms of entertainment were enjoyed by the upper crust. High culture is what those with refined tastes like (1993). Popular culture includes things enjoyed by the masses (1993). Such pursuits might include bowling, baseball, rock music and movies.Yankelovich Clancy Shulman says that most of today's pop culture reflects "neotraditionalism" or a synthesis of positive aspects of traditional values along with personal freedoms that came forth in the wake of the sexual revolution and women's rights movements (Huey, 1991). In order to understand pop culture one must understand the difference between culture and counterculture (1991). The dominant culture embraces normative behavior whereas a counterculture develops its own set of rules. Ordinarily, pop culture breaks barriers and springs
Understanding the roots of rap music will help in understanding its significance. Part of the reason for delving into the history is because hip-hop and rap is generally associated with African Americans but the roots of the genre did not originate in the black community. Also, rap sprang from social discord but contained no where near the anger that it displays today when it first appeared on the music scene. Krims believes that the music reflects something important about the rapper's own alienation and lifestyles (Maclean's, 1998). He answers the complaints about the music by saying that people should look at rap in a broad context, not just focusing on the sexism and violence that are contained in much of the lyrics (1998). He notes that "When Johnny Cash sings about killing a man, it's edgy.... When an Afro-American rap artist does, Warner Bros. pulls the CD" (1998). It is sometimes difficult to discern what is art and what is noise, particularly in the realm of music. Social messages aside, does rap have any redeeming artistic value? Author and Harvard educated director of the University of Alberta's new Institute for Popular Music Krims, thinks so (Maclean's, 1998). He suggests that rap music is more pervasive than classical and is arguably the best-selling genre in the world (1998). While it is true that the music is popular, that only means it is currently a large part of pop culture. Because fads come and go, it does not necessarily mean that rap is of significance in a historical context, for example. On the other hand, one would have to admit that it has endured several decades, which is somewhat longer than other musical movements.
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 2891
Approximate Pages = 12 (250 words per page double spaced)
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