The Involvement of Hip Hop in Film
Hip Hop, sometimes referred to as rap, started in the 1970's s among Black and Hispanic performers in New York City. It was at first associated with an athletic style of dancing, known as break dancing. Critics have disparaged most Hip Hop as a boastful promotion of violence and deceptiveness; others have admired it as an inventive manipulation of cultural language, and credit many rappers with a small social and political awareness. I feel Hip Hop has influenced many forms of popular culture and the involvement of Hip Hop has changed the entertainment industry in the United States, particularly in film. There have been a number of Hip Hop/Rap artist that have gone from just doing music to doing film and music. This has had a strong impact on Hollywood. Today's rap artists are entrepreneurs and are expanding their talents far past the sound booth. It would be very difficult for one to dispute the fact that Hip Hop has influenced many different types of film. Music videos are an example of how Hip Hop has influenced the film industry. Music videos are a big part of the film industry. Without music videos certain movies would not be so popular. In the Early 1980's, a music video consisted of a
After the big success in music videos, Hip Hop made its debut in the movie industry. Hollywood saw the success in music videos and how they related to movies. According to Sakina Spruell of Black Enterprise Magazine, "Today's Hip Hop is having such an impact on the movie industry that inclusions of rap artists may mean the difference between a studio executive green lighting a film or shelving a project" (5). I feel that directors and producers in Hollywood knew that there was money in casting rappers as actors. For example, "Will Smith the artist formerly known as the Fresh Prince. Since starring in the 1996 sci-fi block buster Independence Day, his films have grossed close to 1 billion dollars"(Norment 2). Also Will Smith received an Academy Award nomination for his portrayal of former heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali. That's something never before achieved by a Hip Hop artist. Another example of how Hip Hop has influenced the film industry was the acting debut of rapper Ice Cube (Oshea Jackson). Ice Cube made his acting debut in 1991 in John Singleton's classic Boyz -n- the Hood. It was an outstanding acting performance by Ice Cube. Some even considered it Oscar worthy. "Since Ice Cube has starred in 21 movies, composed music for 16, produced six, written five, and directed one"(Rhone 1). There have been other Hip Hop artists that have had success in the movie industry. According to Jason King, "Snoop Dogg also known as Calvin Broadus has parlayed his 10 million dollar record sales into an expanding acting career."(2) Snoop has appeared in four movies in four years. The movies consist of Training day, The Wa
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Approximate Word count = 1093
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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