M U S E M AGA Z I N E
Rap is a Gimmick, Hip-Hop is a Culture BY R E U B E N D ’ S O UZ A
W
hen hip-hop began in the late 70’s and early 80’s, it was music for the black community, by the black community. The Sugarhill Gang’s lyrically complex “Rapper’s Delight” ushered in a musical genre that could convey much more in a single bar than any essay could. Hip-hop spoke to the communities in which it began, such as Harlem, Philadelphia, and the Bronx, touching on topics such as black empowerment, the drug epidemic, poverty, and the ways in which to use culture as an escape from these everyday problems. Kids crammed by the hundreds into small basements to hear the latest mixes from the neighbourhood MC’s. But hip-hop, like any genre, has undergone rapid evolutions throughout its relatively short existence. What started as a political tool for communities of colour quickly devolved into a vehicle for misogyny and the promotion of a disconnected lifestyle with the braggadocios rap of the 90’s and 2000’s. However, within the last few years, hip-hop experienced a reawakening and once again cemented itself as the premier music for social consciousness.
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