“If blues culture had developed under the conditions of oppressive, forced labour, hip-hop culture would arise from the conditions of no work” (Chang, 13).

“A spectacular set of ruins, a mythical wasteland, an infectious disease”

“Wars halfway across the globe were helping create the world of pushers and junkies that the Bronx gangs walked through, the world against which Bambaataa would imagine his Planet Rock”

Name:

Occupation:

Greatest Accomplishment:

Rick “Freeway” Ross

Currently in between jobs

Mixing cocaine with baking soda to create a drug that would ruin the lives of people all over the world

“People in the South Bronx don’t want housing or they wouldn’t burn it down” – Daniel Patrick Moynihan, New York’s Democratic senator

I Agree!

Discussion Question

Are there any other factors that may have contributed in the creation of the hip hop culture other than the replacement of political subordination against African Americans by economic segregation?

“Give them an apocalypse, and they would dance”

The Godfather of Hip Hop:

DJ Kool Herc

“Clive and the post-gang youths were a different breed, more interested in projecting individual flash than collective brawn, and they would soon render the gangs obsolete”

Keith Haring

Michael Stewart USA For Africa, 1985

“Shawty did that pop n lock”

http://www.5min.com/Video/How-to-do-Pop-and-Lock-moves-4414

Yeah, I know you wanna do this too………………………

http://www.5min.com/Video/How-to-do-Pop-and-Lock-moves-4414

http://youtube.com/watch?v=9h6pcqC6wrI

“Zulu Nation was returning the Bronx to an era of style, celebration and optimism”

“Like chanting Zulu warriors, Bambaataa and his followers withdrew, to live”

Terse Conclusion

All of the articles argued the same thing: rap and hip-hop allowed black individuals to stay out of trouble, and to express their political, economic, and social concerns creatively through music..…..most of the articles suggest that hip-hop and rap were successful ventures for black individuals in the U.S.

Discussion Question

Do you agree that the articles represented hip hop as a means by which individuals could be successful or do you think it was based on something more abstract and emotional?

Discussion Question

What do you think was the most influential factor of the creation of hip hop? What do you think was the most influential factor in the creation of graffiti culture? Did these new cultures satisfy any pre-existing needs?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gu3X7rf9i5A&feature=related

Exploitation Steps up in 2008

http://youtube.com/watch?v=QJB7QFov_Zs

“Run DMC had hallowed out the music and killed the old school”

“You should've gone to school, you could've learned a tradeBut you laid in bed where the bums have laidNow all the time you're crying that you're underpaidIt's like that (what?) and that's the way it isHuh!

One thing I knoe is that life is shortSo listen up homeboy, give this a thoughtThe next time someone's teaching why don't you get taught?It's like that (what?) and that's the way it is”

Grandmaster Flash

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pgmer-N0bxg

Discussion Question

Do you think that there is a resurgence to bring back political messages in mainstream hip hop that can be trivial in its meaningful content?

http://youtube.com/watch?v=k3kRuJhIVIo

http://youtube.com/watch?v=DYWLXwig5ro

Discussion Questions

What symbols, myths and values do you see in current hip hop/rap music and culture? How are these different from those of the old school cultures?

Do you feel that the hip hop subculture infiltrated the mass media” If so, in what ways? Does it retain its original values and messages?