To understand the culture of hip-hip, understanding the origins of the art is pertinent to the goal. The Ice-T directed ? lm, “Something From Nothing”, explores the perspectives and personalities of both present-day and early hip-hop pioneers. Ice-T gained, much deserved, respect when the ? lm was accepted into the Sundance Film Festival. In the documentary, release in the summer of 2012, Ice-T shows the birth of hip-hip by literally starting at the place that is credited with the dawn of hip-hop music, New York City. As the ? lm goes on, Ice-T and his ?
lm crew make their way through all the major sites in hip-hip culture, such as Detroit, Los Angles, Compton, and Long Beach, California. The entire ? lm is made up of interviews that are ? lmed on a location that is relevant to the artist, whether it be in their home, studio or a place that is integral to hip-hop. One notable question that Ice-T asks every artist is, “What advice would you give to an aspiring rapper or hip-hop artist? ” The answers to this question vary greatly, observing the responses shows the theme of Ice-T’s message.
Hip-hop as a culture is very diverse and rap as a musical art form is also very diverse in the sense that it means different things to different people. Throughout the ? lm, viewers start to see some underlying theme with many of the artists. From the beginning, in the boroughs of New York City, Queens, Brooklyn and the Bronx, hip-hop always had an element of “dope”. An element of dope can be thought of as another way to describe something that is a “Power Move”. In many of the interviews, Ice-T juxtaposes the artist’s raps with the reactions of him and the ?
The Term Paper on Hip Hop Music Culture Rap
HIP HOP'S AFFECT ON CULTURE Hip hop has permeated popular culture in an unprecedented fashion. Because of its crossover appeal, it is a great unifier of diverse populations. Although created by black youth on the streets, hip hop's influence has become well received by a number of different races in this country. A large number of the rap and hip hop audience is non-black. It has gone from the ...
lm crew. This sets up a situation where the audience is able to see a Power Move, the artist recites their rap, and the people around them react to the “dope” lyrics. For example, in the interview with Kanye West, Ice-T asks West to describe one of his early experiences with rap battling. West describes a situation where he was involved in a rap battle with another guy from his school or neighborhood. West goes on to describe a situation where we recited his rap in the impromptu street “stage” and then it was his opponent’s turn.
West believe he had the more intelligent lyrics to deliver the best power move. However, his opponent, someone named Chris, goes on to say “Hey yo, my name is Chris and you smell like piss! ” West then reminisces over the reaction of the crowd where Chris completely disregarded all the rhymes recited by West. Instead, Chris used a classic power move and brought the crowd to his side with a simple, but powerful, rhyme. West concludes his interview by jokingly pondering the consequences of those early rap battles on the simplicity of his own presentday rap lyrics.
Rap battles have a special signi? cance in hip-hop culture because of the spontaneous nature of the lyrical “? ght”. KRS-One describes a situation where his start to rap came when he was just a bystander in an ongoing rap battle. When one of the rappers pointed to KRS-One out of the blue, he was forced to respond or forever have a stigma against him. The experience of KRS-One further shows the implications of the “sink or swim” mentality of power moves and hip-hop culture over all. By choosing to lyrically ?ght back, KRS-One found his talent and fondness for reciting hard-hitting lyrics with an effect. Many times, the effect portion of a rap song was only made possible by the existence of a DJ behind the MC. DJ Premier one of the few DJs interviewed by Ice-T in this ? lm. In his interview, DJ Premier highlights the difference between having sneakers and actual Adidas. He is speaking about the practical application of the “crossroads between lack and desire”. Premier goes on to say that having just sneakers wasn’t enough, the desire for brand-name Adidas was prevalent in the early days of hip-hop.
The Term Paper on Hip Hop The Marketing Of A New Culture
Hip-Hop: The Marketing of a New Culture By Victoria Hersh English 110 Professor Ve ricker 1 May 2000 Hersh i Outline Thesis: Hip-Hops has lost its original goal of wanting to unite people, today it's a way to market violence. I. Hip-Hop started in the west Bronx in the early 1970 s. A. Hip-Hop wasnt excepted mainstream until 1979. B. The first known Hip-Hop group was The Sugarhill Gang. II. As the ...
In a widened scope, the desire for brand-names shows the desire of those who are many times ignored by society. Through the interviews with DJ Premier and others, Ice-T shows the causes for the birth of rap and hip-hop as a culture. From these desires, a creative outlet was needed for the youth in lower economic tiers of society. The ? lm is successful in explaining the origins of hip-hop as well as signifying the elements of rap that make it a driving force of the music industry.
Through his longevity in the larger American pop culture, Ice-T has gained many friends and he was not afraid to ask him to appear in this ? lm. A ? lm of this scale with this many legendary artists would not have been possible without an artist like Ice-T. It is a break away from many mainstream interviews and documentaries of hip-hop, in the sense that this ? lm looks at rap and hip-hop from the inside. With the right mix of artists, Ice-T and his ? lm crew were able to tell a story that will be cited in many future generations.
