Hip-Hop and the Media

Hip-Hop to me is rap music with really cool, fun beats to go along with the chorus. Usually when I think of Hip-Hop I think of music that I would put on so I could dance. Hip-Hop music is almost like an African American music movement that changed music history.

Here is a list of five Hip-Hop artists I have never heard before now:
1) Madcon
2) Akrobatik
3) Pete Rock
4) Notes to Self
5) The Take Over




Here are five Hip-Hop videos I have never seen before now:
1) Madcon- "Beggin" video. The focus of this video is that the two main singers are playing video games and when they start to doze off to sleep, they begin dreaming of actually being a part of the video game. Certain scenes include them trying to break out of jail, the two guards are both women which they end up handcuffing. The video has a 70s feel to it because the singers and backup dancers are wearing platform shoes and bell bottom pants.
2) Shwayze- "Buzzin" video. Basically this video consists of Shwayze and a guitarist performing on the beach with a bunch of girls in swimming suits dancing around them. That is really about all that happens in the video, oh and the guys throughout the whole thing are just looking at the girls.
3) Jamie Foxx featuring T-Pain- "Blame It" video. In the video it's Jamie Foxx and friends hanging out in a club and all they are doing is drinking, dancing and hanging out with really pretty girls all night long.
4) Mr. C- "Cha-Cha Slide" video- Throughout the whole video it is Mr. C and random groupings of people of different races and ethnicities doing the Cha- Cha Slide together in all different places throughout the country.
5) The Roots- "The Seed" video- The video consists of the band playing in a room the whole time while also flipping to footage of a little girl running throughout a huge house. Eventually at the end of the video the little girl finds the room where The Roots are playing and watches them finish the song.

Two radio stations that broadcast Hip-Hop music:
1) 92.1 FM, The Beat, in Tulsa, OK
2) 101.5 FM, KTBT, in Collinsville, OK

Three examples of music my parents listened to:
1) The Beatles- rock and roll
2) James Taylor-alternative rock
3) Frank Sinatra- classical, vocal music

Corporations the have used Hip-Hop to promote and advertise their products would be Boost Mobile and Pepsi (which is not a fast food corporation). Both of these corporations have used Hip-Hip artists and music to promote their products and have actually been pretty successful in selling their products because youth and many others are attracted to the Hip-Hop culture.



Another great example like bling being used in the media today would be the term "diss." For instance, if you said something rude to someone, then you would say that you "dissed" them. The word actually came from disrespect and rappers were the first to come up with this term. Another term that is widely used is "shorty" which is basically a woman that a guy likes. Rappers always say "shorty" in their song lyrics. I have actually heard people call a girl "shorty" before, whether they were being serious or not.

Reflection:
What I found interesting about listening to Hip-Hop artists that I've never heard before was that I actually enjoyed some of the music more than I do mainstream rap. The group Madcon was probably my favorite because they had a cool sound to their music. It was almost like a mixture of rap and blues.

As for the music videos, I watched a mixture of mainstream rap videos that I had never seen before and then I added some random ones. What I found with almost all of them was that they had girls in their video. I understand that might be what attracts people (guys) to watch the video, but as a woman I don't find that particularly entertaining. The only one that didn't have girls was The Roots, which had a little girl throughout the video.

After I looked at videos I tried to find Hip-Hop radio stations. I honestly couldn't find very many that were dedicated to just rap music. I'm from Tulsa and we do have a station here that is Hip-Hop music, 92.1. For the most part, not enough stations dedicate their airtime to strictly rap music. Most of the stations I found were country.

I asked my parents what kind of music they listen to, and sadly enough, I really like their music more than I do a lot of the music out there today. The Beatles and James Taylor are classic artists in the music industry and there music, to me, is timeless.

I know that words like "bling" that started with rap music are very common in the media today. When I started thinking of other words I couldn't really think of many, but I do know that there are many more.

When I looked for Hip-Hop promoting corporation's advertising, I found that this kind of music is really only promoted in the fast food industry, soda industry and cell phone industry. I think that these companies use rap music to promote their products is due to the fact that many young people like fast food, pop and cell phones and many young people can relate to rap music.

As I listened to Hip-Hop music that I had never heard before, I realized that the sound of rap music is changing. I like it a lot more because I feel like it is less of the gangster rap and more musically talented music. Now, there are good beats to the music and not all of the lyrics deal with hot girls and parts of their body. I don't find rappers that sing about that very talented. That's just my opinion though. New Hip-Hop music is definitely becoming one of my favorite genres of music.