Hip-Hop 4/24

Hip Hop- A style of music that combines rhymes with different beats

Five Hip- Hop Artists I have never heard-

1. Talib Kweli

2. Gorilla Zoe

3. Savage

4. Rick Ross

5. Mr. Lif

Videos:

Talib Kweli- More or Less

http://music.aol.com/video/more-or-less/talib-kweli/1859336

Beastie Boys-Right Right Now Now

http://music.aol.com/video/beastie-boys-right-right-now-now/beastie-boys/1206888

Soulja Boy- Turn My Swag On

http://music.aol.com/video/turn-my-swag-on/soulja-boy-tellem/2311919

Pitbull- I Know You Want Me

http://music.aol.com/video/i-know-you-want-me/pitbull/bc:18414027001

Eminem- Mockingbird

http://music.aol.com/video/mockingbird/eminem/1336623

Hip-Hop Radio Stations-

103.5

93.9

Corporations Utilizing Hip-Hop:

Apple iPod-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aga5AISSxv0

Gap-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hXoNIXZmDg

Hip-Hop in the Media:

Cable TV – MTV/VH1/BET

Spot Advertising

Mainstream Words Derived from Hip-Hop:

Fo-Shizzle

Tussel

Crunk

Grill

Shawty

Music genres my parents listened to:

Rock & Roll- Aerosmith

Pop- Elton John/ Billy Joel

Disco- Bee Gees

Reflection:

This assignment definitely got my out of my musical comfort zone. I rarely listen to Hip- Hop or any type of rap for that matter so this was a whole new experience for me. It was interesting to see the different videos and how each artist attempted to deliver a different message. Some messages were political, others were self reflection. There were some messages that I could not understand at all, but I can say this for several types of genres of music. I was also offended by some of the videos I watched. The video portrayed women to be merely sexual objects. Although, I believe this happens in several other types of music. Unfortunately, portraying women in a sexually explicit way happens in country, pop, and rock and roll music. I believe all genres should take a stand against this type of behavior. Overall this assignment was a good learning experience and exposed me to a different culture of music that otherwise, I would not have been exposed to.

Video Reflections-

Talib Kweli- More or Less

This video was more inspirational and political than most Hip-Hop videos. Talib was the only person featured in the video. This goes against other Hip-Hop video because it does not feature any women in the video. Overall, I like this video and enjoyed the song.

Beastie Boys-Right Right Now Now

This video was also political. They are basically begging for political change. The video is set in Times Square. The three male band members are the only people featured in video. Overall, I did not enjoy this video. It was hard for me to understand lyrics of the song.

Soulja Boy- Turn My Swag On

The emphasis of the entire video was about money and material possessions. The video/song was about Soulja Boy’s progression in fame and fortune. I did not feel that there was much of a message in this song or video. It seemed like he was just flaunting his money the entire time.

Pitbull- I Know You Want Me

The emphasis of this video was women and their sexuality and money. This has become a fairly popular song on the radio, but I had never seen the video. The video featured several women dancing and showing off their bodies. I thought this video was offensive to women.

Eminem- Mockingbird

This video is about a reflection on Eminem’s life. I usually hate Eminem’s music, but this song was actually heartfelt and I could understand the words. There was no sexuality in this video. Out of all of the videos this is the one I understood the most. This video was very heartfelt and had a message to portray to the general public. There was an emphasis on money, but merely the necessity of money.