The Evolution Of Rap Music

9 Pages 2220 Words

The Evolution of Rap Music

In today’s society, many people look down on Rap music and the Hip Hop culture. They classify the music as violent and the many causes of violent behavior among America’s youth. Neither do they look at Rap music as an art form for which it is; instead it is considered a fad that will hopefully disappear. Rap music has been around for over twenty years and has its long memorable history. Just as other genres of music have evolved and been influenced over time, Rap music too has come a long way and should be recognized for the art it as become.
In order to understand Rap music, one has to come to understand what is known as the Hip Hop culture. Rap is a very important part of the evolution of this Hip Hop culture. Besides music, Hip Hop consisted of graffiti, break dancing, new attitudes, and a unique style of clothing. As I have come to understand through my resources, the origin of the Hip Hop culture was centered in the Bronx in New York City. To get a better understanding of how the Hip Hop culture developed, we have to get a better understanding of the conditions which existed at this time.
In Steven Haver’s book, “Hip Hop; the Illustrated History of Break Dancing, Rap Music and Graffiti,” he claims that there were three major events that took place in the Bronx that led to the birth of the Hip Hop culture. First, in 1959 Parks Commissioner Robert Moses started to construct an expressway through the middle of the Bronx. Because of this, the most of the middle class vanished overnight. Just as well, businesses and factories began to relocate. Poor black and Hispanic families replaced the former population with crime, drug addiction, and unemployment. The next major event that took place was in 1968 when Parks Commissioner Robert Moses built a 15,382 unit co-op apartment complex at the northern most part of the Bronx right next to the expressway. As a result of this, the remain...