Hip-Hop and the White Community

Paper Summary:

In this article, the writer notes that African-American musical culture has been for the most part self-contained for the past 200 hundred years or so, with such highly influential factors as racism, oppression, and exploitation not easily crossing over into other spheres of influence. For example, from slave songs to reggae, rap and hip hop, black music and lyrics have traditionally expressed radical sentiments that did not easily assimilate into the mainstream white culture. The writer discusses that today, with the advent of hip-hop music that situation is rapidly changing, as hip-hop may prove to be the first African-American musical subgenre that is incorporated without change into the mainstream white culture. The writer concludes that unlike any other subculture and musical genre in African-American history, the hip hop way of life has transcended ethnic boundaries and permeated the mainstream white culture.

From the Paper:

"Hip-hop is by no means the first instance of black music being adopted by whites. For example, rock performers like Elvis Presley and The Beatles early records contained cover versions of rhythm and blues and rock and roll songs originally recorded by African American artists. This was later followed by reggae rhythms being incorporated into mainstream pop music. Most recently, traditionally African-American hip-hop music and culture has now become assimilated into the mainstream white culture, in the United States and around the world, perhaps to a greater extent than any other African-American musical subgenre."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Bynoe, Yvonne. "The White Boy Shuffle." Articles: The Politically Black Collection 2000. Urban Think Tank. 19 May 2001. < www.urbanthinktank.org/whiteboy.cfm>.
• Haralambos, Michael, and Martin Holborn. Sociology - Themes and Perspectives. 4th ed.London: Collins Educational, 1995.
• MTV Online. "MTV Online: Biorhythm for G. Love and Special Sauce." 19 May 2001. <www.mtv.com/mtv/music/bio/biodata/g_love.html>.

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