Lily Terhune

September 22, 2014

Professor Young

ENGW 1110

Writing

Hip Hop Planet Response

In James McBrides essay, Hip Hop Planet, the character does not enjoy rap music. Rap music consists of rappers bragging about violence, money, and expensive cars. Everywhere he went he was surrounded by this type of music and everyone around him enjoyed it. From rednecks to teenagers, everyone loved rap. Kids in South Bronx and Harlem would DJ and play music outside their windows to many people, spreading their love for rap. At 13, this character heard the rap music of the Last Poets and was mortified. They used the N-word in their music which was never done before. White kids were intrigued by the music because of its “cool” factor. However everyone connected differently with the music, on all different levels of meaning. Even the character’s own siblings would play the rap music when their parents left the house, because they were not allowed to listen to rap in the house. He is a jazz lover and cringed at the sound of rap music. Rap music held a meaning to him that he did not want to be reminded of so he simply ignored it. But because he ignored it, he missed out on an important cultural event.

No one stopped and questioned the origin of rap music. Rap music originated in West Africa many centuries ago. Africans would use drums and songs to tell stories about their journeys of being slaves. Rap music belonged in Africa, where the lyrics were meaningful and told a story about their troubled times. Rap music changed from being a way for the Africans to express their hardships to rappers expressing their love for money and women through rap music.

Hip hop shapes this character’s identity because he visited the villages of West Africa and got a first hand view at the real world of hip hop. It was very different then standing in the kitchen of a party where rap was being played on the turntable. He was in a place that was filled with poverty that these people were making music because they needed to make money to support their families. These people idolized Tupac and had his picture hanging up in market stalls. Rap music had a different meaning to these people. Rap music has evolved over the years, changing significantly from its origin in West Africa.