Exploring Black Culture in Rap
Throughout history, music has brought people together. It has broken barriers for cultures and made a pathway for talent to shine. I mean, without it, where would we be now? Communities divided once can come together and rejoice on one complex, rich topic; music. The experience of rap music in the Black community is no different.
Rap has been a prominent part of the Black community since its founding in the 1970s, where in New York City, DJs at block parties would remix popular funk, soul, and disco songs. Kool Herc, a DJ from the South Bronx, was credited with one of the earliest forms of hip-hop and rap when he performed. By sampling popular jazz and funk records and speaking in rhymes over the beat, Kool Herc impacted the rap scene forever.
The first time rap ever came to national attention was with the Sugar Hills Gang’s “Rapper’s Delight”, released in 1979. Despite its success, rap music did not do well commercially until Run DMC’s debut album, “Run-D.M.C.”, where rap was introduced on a wide scale. With lyrics “exploring and exposing the gritty conditions of life in the nation’s urban ghettoes” as said by Tristan Michael Pelton at BlackPast, many people were able to relate and see themselves in the music they listened to.
“My dad introduced me to rap, and I grew up listening to it.” Cam’ron Warr, 11, said. “I definitely relate to it more than white artists… I hear myself in it to an extent.”
As the 90s approached, the rap scene was booming. Artists like Ice-T and NWA grew larger crowds as well as some of the most influential rappers of all time, Tupac Shakur and The Notorious B.I.G. With the Black community facing injustices like mass incarceration and oppression, rap music became a place that allowed them to have a voice.
Whether fair or not, rap has been seen as violent and angry in nature. Many people attribute gang violence as a result of provocative rap lyrics. However, the heavy violence, drug use, and profanity are what some people in the Black community face every day. Countless amount of rappers have unfortunately been killed by gang violence, and every time one passes, rap is blamed as the cause. In a response to Takeoff’s untimely passing, Myles Durkee, Ph.D., assistant professor of psychology at the University of Michigan, said that “Blaming rap music or Black culture at large for any rapper’s death ignores nearly every nuanced factor that puts hip-hop artists in violent situations in the first place.”
As we saw the new millennium approach, new artists came onto the rap scene. Kid Cudi, Outkast, Jay-Z, and more all released songs that made it to the top 100s chart. Women also started to populate the rap genre, with Missy Elliot, M.I.A, Queen Latifah, Lil’ Kim, and many more paving the way for the rappers we know and love today. Artists were not afraid to go outside their comfort zones with rap, as we saw many different fashion trends, collaborations, and music made by rappers.
As we leave the 2010s and welcome in the 2020s, we see an entirely different scene of rap different than it was before. Rap has paved a way for the Black community to flourish and has given many young artists both to express themselves and make it big in the music world. Without it, music in general wouldn’t be what we know and love today.