How James Brown influenced Hip-Hop

In the long and winding road of Black America to civil rights and social equality, hip-hop has been an ardent supporter. Echoing the despair of African Americans in the shifting urban culture of the United States in the early 70s, hip-hop protested fervently for the association of Black civil rights to criminality, poverty, unemployment, sexism, drugs and street violence. Through the expression of passionate political speech, opposition and controversy, hip-hop became a massive culture that overwhelmed the American society.

But it was so much more than that. Hip-hop was a process; an ongoing process that had started long before it actually infused the American culture. And a very important element of this process was James Brown.

The ‘Godfather of Soul’ influenced hip-hop in so many ways. Emerging in the music industry in the mid-50s, Brown enthralled the Black masses with his signature releases ‘Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag’ and ‘I Got You (I Feel Good)’, both released in 1965 and ranked Top 10 Pop and #1 R&B hits. In 1968, Brown released ‘Say It Loud – I’m Black and I’m Proud’ which actually became a Black anthem and in 1970, ‘Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine’ that reached #2 in the R&B hits.

Brown’s rhythmic novelties influenced greatly many popular music styles, such as funk, R&B, disco, rock & roll and rap, making him the most sampled artist in the history of hip-hop. ‘The Payback’, released in 1974 was used by Silk in ‘Happy Days’, by En Vogue in ‘Hold On’ and ‘My Lovin (Never Gonna Get It)’, by Total’s in ‘Can’t You See’ and by LL Cool J in ‘Jack the Ripper’; ‘Pass the Peas’ released in 1974, was used by Heavy D and the Boyz’s in ‘The Overweight Lover’, by De La Soul in ‘Pass the Plugs’ and by Eric B and Rakim in ‘I Ain’t No Joke’. Public Enemy, Puff Duddy, Kool Moe Dee, Ice T, Big Daddy Kane, Run D.M.C. and many other multi-million rappers have used Brown’s smash hits as their background music, while his dynamic rhythms have inspired break beats and funk drumming. Brown’s legacy is also immense in regards to emceeing because his unique call-and-response style, with his unique vocals have inspired and educated many talented MCs in the following years.

However, more than his full-fledged releases, Brown captured the mood of Black America with his live performances. Dancing vigorously under the white glare of the concert lights, adorned in his silk costumes, and looking glorious in his elaborate hairstyle, Brown’s concerts were an alluring experience. Being the first to introduce the Mashed Potato dance style into funk music, Brown enriched his steps with leaps, splits and slides, adding back-vocal singers to perform dance motives. The visual excellence was completed with tuxedoes for all male performers.

For many contemporary rappers, there are no words to describe the huge influence of James Brown on their art. If it wasn’t for him, for his unparalleled passion on stage, his unmatched vocals, his social activity, his constant influence on Black people through the radio at times when Black people were considered second-class citizens, hip-hop wouldn’t stand where it stands today. It would have had the skills, the culture and the philosophy to progress, but the soul was inspired by the ‘Godfather of Soul’, Mr. James Joseph Brown; without the slightest doubt.

The effect of Hip-Hop on American culture

Music is a reflection of social change. As such, it creates new mindsets and reflects the reality of an era.

Emerging from the ghettos of New York City in the 70s, Hip-Hop echoed the desolation of African Americans in the altering urban culture of the United States. Through the formation of stereotypes and role models, Hip-Hop protested for the association of black civil rights to unemployment, poverty, criminality and police brutality expressing political speech, resistance and controversy.

Soon, Hip-Hop became a massive reality that permeated popular culture in an unprecedented way. Black youth found a way to express a new culture through distinctive communication patterns such as speech, hand gestures, and body movements. Moving beyond concrete thoughts and obstinate categories, Hip-Hop extended its mental boundaries further than verbal communication, gender, economic class and even race. This explains why Hip-Hop’s sway was well-received by a great number of non-black audience. In effect, Hip-Hop’s crossover influence unified diverse people.

Without a doubt, Hip-Hop has been the fastest growing music genre in the U.S. In its early steps, it received the denial of American system being mainly viewed as a fashion. Because of its harsh language, and immediate association to sex, alcohol, gambling, gang violence, drugs, prostitution, war and many more, Hip-Hop was heavily criticized in the 80s. However, by constantly challenging the system, Hip-Hop managed to move from the ghettos of Bronx, to the suburbs and eventually into the corporate boardrooms in the 90s. Spitting out hot words in the tempo of a machine-gun, while giving a meaning in the life of despaired young people, Hip-Hop transformed into a culture that could not be ignored. Corporate America capitalized heavily on the growing influence of Hip-Hop, making it a highly profitable industry.

Today, the influence of Hip-Hop on American culture is more than obvious. The effects of Hip-Hop are visible in the way young people dress, talk, walk, and behave. For instance, the language used in Hip-Hop is typically shortened words and broken-English. Language is the product of society. As a society transforms, so does its language. Mainstream English has been altered by Hip-Hop expressions that echo the diversity of a culture that has the power to gear itself to anyone who choose to participate in it.

Moreover, being a culture that is broadly adopted by the younger generations of the East and West Coast, Hip-Hop shapes their minds by being used in marketing and advertising, but also in politics. One major example is the Presidential elections of 2008. Several Hip-Hop artists have endorsed Presidential candidates such 50 Cent and Timbaland, who endorsed Hilary Clinton, or Usher, Common and Talib Kweli, who supported Barack Obama. Transcending cultural, racial, ethnic, geographical, social and class lines, Hip-Hop is clearly a culture itself moulding a status quo that is reflected in distinctive language, outfit, artwork and ideology.

The history of Hip-Hop

Hip-Hop emerged from the ghettos of New York City in the early 70s. Tracing its roots in the African American and Latino culture of the city’s impoverished neighborhoods, hip hop was a cultural fact that encompassed a whole range of stereotypes and role models mainly associated to the black civil rights. Protesting against unemployment, poverty, criminality and police brutality, expressing political speech, resistance and controversy and echoing the distress of African Americans in the altering urban culture of the United States, hip hop was the way out.

In the 1970s, the ground-breaking and unique approach of New York DJs to music gave birth to new sounds and dance forms. In Bronx, Brooklyn and the surrounding areas, DJs experimented with startling percussion riffs and rhythmic drum breaks mixing funk and disco elements in clubs and neighborhood block parties. Introducing innovative techniques such as scratching, cutting and needle dropping, hip hop DJs such as Afrika Bambaataa, Eric B., DJ Grandmaster Flash, and Funkmaster Flex recognized the power of this new music genre and soon became the centre of attention in a growing club scene.

Lovebug Starski, Keith Cowboy, and DJ Hollywood used the term “hip hop” when the specific music style was known as disco rap. However, the term is credited to Keith Cowboy, who was scat-singing “hip-hop-hip-hop” mimicking the rhythmic tempo of marching U.S. soldiers to a friend of his. Over time, Cowboy worked on the hip hop tempo as a part of his stage performance and he was later copied by The Sugarhill Gang in “Rapper’s Delight” and by other hip-hop artists. Later on, Afrika Bambaataa used the term “hip hop” to spread the street culture of urban Black and Latino youth to the world.

Soon, hip hop became a massive culture. Hip hop DJs acquired a great ability to attract big crowds and prepared the ground for the expansion of MCing. The MC (emcee) would introduce the DJ rhythmically to the crowd following a specific beat produced by the DJ. MCs were extremely talented in performing poetry written in advance or improvising rhymes on the spot. Their appealing stage presence became influential to the increasing reputation of hip hop music. Without any doubt, the growing influence of hip hop can be traced in the modest early steps of the DJs and MCs, along with the rise of breakdancers and graffiti artists (taggers), who all together comprised the scene of New York City in the early 1970s.

Hip hop graffiti was a way of self-expression and personal creativity, although many people associated it with the explosion of gangs in the 70s. With the emergence of DJ’ing and breakdancing, mystifying, multi-colorful spray paint graffiti murals covered up New York City on walls, buildings, and subways. Many DJS, MCs and breakdancers were graffiti artists themselves, loved to experiment in new graffiti methods like they experimented with music and dance, and had their own followers and fans around the world. All these elements comprised hip hop in its cultural American mainstream substance. 

All this expanding sway could not pass unnoticed by the white-owned record companies. In the late 1970s, hip hop music exposed its commercial power and the meteoric step against the American system begun.

In the 1980s, hip hop was characterized by extreme diversification and quality. The main themes of hip hop artists were political militancy and Afrocentricity, a fact that shows their innovative and experimental intention. Their sounds had a clear jazz influence; however they were harsh and strong. Some of the most important hip hop releases of the 80s are “It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back” by Public Enemy (1988), “Paid In Full” by Eric B. & Rakim (1985), and “3 Feet High and Rising” by De La Soul (1989).

In the 1990s, gangsta rap, a hip-hop subgenre, challenged America with its sexist, misogynistic, and homophobic messages. Glorifying blacks as gangsters, pushers, criminals, pimps, and prostitutes and focusing on drugs, sex and street violence, gangsta rap was provocative, harsh and alluring. However, despite its controversy, it unified diverse audiences and made hip hop genre the fastest growing music genre in the music industry, not only in the U.S., but also in the world. Some of the greatest gangsta rap releases are Dr. Dre’s “The Chronic” (1992), Snoop Doggy Dogg’s “Doggystyle” (1993), The Notorious B.I.G.’s “Ready to Die” (1995) and of course, Tupac Shakur’s “All Eyez on Me” (1996) that went 9x multi platinum in the U.S.

Today, hip hop is a dominant music style globally. After a short period of declining sales in 2005, hip hop releases regained their place in the top ten charts. Moreover, hip hop artists such as Timbaland and 50 Cent endorsed Hilary Clinton in the Presidential Elections of 2008, while , Usher, Common and Talib Kweli endorsed Barack Obama, showing that hip hop is not only music: it’s a part of American culture.

The greatest rap duos of all time

In the extensive quest for true prominence, hip-hop has unfurled some of its most influential forces. By combining the innovative mixing techniques of great DJs with the unparalleled rhyming skills of extremely talented MCs, legendary rap duos have transcended rap music to a new level, enhancing hip-hop’s truth and echoing its philosophy in the most thriving way.

The complexity of flow is what makes rap music luminous. The boost in record sales is directly proportional to how people are fascinated by how MCs stress their syllables, how they emphasize the metrical structure of their verses, how they organize their rhymes, and ultimately, how they flow. However, this brilliant talent has to follow a beat and flow with innovative vibes so as to make a sound great and really supreme.

Some of the greatest rap duos of all times are:

> Eric B. & Rakim

Eric B & Rakim is one of the first rap duos that captivated the rap scene. Being broadly considered one of the most ground-breaking rap combos in the history of hip hop, the New York pair introduced a revolutionary chemistry that reflected the extent of innovation in their respective roles.

Eric B’s ingenious scratching skills, anchored with jazzy vibes set the stage for the golden age of hip-hop of the mid-80s to the early 90s. Favoring James Brown’s “I know you got soul” groove, actually introduced the extensive use of soul and R&B hits as background music in hip-hop hits, which became known as godfather rap. Rakim’s avant-garde rhyming style and seemingly effortless delivery shifted hip-hop culture to new creative levels with the use of versatile rhyming lines, internal rhyme and sophisticated metaphors. Rakim never really relied on controversial lyrics to captivate the fans. His increasing influence on the masses was the result of his extraordinary MCing skills and his exceptional ability to leap from one phrase to the other like a waterfall, which made him largely considered as the greatest MC in the history of rap.

Their debut album “Paid In Full”, released in 1987, went Platinum reaching #58 in the US Charts and #8 in the Top R&B Hip Hop Charts. Their next three albums went Gold reaching also high ranking in the US Charts and the Top R&B Hip Hop Charts.

> UGK

Underground Kidgz, broadly known as UGK, emerged in the hip-hop scene in 1987. Being original representatives of southern rap, Pimp C and Bun B, the rap duo from Texas, enthralled the hip-hop industry with their country-funk instrumentals and melodic tones. Extreme, sexual, and appealing, UGK introduced the most comprehensive pattern of southern rap and won several Grammy awards.

Pimp C’s distinctive DJing that emits his dirty south, jazzy heritage combined with Bun B’s long on skill, internal rhyme have crafted a classic soul-funk approach to hip-hop, introducing technically sound rap flow and innovative vibes.

Their debut album, “Too Hard To Swallow”, released in 1992, reached #37 in the US R&B charts. Their following albums charted on the Billboard 200 and Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums charts, including the “Underground Kidgz” released in 2007, which reached #1 on the Billboard 200. Besides, UGK has been featured by other rap artists such as Jay-Z in “Big Pimpin”, and Three 6 Mafia in “Sippin’ on Some Syrup”.

After Pimp C’s death, on December 4, 2007 in a Hollywood hotel, Bun B released their last album “UGK 4 life”, in 2009.

> OutKast

Originally known as The OKB (The OutKast Brothers), Andre 3000 and Big Boi came into hip-hop scene in 1994. Introducing a mixture of G-funk with deep bass, harmonious synths and artificially lowered tempos with southern rap, the Atlanta-based duo is one of the most prominent rap duos of all time.

The experimental originality of Big Boi’s DJing percussion riffs reeks off his Georgian roots. In each album release, Big Boi adds soul, pop, funk, jazz and rock elements in his inventive vibes making OutKast not only a huge commercial success, but also a highly versatile rap duo that is largely appreciated for its artistic content and innovation. The exceptional MC skills of Andre 3000 anchor Big Boi’s sounds in a continuous, flawless rhyming making him the greatest MC of the contemporary rap scene, following the great steps of Rakim.

OutKast have received six Grammy awards and have sold over 25 million copies for their eight album releases. OutKast’s double album “Speakerboxxx/The Love Below”, released in 2003, went 11x Platinum, winning the Album of the Year Grammy in 2004.

> Mobb Deep

The New York duo, Prodigy and Havoc, triumphantly represent East Coast’s hardcore rap. Storming through the rap industry in the mid-90s, Mobb Deep actually introduced hardcore beats to the hip-hop scene. Their momentous, trendsetting album, “The Infamous”, released in 1995, followed the glorious releases of Notorious B.I.G.’s “Ready To Die” and Nas’s “Illmatic”, establishing Prodigy and Havoc as epochal figureheads of East Coast hardcore rap.

From rapid-fire shooting to rough hood storytelling, Mobb Deep became largely known for the hellish portrayal of New York street life. Harsh rhymes anchored by spooky melodies and hard-hitting beats in a rather angry rhyming pattern became the duo’s trademark. However, despite Mobb Deep’s denial to compromise their harsh approach on depicting the cruel reality of street culture, the duo enjoyed success.

What is flow in rap music

One of the most important elements of rap music is flow. Referring to the rhyming scheme of the MC and defining how he interacts with the beat, the flow encompasses his intonation, accent, speed, melody, rhythm and articulation. Some people consider that the flow is similar to the rhyme delivery. However, delivery involves mostly the voice pitch and tone and is primarily related to breathe control. In other words, delivery is concerned with how the MC can take poised breaths while rhyming over the beat, meaning while doing the flow.

The evolution of flow, as it is known today, has gone through several stages. The impact of Old School that was dominant from 1978 to 1986 on the New School that dominated from 1994 to 2002 is obvious on any MC. The period in between, from 1986 to 1994, is the period that Rakim, of Eric B. & Rakim rap duo, altered the course of flow in rap.

Melle Mel of the Grandmaster Flash and The Furious Five is the most typical representative of the Old School. Using relatively basic rhythmic patterns and techniques, Mel’s flows are simple and based on plain rhyme schemes. He uses a downbeat, which is so typical of the funk groove music and was highly emphasized by James Brown. Kicking on 2/4 downbeat to keep cadence on a straightforward rhyming, Mel’s flows are the rhyme groundwork all MCs would later use from 1978 to 1986.

Rakim was the first MC to introduce the term ‘flow’ in what was before known as rhyming or cadence. Rakim popularized the term because he was able to rhyme like a waterfall; he leaped from one word to another over Eric B’s vibes so smoothly, like flowing. With his unmatched flows that actually shifted rap music from the simplistic Old School cadence to more complex rhyming, Rakim exploded in a new rhyme scheme altering the way every MC would rhyme forever, and practically setting the beginning of the New School.

Along with Rakim, Notorious B.I.G. (Biggie), Big Daddy Kane, Method Man, KRS-One and Eminem represent the New School. From all these extremely talented MCs, Biggie and Method Man added new elements in their flows. Their rhyming approach was innovative and their flows became a must-have for any MC in the years to follow. Particularly for Biggie, critics say that he had the best flow of all MCs in the history of rap considering the short period of time he performed before he got murdered. On the other side of the coin is Eminem for numerous reasons. He is the youngest in the game among all, but he has sold more albums that any MC in the history of hip-hop. His astonishing ability to flow like an instrument gave him the first Oscar in hip-hop history and his flow is definitely the most dominant right now.

The flows of MCs are what make rap music brilliant. The complexity of the flows gives rap a boost in record sales that is directly proportional to how complex and faster the flows become. This happens not only because people appreciate the efforts of Eminem or Big Daddy Kane, but mostly because they are fascinated by the new rhythmic styles, by how MCs stress their syllables, how they emphasize the metrical structure of their verses, how they organize their rhymes to surprise the crowd, and ultimately, how they flow.

What is emceeing and who pioneered it

The extreme talent of several emcees has been largely praised in the history of hip-hop. With the expansion of hip-hop into a massive culture, hip-hop DJs acquired a great ability to attract big crowds and prepared the ground for the advancement of emceeing.

Even before mankind was granted with a microphone, emceeing traces its roots in Africa. The way African poets and tribesmen kept historical records of the villages through a vocal sharing of rhythmic folk using instrumentation is considered the predecessor of what later became known as rap. Similarly to the African oral tradition, rap carries through music a rapper’s opinions, stories and news from his hood and everyday life.

Jazz poetry that evolved from the blues in the early years of the 20th century is largely seen as the precursor of hip-hop having a remarkable stylistic resemblance to what later became known as beat poetry. In the late 50s, Jamaican DJs who immigrated to the United States infused the American society with their African traditions, which involved informal discussions or debates over dubbed Jamaican beats. DJ Kool Herc is the most famous Jamaican rapper, who introduced the Jamaican tradition of toasting in the U.S.

The early 80s were defined by Melle Mel and Run D.M.C. Featuring sociopolitical content and lyrical dexterity, hip-hop shifted to a higher level where emceeing was a fundamental element of its culture. Run D.M.C’s ‘Raising Hell’, released in 1986, involved spitting quick-tongue comments and roaring threats. Run-D.M.C. were screaming their aggressive lyrics. Besides, the emergence of gangsta rap in the East Coast with the pioneer appearances of Notorious B.I.G., and Nas, and in the West Coast with Dr. Dre, Tupac Shakur and Snoop Doggy Dog showed that rap was moving away from its basic forms, freed from the lyrical flow, ready to move to more complicated styles.

Derived from the abbreviation of the ‘Master of Ceremonies’, an emcee (MC) is a lyricist, who can move the crowds. In rap music, the involvement of crowd in the show is an essential element so that no barriers exist between the performer and the audience. Using simple, straightforward call-and-response lines, the emcee demands the crowd to respond and participate in the show. Rakim, the greatest MC of all times, said ‘to me, MC means Move the Crowd’.

However, what most people do not know is that emceeing encompasses many different layers, which actually differentiate a good rapper from a talented emcee. Rappers can follow the beat with written poetry. Emcees are true artists that improvise over a beat and deliver lively, concise, and exceptional rhymes, following basic or complex rhyme schemes in the most comprehensive and skillful way.

Improvisation is a very important element of emceeing. Talented emcees have the ability to create impulsive lyrics on demand and deliver them in a way that really makes sense. A good emcee should be able to play with words, to experiment. However, improvisation goes together with advanced delivery skills. The flow of an emcee encompasses his intonation, accent, speed, melody, rhythm and articulation. Swift delivery presupposes a poised breath control so that the emcee can deliver his words without interrupting his flow with pauses.

Some of the greatest emcees of all times are Rakim, Eminem, Jay-Z, Tupac Shakur, Notorious B.I.G. and Nas. Rakim is the legend of MCs. With his ingenious ability to leap from one phrase to another like a waterfall, his revolutionary rhyming style and his seemingly effortless delivery shifted hip-hop culture to new inventive levels. Rakim was the first emcee to use versatile rhyming lines, internal rhyme and sophisticated metaphors in his flow. Notorious B.I.G. was also a phenomenal lyricist. His rhyming approach was innovative introducing lines that were cold-blooded and charming at the same time – all in one verse. Biggie had the best flow of all MCs in the history of rap and his best asset was his voice that he could combine extremely smoothly and huskily with the beat. Notorious B.I.G’s legacy is immense considering that he made only two albums before getting murdered and he is still the most quoted emcee. From all these exceptional MCs, Eminem is the youngest in the game, however no one can deny the fervent hurricane his career has been since his debut nearly a decade ago. Having sold more albums that any emcee in the history of hip-hop, Eminem possesses an extraordinary dexterity in delivering complex rhymes and he can flow like an instrument. Sometimes you get the feeling that Eminem breathes emceeing.

Without any doubt, the appealing stage performance of emcees became influential to the increasing reputation of hip-hop music and culture.

The origins of gangsta rap

Without a doubt, gangsta rap is the most controversial style of hip hop music genre. Conveying vibrant sexist, misogynistic, and homophobic messages and echoing violent portrayals of the urban ghetto life in America, gangsta rap gained almost unexpected global reputation, while it opened the way to other styles of hip hop music.

Gangsta rap roots its traces in the early depictions of inner-city youths of New York City of the late 1970s. However, it has become largely known as a West Coast flavor because it was pioneered in the mid-1980s by rappers such as Dr. Dre, Snoop Doggy Dogg, Ice T, and Ice Cube. All those multi-million sales rappers made gangsta rap widely known to a large audience proclaiming Los Angeles the home of gangsta rap. However, the lyrics of their big hits were directly related to the impoverished neighborhoods of South Bronx in the mid-1970s, which praised blacks as gangsters, pushers, criminals, pimps, and prostitutes. As many of rap’s early pioneers were gang members, gangsta rap was born from the life experiences of the rappers.

The relation of gangsta rap lyrics to crime had stimulated much of the controversy surrounding this musical style. Gangsta rap has been heavily criticized for glorifying the unconstructiveness of the hustler lifestyle and the negativity of the streets. In addition, it has raised lots of opposition on the grounds of reinforcing negative stereotypes and role models of the black community and openly praising anti-social behavior. In this context, some of the biggest gangsta rap figures have gained public notoriety thus enhancing public opposition. For instance, Snoop Doggy Dogg has been involved in gangland murders, while the Notorious B.I.G. and Tupac Shakur have been murdered.

On the other hand, gangsta rap’s advocates argue that gangsta rap simply reports the reality of life in the black neighborhoods; sex, violence, prostitution and sexual promiscuity are part of their daily existence and this reality needs to be heard.

Despite the intense opposition, gangsta rap had a crossover influence infusing popular culture in an unprecedented way. The combination of sexually explicit lyrics with vivid portrayals of gang killings had a universal appeal on many white middle-class male youths. This gave gangsta rap an unexpected boost in record sales that was directly proportional to the explicitness of its lyrics. The more it provoked, the more it was selling. Critics viewed the exaggeration of violence and gangsterism in the lyrics as an extremely effective marketing tool applied by the white-owned record companies. Most likely, for these white middle-class male youths gangsta rap represents the fulfillment of the forbidden, the place of adventure, erotic fantasy and violence that drives them out of the conformity and routine of suburbia. This explains the extreme acceptance of gangsta rap outside the black communities of origin.

The distinctive element of gangsta rap is its rich storytelling that lies over profound funk samples from James Brown, Parliament-Funkadelic, Sly Stone, George Clinton, Rick James, Average White Band, and Ohio Players. In 1987, Schoolly D released his album “Smoke Some Kill” which along with Boogie Down Production’s “Criminal Minded” are considered the inspirational gangsta rap albums that actually gave birth to this musical style. However, gangsta was firmly established in the American music scene with Ice T’s “Rhyme Pays”, N.W.A.’s “Niggaz With Attitude”, both released in 1987, and N.W.A.’s “Straight Outta Compton”, released in 1988. All these three albums tell stories of violence, crime and outright misogyny echoing the underground ghetto life. Particularly, the track “F*** Tha Police” from “Straight Outta Compton” was considered so scandalous – “Without a gun and a badge, what do you got/A sucker in a uniform waiting to get shot”- that MTV and radio stations refused to play it. However, the album went platinum, which shows the oxymoron of the popularity of gangsta rap in relation to its lyrics.

During the 1990s gangsta rap glamorous figures even went to Hollywood. Some of the most known films are “Boyz ‘n’ the Hood” (1991), “New Jack City” (1991), and “Menace II Society” (1993), which showed the real ghetto life to the masses giving voice to black people and their problems.

The connection between graffiti and hip hop music

Graffiti is as old as human communication. Having its traces in ancient Greece and the Roman Empire, graffiti is a form of art, drawings or words, which are marked on public surfaces.

In the United States, graffiti is primarily associated with the explosion of urban gangs in the late 1960’s and 1970’s in South Bronx, Washington Heights and other impoverished neighborhoods of New York City. Starting with the major urbanization of many areas in the post-war period of the 20^th century, urban gangs of young teenagers produced graffiti murals and covered the city with self-invented stylized signatures of names, known as tags, to mark their territory. Although this was not a new practice to the city, graffiti gained extensive consideration viewed as a way to challenge the system and express social manifestation.

Near the end of the 20^th century, non-gang related graffiti was practiced for the sake of personal promotion and increased reputation. In some cases, artists performed extremely elaborate murals only to pay their respects to a deceased person. Such graffiti occurred after the deaths of Tupac Shakur and The Notorious B.I.G. In this context, for the first time, hip hop graffiti and gang graffiti were differentiated, at least in the minds of those who could spot the differences.

Hip hop graffiti is a means of self-expression and creativity rather than a way of gang demonstration. In the mid-1970s new music and dance forms emerged in Bronx and Brooklyn as a result of experimentation of black youth with new sounds, and neighborhood block parties. With the emergence of DJ’ing and breakdancing, graffiti pieces involved highly stylish letter-forms drawn with markers, or puzzling, multi-colorful spray paint murals on walls, buildings, and subways. Most of the DJs, MCs and break-dancers were also graffiti artists with distinctive and recognizable designs. They were friends, they shared similar graffiti methods and they were reshaping old practices to new, innovative and exciting forms. Together these music, language, graffiti and clothing embraced a new cultural fact, a new massive reality, ultimately a rich mix of creative practices that became known as hip hop. Eventually, many of these self-educated graffiti artists became well-known graphic designers working for Snoop Dogg, Run-DMC, Buddy Esquire, Spike Lee, Dapper Dan, designing album covers, sportswear, stage backdrops and great logos.

Hip hop graffiti is not vandalism as many people wrongly believe. Another element that differentiates graffiti artists from gang graffiti is that hip hop graffiti is constantly improved with new additions in its techniques. In contrast, the function of gang graffiti is mostly related to marking territorial boundaries and, therefore does not require, neither presupposes artistic intent. Those who differentiate between tagging and graffiti generally view tagging as gang-directed or vandalism-oriented with vulgar meaning and extremely controversial to encompass public value. In contrast, they consider hip hop graffiti as creative expression, even when it bears elements of political controversy.

How censorship has impacted rap music

Censorship of art is nothing new. However, in the long history of hip-hop, censorship has always been present. Through exaggerated efforts to control and attack rap music, hip hop has often become the scapegoat to justify extreme social behaviors. Attacks represent the entire political spectrum, left and right and focus on the explicit sexual and violent rap lyrics. From Run-D.M.C. and Tupac Shakur to 50 Cent and Young Jeezy, hip-hop has been making enemies for as long as it has been captivating fans.

> Rule No1: Before you can label something as a good or a bad influence you should be able to assess what is this about.

When hip-hop emerged in the early 70s from the poor hoods of Bronx, Brooklyn and the surrounding areas of New York City, the American system despised it. It was much easier to consider it a temporary fad, a transitory phase. Middle-class white Americans could not accept its harsh language, and its direct associations to sex, street violence, drugs, alcohol, gangs, gambling, prostitution, and many more. Hip-hop was provocative. Hip-hop was challenging the system reflecting controversy and opposition. Later, with the evolution of gangsta rap, hip-hop was glorifying crime, sexism, greed, misogyny and homophobia. Hip-hop was spitting America on the face and America held hip-hop liable for everything, dismissing it as noise and blaming it for concert riots and gang explosion.

But, it was so much more than that.

Hip-hop was actually the voice of ghetto America that echoed the misery of African American and Latino youth. Visualizing the American dream as a new cultural power that would not encompass poverty, unemployment, criminality and police brutality, hip-hop became the new street culture. This rapidly growing phenomenon shifted from the ghettos to the suburbs and ultimately to the boardrooms of corporate America. The policy was clear: as hip-hop could not be ignored, it had to be censored.

> Rule No 2: You cannot ignore the facts that create the need for opposition

To my view, censorship was a wrong thing to do and rather unsuccessful. First of all, opposition and controversy are always the consequence of an unjust political system. Black America in the early 70s was greatly misused, both by society and police. African Americans were viewed as second-class citizens and black people in the ghettos were looking for a way to react to violent police brutality. Hip-hop was the way to voice their opposition to White American indifference.

Second of all, music cannot be regulated by censorship. Freedom of speech applies to music as much as it applies to any other form of art. The oxymoron with hip-hop is that the more it openly provoked, the more it was selling. Its mounting influence on the masses was directly proportional to its unrestrained and controversial lyrics. This happened because hip-hop was describing the reality of life in the black hoods. For instance, when N.W.A. released F*** Tha Police” from “Straight Outta Compton” in 1988 they described a real situation that had occurred in Southern California.

Thirdly, although corporate America decided to censorship hip-hop on the grounds that it conveyed degrading messages and as such, it was a bad influence on young children, it profoundly capitalized on hip-hop’s massive influence. Corporate giants like Sprite, Burger King, Tommy Hilfiger and others, made hip-hop almost mainstream and, definitely, a highly profitable industry.

> Rule No 3: You cannot censor the truth

Without any doubt, censorship does not help music. Hip-hop, punk or rock, are music genres that actually “speak from the streets”. The explosion of hip-hop culture and its dominance on the system was similar to what happened in the UK in the mid 70s with punk. Only then, it was not about the black youth. Punk was about the white youth that was outraged on the system and found in the lyrics and music of punk a way to translate anarchy and chaos into authentic political philosophy.

I believe that censoring hip-hop did nothing more than flaming more opposition and more open reality. Music can, by no means, create violence. Music simple reflects social realities. Hip-hop is real music for real people. No censorship can change that.

An overview on southern rap

Of the numerous hip-hop genres, southern rap is the most comprehensive style. Encompassing the broadest range of artists, rhythms, musical styles and lyrics, it distinguishes its sounds from East and West hip-hop, unfurling a brand new world of fashion, car culture, nightlife and unique lingo in its rhymes and an innovative instrumentation in its vibes.

In the late 80s, a new sound from the South swept the hip hop scene. Rooting its traces mainly in Miami, New Orleans, Atlanta and Houston, southern rap was largely linked to Miami’s booty rap. Bearing obvious elements of bass music anchored by rump-shaking sounds and straightforward lyrics, the new sound emerged as the extended third wheel after the explosion of hip-hop in the East and West Coast. The multi-million sales rappers of Los Angeles and New York found in the grooves of their Miami and Atlanta peers some true innovators.

Being a productive scene on its own, southern rap spread widely the bass, dance-floor sounds of Miami along with its slang lyrical content. Making the southern form of hip-hop distinct to everybody, it soon evolved to a national symbol of hard-partying extreme. Rhyming with thick regional accents, but following their own musical patterns, Tag Team, 69 Boyz, 2 Live Crew, and Freak Nasty were some of the artists who made huge hit singles with explicit lyrics. Inevitable, this caused protests for possible censorship across the U.S.

Atlanta was always considered the innovative center of southern rap. Atlanta artists based their sounds on the bass-heavy rap pattern, but they introduced a funkier style of southern rap incorporating elements of soul. This distinctive element was, almost religiously, applied by Arrested Development that was the first group to win a Grammy Award for Best Rap Album and Best New Artist, and the prize of the Band of the Year by Rolling Stone magazine, in 1992. In the later years, Atlanta-based Outkast and Goodie Mob followed as members of Atlanta’s Organized Noize Productions.

New Orleans was, and still is, the profit-making center of southern rap. Master P’s record label, No Limit, is a money-spinning empire that is in the market since the late 90s. Although it does not really promote much more than West Coast G-funk and gangsta rap, No Limit has found an efficient way to boost product sales with assembly-line efficiency. Another New Orleans label, Mannie Fresh’s Cash Money, engaged in a totally innovative approach and managed to reinvent the southern bass sound hitting the singles with Juvenile.

Some of the popular artists that have made southern rap more popular with their hit singles in the charts are Outkast, Ludacris, Lil’ Wayne, T.I. and Lil Jon. Despite the big hits and big money, southern rap has been criticized for over-exposure as it has happened with other hip-hop genres and with hip-hop in general. Often, rap artists produce their self-image as artists because they know that music would not be the same without their character. In rap, music and lyrics anchor the character because rap music talks about real facts. So, rap’s enemies accuse rappers that they just put on a big hat, a huge chain and try to make it to the South; they accuse them of acting like commodities, not like real artists. Well, if that was the case, then how all these ghetto people did it only with their voice, long before becoming commodities and wearing the big hat? Just asking.