The Birth, Growth and Commercialization of Hip Hop

In the last couple of decades Hip-hop has transformed into one of the most popular forms of music, as people from all across the world contribute and are entertained by this genre. What was once known as an artistic channel for the African American community to voice their feelings and concerns with discrimination, the common strong and its relations to race has merged into becoming and influential and economic force (Powers, 2016). With the hip hop industry generating over 10 billion dollars in sales each year, it has become more than a voice for suppressed communities, it has become a ride to success, wealth and popularity. Everyone wants to get a piece of the hip-hop industry, whether that be, the younger generation, record labels or even companies looking to associate their brand with artists who have millions of fans and a large platform to promote their products.

With hip-hop becoming more about the money, and the fame, many people are beginning to speculate whether the commercialization of hip-hop was indeed a positive phenomenon, as the message that hip-hop once delivered has now blurred. Artists have now centered their songs and lyrics around things such as drugs, sex, and violence, aspects that the general public and the music industry are interested in listening too and what generate a majority of the revenue. Combining the blurred message, with the cultural appropriation, yields the question of the type of impact commercialization has had on the hip-hop industry. Through analyzing the historical roots of hip-hop, the negative repercussions of commercialization, as well as the positive elements that commercialization has created, the underlying impact will be outlined and the direction hip-hop needs to take in the future will be articulated.

Prior to analyzing the positive and negative aspects of commercialization, it is important to understand where hip-hop was created, and what the message trying to be delivered was. Hip-hop roots can be traced back to the 1970s in the South Bronx of New York City, where disenfranchised African-American teenagers attempted to voice their emotions and frustrations about various social and political matters (Powers, 2016). There were 4 essential elements to hip-hop which are, DJing, B-Boyin’/B-Girlin’, graffiti and MC-ing (Powers, 2016). First and foremost, Djing or “disc jocking” is an individual who is responsible for sampling music, making beats, producing songs, and must also play records at events/parties (Westray, 2018). B-Boyin’ originates from the idea of saving your best moves for the break portion in a song (Westray, 2018). Thirdly, graffiti was recognized as the visual and artistic form of hip-hop (Westray, 2018). Finally, MC-ing was the verbal art form of hip-hop, as artists would metaphorically and rhythmically express their words over complex beats (Westray, 2018). These 4 elements characterize the different aspects of hip-hop even today, as they highlight the components that make hip-hop unique and tie dancing, art, words and music together.

While hip-hop was formed in 1970, it only really began catching the public eye in the early 1980s. The first hip-hop song that become recognized throughout all of America was, Rapper’s Delight by Sugerhill Gang (Light, 2019). This song gained national attention in a matter of weeks and really began illustrating this upcoming genre. Some of the artist that were catalyst in hip-hop’s growth include, Grandmaster Flash, Kurtis Blow and the Cold Crush Brothers (Light, 2019). Fast forward a couple of years, and hip-hop began scaling across the United States, as it was no longer tied to just New York City. Whether that was Will Smith in Philadelphia, MC hammer in Oakland, or NWA in Los Angles, it was clear that the wave had now set from one coast to the other. NWA combined with Run DMC, were the 2 rap groups that really transcended the 80s, as they both played a significant role in bring hip-hop to the public eye. Both of these groups originated on opposite coasts, with Run DMC emerging in New York, and NWA emerging in Los Angles respectively, displaying how hip-hop was really beginning to grow. NWA music revolved serious topics such as oppression, police brutality, drugs, and violent stories of growing up in the rough and dangerous streets of Compton. Their style was unique and aggressive, as they didn’t hold anything back and wanted to paint accurate depiction of what life growing was like. This style really began resonating with a wide demographic audience, and despite a majority of their fans not being able to relate to the story, they were still buying their albums and attending their concerts.

As the 90s rolled on in, it seemed like every artist was touching upon the same things NWA did, as they all followed the gangster rap style and as a result hip-hop really started becoming the social norm. With artists like, Tupac, Biggie, Nas, Diddy, Jay Z and Snoop Dogg all becoming music icon’s in their own right and they were leading this new wave, as hip-hop had reached a new peak. As hip-hop was reaching this new peak, artists began getting heavily compensated for their work, and were able to leverage their platform for corporate partnerships and record deal. For many artists, hip-hop had become a way for them to get out of the hood, as they were able to not only connect with the message that these artists were talking about but began realizing that this career path could be their ticket to fame and stardom. However, while the concept of commercialization began emerging, the message behind the music remained the same. This began changing in the 2000s however, as artists like Drake, Lil Wayne, and Travis Scott, popularized the idea of making music as a source of income. Songs have now changed significantly changed as well, as artist now talk about more sex, drugs, and wealth as opposed to oppression, and concerns with political and social changes. While some artists, like J Cole and Kendrick Lamar still attempt to tie their songs with the same foundation that hip-hop was once formed upon, a majority of artists today choose to ignore these very concepts. The combination of striving for fame and wealth and a blurred lyrical message, yields the question of whether the commercialization of hip-hop was a positive or negative phenomenon.

Commercialization itself is the concept of bringing something to market for financial gain. This can become bad a thing, as can be seen in the hip-hop industry, as the underlying message begins to get blurred. Apart from the underlying message, there are a handful of other reasons why the commercialization of hip-hop can be regarded as a negative phenomenon. Those reasons are, the hypermasculinity, violence and the lost message. First and foremost, hypermasculinity is considered to be the exaggeration of stereotypical “manly” behaviour. With artists broadcasting lyrics that make it seem like it is important to maintain a certain level of masculinity, many younger listeners begin developing the notion that you should get away from being yourself, and instead try assimilating yourself within the social norm (Richardson, 2016). Lyrics had no longer become a channel for artists to speak about their oppression, and concerns with social and political changes, and instead focused on hypermasculinity, and violence.

Consequently, artists used songs and music videos as a way to broadcast their wealth and lavish lifestyle, women dressed in sexually blunt dresses, and overall masculinity. This has left a negative impression on the wide audience, as this form of behaviour has started emerging as the social norm. Secondly, hip-hop and rap beefs have also yielded violence amongst communities and have made this form of behaviour acceptable and appropriate. However, while one can argue that violence was always included in hip-hop, it was more of a documentation of what the artists had to see while growing up in their communities as opposed to actually promoting violence. Artist beefs such as 50 Cent and Lil Kim’ have escalated outside of the competitive atmosphere of hip-hop and have resulted in people being shot for the sake of pride (Tapper, 2017). While this is a public example, this sort of violence has often escalated in cities across the United States, and the general public has simply accepted this as the new norm. The idea of violence and hypermasculinity go hand in hand, as the idea of always having to prove your masculinity and excessive hubris, often turns into acts of violence. Finally, as hip-hop has become more about the masculinity and portrayal of violence, the underlying message that it once tried to deliver has become lost in the greed. Artists no longer give much thought to broadcasting issues that their communities face, and only a few people mind (Brewington, 2017). Overall, the hypermasculinity, violence and lost message, all display the negative aspects of commercialization.

With all the negative aspects of commercialization being emphasized, it’s hard to notice that there are positive features. For instance, with hip-hop becoming commercialized, many people from all around the world have now began not only listening to this genre but coming up with their own variations based off of their culture and traditions. With Hip-hop now becoming a global phenomenon, everyone has been connected in some sort of way, creating bond among people from different cultures (Robinson, 2015). Another positive facet of commercialization is how hip-hop has now become a way for students to educate themselves within a class room environment. In countries like Brazil, that possess a subpar education system, they have used hip-hop as a way to equip students with a fundamental understanding of relevant world topics, within a social and political lens. Hip-hop provides students with an interactive and enjoyable way to express their feelings, and through limiting the hypermasculinity and violent messages that lie within hip-hop today, they’re able to stay true to hip-hip’s original foundation (Robinson, 2015). Apart from education, one of hip hop’s original element, graffiti, has become very popular in South American countries, as people are able to articulate their culture and themselves in an artistic manner (Robinson, 2015). Through all these facets, the underlying purpose remains the same, which is people from different cultures and backgrounds can express their emotions about various political and social issues. Hip-hop’s foundation was built on giving disenfranchised individuals a voice, and through commercialization, hip-hop has been able to expand globally, and give people all around the world that very voice and freedom.

In conclusion, while the commercialization of hip-hop does have its fair share of negative aspects, the positives exceed the negatives. Through hip-hop, individuals from around the globe are able access an invaluable tool, a voice. The oppression these individuals face on an everyday basis, for a couple of minutes no longer exists. That feeling of freedom compensates for any of the negative aspects, and that’s why hip-hop should be considered a positive phenomenon.