Summary:
Hip hop had taken a new form of influence on the world. Hip hop had influenced the life of a mayor named Kwame M. Kilpatrick, also known as hip hop mayor". Kilpatrick was born in 1972. Kilpatrick attended Florida A&M University, a historically black college. He was a football star, with his 6 foot for frame, but a back injury hurt his chances of pursuing a career in Football. After graduating, he returned home to gain a degree from Detroit Law School before taking a job as a teacher, mentor and basketball coach. At the age of 25, Kilpatrick decided to run for the Michigan House of Representatives. His mother, Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatric had left her seat for a spot and congress. Kalpatrick wanted to keep the seat in the family and decided to run.
After winning the state seat, Kalpatrick quickly raised the Democratic party ranks making a name for himself. He also became the first African-American leader of one of the state's major political parties. He had also had a great relationship with children, this characteristics had allowed him to appeal to the public. Although Kalpatrick seemed like the perfect candidate, he too had doubts that his age would change the views of voters.
When placed in office, Kilpatrick made it very clear that he wanted to change the Detroit Police Department, he wanted to keep his community as safe as possible.His second program was the Mayor's Time. This program helped Young people in developing cognitive skills, and employable skills.
Kalpatrick had won his race because he was able to relate to the community at this time. His views were compatible with citizens during this time. He had a sense of connection to anyone who listens to hip hop. This connection he had with the community allowed him to gain a connection which will help him through out life.
Quotation:
"Our Future...Right Here, Right Now!"(Kilpatrick 191).
Reflection:
This quote is significant because we are able to gain a sense of confidence and determination from these words. That we can gain leadership and a little power by saying these words. Kilpatric was basically saying that our future depends on how we live life now. He was saying that it is up to us in order to create a better life for our self. This statement is accurate in my eyes for the same reasons that Kilpatric thought it was correct.
Friday, April 30, 2010
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Hip Hip Matters: Pages 143-186
Summary:
Hip Hop’s evolution launched a revolution in youth culture. For instance, hip hop has an impact on music, fashion, style and general purpose. Whether it has been the pro-women statements made by Queen Latifah or the crazy lyrics by Kayne West, hip hops echoes has led to some of the most memorable moments and images in recent American culture. Because hip hop is so widely based on Black and Latino culture, there is an agreement that racial politics will be a major part of the mix. Then things started to change when Eminem entered the picture. In addition to coming to terms with the changing racial makeup, worries of how political agenda will be made began to develop. The desire to develop a more urban political sensibility with hip hop movement began to expand rapidly. This sense of urgency and anxiety caused people to feel like hip hop was ready to make its mark on the world.
While all this hip hop conversation was being discussed in the west coast, the hip hop scene began to explode. Rappers began to use melodic grooves, gansta rhymes and thug life antics to attack a younger crowd. Rappers like Tupac Shakur, Snoop dogg, Ice Cube, Ice T, and Dr. Dre were some of these new kinds of rappers. These rappers rapped about the real life experience they had with the streets. These rappers were both controversial but loved by many. They were what the hip hop scene needed at the moment. Unfortunately these rappers related too much to the youngsters of the US. On May7, 2000, California passed the proposition 21. This allowed prosecutors rather than judges to decide whether a young person would be tried as adult, reduced confidentiality protections for juvenile offenders, and increase penalties for gang related crimes. In 1991, 93,655 kids were imprisoned. By 200, that number dropped to 16,000. This new passed law was working.
Quotation:
"Ain't no power like the power of the youth,'cause the power of youth don't change!(BOOK NOT BARS 163).
Reaction:
I do agree that the youth have the most powerful influence overeverythng. The youth control are future and they have the ability to change anything they deem necessary. I've come to realize that the youth are very stubborn with their beliefs and i think that why the author of this qoute said that their views don;t change. If you look back in history, it has been the youth that has controlled most of the descions made. If I would have been able to vote during the year 2000, i would have voted yes for the proposition 21. I think any way we could help encourage the youth to behave better and live a better life is necessary. Like I stated before, our future lies in the hands of the youth and it is up to the elders of the world to lead them in the right direction.
Hip Hop’s evolution launched a revolution in youth culture. For instance, hip hop has an impact on music, fashion, style and general purpose. Whether it has been the pro-women statements made by Queen Latifah or the crazy lyrics by Kayne West, hip hops echoes has led to some of the most memorable moments and images in recent American culture. Because hip hop is so widely based on Black and Latino culture, there is an agreement that racial politics will be a major part of the mix. Then things started to change when Eminem entered the picture. In addition to coming to terms with the changing racial makeup, worries of how political agenda will be made began to develop. The desire to develop a more urban political sensibility with hip hop movement began to expand rapidly. This sense of urgency and anxiety caused people to feel like hip hop was ready to make its mark on the world.
While all this hip hop conversation was being discussed in the west coast, the hip hop scene began to explode. Rappers began to use melodic grooves, gansta rhymes and thug life antics to attack a younger crowd. Rappers like Tupac Shakur, Snoop dogg, Ice Cube, Ice T, and Dr. Dre were some of these new kinds of rappers. These rappers rapped about the real life experience they had with the streets. These rappers were both controversial but loved by many. They were what the hip hop scene needed at the moment. Unfortunately these rappers related too much to the youngsters of the US. On May7, 2000, California passed the proposition 21. This allowed prosecutors rather than judges to decide whether a young person would be tried as adult, reduced confidentiality protections for juvenile offenders, and increase penalties for gang related crimes. In 1991, 93,655 kids were imprisoned. By 200, that number dropped to 16,000. This new passed law was working.
Quotation:
"Ain't no power like the power of the youth,'cause the power of youth don't change!(BOOK NOT BARS 163).
Reaction:
I do agree that the youth have the most powerful influence overeverythng. The youth control are future and they have the ability to change anything they deem necessary. I've come to realize that the youth are very stubborn with their beliefs and i think that why the author of this qoute said that their views don;t change. If you look back in history, it has been the youth that has controlled most of the descions made. If I would have been able to vote during the year 2000, i would have voted yes for the proposition 21. I think any way we could help encourage the youth to behave better and live a better life is necessary. Like I stated before, our future lies in the hands of the youth and it is up to the elders of the world to lead them in the right direction.
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Hip Hop Matters: Pages 85-140
Summary:
Before 1999, hip hop was perceived as black folk’s music because the entire artist who performed in this genre was black. This way of thinking continued until Eminem (Slim Shady) emerged into this business. Eminem was born Marshall Bruce Marhers III on October 12, 1972. He lived outside of St.Louis to a teenage mother who survived off of welfare. His life was filled with one disappointment after another. Fortunately for him this life will be the underline success for his music career. Some of the difficulties that Eminem faced as a child was having to drop out of high school after he failed 9th grade 3 times, he had to grow up in the black projects of Detroit, he was jumped and bullied all through his school life, strange relationship with Kim Scott and the unconditional love he had for his daughters.
Although they were two completely different rappers, Eminem was compared to Vanilla Ice. Vanilla Ice was the first white rapper but he lost his credibility of being part of the streets when information leaked that everything he rapped about was fake. Eminem had to try and prove that what he rapped about was true and he had to try and crossover to both blacks and whites. The character that Eminem plays in “8-mile” is an reenactment of what he was like growing up and trying to slip his way into the hip hop business.
Eminem had to go through a lot of criticism before he was considered one of the greatest. Eminem was a sort of rebel, and he said whatever he wanted, whenever he deemed necessary. One day he had a bad experience with his current girlfriend at the time that was black. He rapped about his experience with her and it came out in a negative way. When he first entered the hip hop business, this record was released and everyone thought of him as racist for what he said, but he reassured them that he was upset and that was no way to talk about a women but he was a stupid young teen who needed to get his aggression out.
Eminem and Dr. Dre have been compared to Elvis Presley and Sam Phillips numerous times. During the 1950’s Phillips had a love for Black music. Phillips believed in the beauty and emotional power that black people but into their music and he was looking for someone to crossover to the white population so they could experience it as well, but this was almost impossible because of racial segregation. This was all until Phillips met Presley. Presley had a very powerful black voice and that was exactly the type of voice needed to crossover. They same thing happened to Eminem and Dr. Dre but in reverse. Dr. Dre was looking for another star, and that’s when he bumped into Eminem. Here was this kid who could relate to blacks and whites and was also a rebel. Dr. Dre knew he would crossover and that exactly what he did.
Quotation:
“ What whites wanted was not music, but black music, which as a results stopped really being either” (Samuel 85).
Reflection:
Due to the segregation that people were putting on music, no one could truly enjoy the music put out by different artists. By people such as Elvis Presley and Eminem, music was able to conquer all obstacles include racism and segregation. Music was created to bring a little happiness and rhythm to people lives, not to create another separation between people. Thanks too many artist in different genre's this goal was achieved. In today's day and age Eminem is able to rap with Lil Wayne and Eminem can rap with 50 cent. Your skin color does not matter anymore, the only thing that matters is your ability to produce a #1 single.
Before 1999, hip hop was perceived as black folk’s music because the entire artist who performed in this genre was black. This way of thinking continued until Eminem (Slim Shady) emerged into this business. Eminem was born Marshall Bruce Marhers III on October 12, 1972. He lived outside of St.Louis to a teenage mother who survived off of welfare. His life was filled with one disappointment after another. Fortunately for him this life will be the underline success for his music career. Some of the difficulties that Eminem faced as a child was having to drop out of high school after he failed 9th grade 3 times, he had to grow up in the black projects of Detroit, he was jumped and bullied all through his school life, strange relationship with Kim Scott and the unconditional love he had for his daughters.
Although they were two completely different rappers, Eminem was compared to Vanilla Ice. Vanilla Ice was the first white rapper but he lost his credibility of being part of the streets when information leaked that everything he rapped about was fake. Eminem had to try and prove that what he rapped about was true and he had to try and crossover to both blacks and whites. The character that Eminem plays in “8-mile” is an reenactment of what he was like growing up and trying to slip his way into the hip hop business.
Eminem had to go through a lot of criticism before he was considered one of the greatest. Eminem was a sort of rebel, and he said whatever he wanted, whenever he deemed necessary. One day he had a bad experience with his current girlfriend at the time that was black. He rapped about his experience with her and it came out in a negative way. When he first entered the hip hop business, this record was released and everyone thought of him as racist for what he said, but he reassured them that he was upset and that was no way to talk about a women but he was a stupid young teen who needed to get his aggression out.
Eminem and Dr. Dre have been compared to Elvis Presley and Sam Phillips numerous times. During the 1950’s Phillips had a love for Black music. Phillips believed in the beauty and emotional power that black people but into their music and he was looking for someone to crossover to the white population so they could experience it as well, but this was almost impossible because of racial segregation. This was all until Phillips met Presley. Presley had a very powerful black voice and that was exactly the type of voice needed to crossover. They same thing happened to Eminem and Dr. Dre but in reverse. Dr. Dre was looking for another star, and that’s when he bumped into Eminem. Here was this kid who could relate to blacks and whites and was also a rebel. Dr. Dre knew he would crossover and that exactly what he did.
Quotation:
“ What whites wanted was not music, but black music, which as a results stopped really being either” (Samuel 85).
Reflection:
Due to the segregation that people were putting on music, no one could truly enjoy the music put out by different artists. By people such as Elvis Presley and Eminem, music was able to conquer all obstacles include racism and segregation. Music was created to bring a little happiness and rhythm to people lives, not to create another separation between people. Thanks too many artist in different genre's this goal was achieved. In today's day and age Eminem is able to rap with Lil Wayne and Eminem can rap with 50 cent. Your skin color does not matter anymore, the only thing that matters is your ability to produce a #1 single.
Sunday, April 4, 2010
Hip Hop Matters: Pages 50-84
Summary:
In 1997 a major music magazine was published representing the upcoming genre, hip hop. This magazine was names Axle .As hip hop popularity grew, XXL’s selling rate increased, leading o it being one of the fastest growing magazines ever. By 2003, it was only second behind Rolling Stone. In 1998, during a meeting, someone at XXl mentions re- creating the famous 1958 Esquire magazine “A Great Day in Harlem” photo of jazz legends. They asked Gordon Parks to take the picture but he refused three times until they made it admit that he was the best one for the job. He was world renowned photographers who capture pure racism in his shots. Some of the people involved were Grandmaster Flash, Deborah Harry, and Shaquille O’Neal, all who represented Hip Hop in a different way
This photo shoot was one of the many things that made 98’ the greatest year for hip hop. This was the year that flirtatious music became real and undeniable. This type of rap is still present into day’s society when you think of Lil Wayne, Drake and Snoop Dog. 98’ was the year the albums sold in multiples at a time and singles were # 1 on the Billboards. You could tell 98’ would be a good year because in the last week in May during this year, DMX went platinum, the first time a rap album ever did. Three weeks later, Mater P’S album sold 495, ooo units in its first week. Master P became a rapper when he realized that the music he was stocking on his selves in his music store were not that good. He felt like he could make better music that represented the streets, being that he grew up in the street of New Orleans. When Dave Weiner, a west cost sales manager seen him selling records out the trunk of his care, Mater P’s career took off. He wasn’t like any other rapper who didn’t have a house or car, he made sure that he and his lawyers negotiated a plan in which he received 85% of his total profit.
During that same year, FUBU signed rappers to be the face of their clothing, not only increasing FUBU’s profit but the rappers as well. Other companies such as AT&T and Wal-Mart did the same. While the hip hop popularity increased, so did the love for rap. 5 albums came out from the same label on the same day and did really well, but the most anticipated album was Lauryn Hill’s solo album. She sold 422,500 UN the first week alone. Due to her success it allowed other female artist to do the same. She allowed for women to express themselves through rap and prove to the world that hip hop is not a man's genre only. This was also the year that Jay- Z expanded as a rapper. From that point on Jay-Z has always been looked upon as one of the best. Jay- Z took the already created gangster theme and amplified it. He aloud rappers like 50 cent, JA rule, and even Lil Wayne to have a career as rappers. He also made raunchy lyrics okay.
Quotation:
" The streets have spoken."( Def Jam Records 55).
Reflection:
This quote is significant because it refers to the type of genre that was created in 1998. This quote somewhat foreshadows what to come in the rap game. It was giving us a heads up to the up and coming albulms created by Jay-Z and Master P. It was introducing us to the way of life which Lauryn Hill rapped about. It foreshadow the acceptance of sexual comments from 50 Cents and Ja Rule. This quote not only acceted as a warning but it also allowed the readers to understand the history of rapping. That rapping and Hip Hop actually came from the streets.
In 1997 a major music magazine was published representing the upcoming genre, hip hop. This magazine was names Axle .As hip hop popularity grew, XXL’s selling rate increased, leading o it being one of the fastest growing magazines ever. By 2003, it was only second behind Rolling Stone. In 1998, during a meeting, someone at XXl mentions re- creating the famous 1958 Esquire magazine “A Great Day in Harlem” photo of jazz legends. They asked Gordon Parks to take the picture but he refused three times until they made it admit that he was the best one for the job. He was world renowned photographers who capture pure racism in his shots. Some of the people involved were Grandmaster Flash, Deborah Harry, and Shaquille O’Neal, all who represented Hip Hop in a different way
This photo shoot was one of the many things that made 98’ the greatest year for hip hop. This was the year that flirtatious music became real and undeniable. This type of rap is still present into day’s society when you think of Lil Wayne, Drake and Snoop Dog. 98’ was the year the albums sold in multiples at a time and singles were # 1 on the Billboards. You could tell 98’ would be a good year because in the last week in May during this year, DMX went platinum, the first time a rap album ever did. Three weeks later, Mater P’S album sold 495, ooo units in its first week. Master P became a rapper when he realized that the music he was stocking on his selves in his music store were not that good. He felt like he could make better music that represented the streets, being that he grew up in the street of New Orleans. When Dave Weiner, a west cost sales manager seen him selling records out the trunk of his care, Mater P’s career took off. He wasn’t like any other rapper who didn’t have a house or car, he made sure that he and his lawyers negotiated a plan in which he received 85% of his total profit.
During that same year, FUBU signed rappers to be the face of their clothing, not only increasing FUBU’s profit but the rappers as well. Other companies such as AT&T and Wal-Mart did the same. While the hip hop popularity increased, so did the love for rap. 5 albums came out from the same label on the same day and did really well, but the most anticipated album was Lauryn Hill’s solo album. She sold 422,500 UN the first week alone. Due to her success it allowed other female artist to do the same. She allowed for women to express themselves through rap and prove to the world that hip hop is not a man's genre only. This was also the year that Jay- Z expanded as a rapper. From that point on Jay-Z has always been looked upon as one of the best. Jay- Z took the already created gangster theme and amplified it. He aloud rappers like 50 cent, JA rule, and even Lil Wayne to have a career as rappers. He also made raunchy lyrics okay.
Quotation:
" The streets have spoken."( Def Jam Records 55).
Reflection:
This quote is significant because it refers to the type of genre that was created in 1998. This quote somewhat foreshadows what to come in the rap game. It was giving us a heads up to the up and coming albulms created by Jay-Z and Master P. It was introducing us to the way of life which Lauryn Hill rapped about. It foreshadow the acceptance of sexual comments from 50 Cents and Ja Rule. This quote not only acceted as a warning but it also allowed the readers to understand the history of rapping. That rapping and Hip Hop actually came from the streets.
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