Ever since Hip Hop began to popularize in the 1970s, it has become a force to reckon with. From the birth of Hip Hop to modern day, black struggles have always been evident within the lyrics and messages of many rap artists. Hip Hop is often classified as the movement made by the generation of African Americans who did not experience segregation. Kitwana identifies these generations as young African Americans who were born during the timeframe of 1965-1984. This was “the first generation of African American that were able to grow up without experiencing legalized segregation” (Kitwana 115). This time period of rap artists described the social issues that were present in black urban life. This later fostered more genres of Hip Hop music such as hardcore rap, gangster rap and many more. Although the Hip Hop artist during this time experienced fewer forms of racism and legalized segregation was outlawed, they still felt the growing pressures of being a minority in white America. This idea continues to encourage many artists to express their struggles musically. This development of rap supports that it was used to respond to African American culture and …show more content…
For decades and generations parents have despised or questioned their children’s taste in music. Dating all the way back to the 1920s, genres such as Jazz and Heavy Metal has been scrutinized for containing misogynist or violent content (Selke 4). In actuality, just because there exists a possible correlation or connection between two things, does not mean that either one is the cause of the other. For example, just because a teenager listens to a violent song does not mean he or she is going go out and indulge in violence. It also does not mean that a teenager who listens to rap music and does commit a violent crime did it due to their fondness of Hip Hop. That person could have committed the crime, because they were coerced by someone else or for a multitude of other reasons. Ultimately, it is not always accurate to automatically assume that Hip Hop is a direct cause of undesirable behavior, because it is most likely the result of a multitude of additional