The Hip Hop Matrix

      Houston A. Baker, an American scholar, ideologist, and author, defines a matrix as, "a womb, a network, a fossil- bearing rock, a rocky trace of a gemstone's removal, a principal metal in an alloy, a mat or a plate for reproducing print or phonograph records." His version of a matrix led him to create the idea of a "Blues Matrix" during the Blues Era (mainly post WWII- 1980s). This matrix was composed of the thoughts, ideas, lyrics, and beats to the songs written and sung. The Blues Matrix is how the elements of lifestyle, emotion, and reality come together and form blues songs. Blues is the name given to the musical genre that originated in African- American communities, primarily in the "Deep South." These songs included jazz and rock and roll, with lyrics similar to that of chants and work songs. Speficially, Baker studied and disected the Afro- American culture. He drew connections between their songs and their lifestyle, such as their history of slavery and suppression. Each of these elements thus led him to creating the idea of a, "Blues Matrix."
       Currently, the "Blues Matrix" has evolved and the music associated within it has done so too. By the late 1980s, the blues music had slowly transformed and incorporated more of an upbeat tempo and rock and roll to it. As it rapidly metamorphozed into a new style of music, hip hop was born. Hip hop originated in the 1970s by commonly being played at African- American neighborhood house parties in the Bronx. Likewise with blues music, hip hop songs were written about lifestyles and emotions, primarily African American, at the time. Contrastingly however, the blues era dealt more with working, drinking, hardships, and love. This newly invented "matrix," the hip hop matrix, included new social activities and emotions such as love, money, drugs, and materialistic items.
      Through a music revolution towards the 1980s' end, hop hop was created. The newly upbeat and lyrical music style was once again reinvented by the African American culture. Singer James Brown is widely considered as an influence and "godfather" to the creation of this new genre. Thus. yet another form of singing had emerged and became popular rapidly. Following the rapid popularity of hip hop was a new genre called rapping or emceeing. Emceeing included raps and lyrical rhymes that were sung by the rapper or emcee. These songs differed greatly from those of the blues era mainyly due to the fact that society had changed and African Americans were faced with new social issues. For instance, in the song, "The Bridge is Over," by the Boogie Down Productions, there is a clear battle that is expressed between the parts of New York. The Bronx think they are the founders of hip hop and the Queens think that they are. "Manhattan keeps on makin it, Brooklyn keeps on takin it, Bronx keep creatin it, the Queens keeps on fakin it," exemplifies that point to a tee. A "battle" between the groups develops and songs become insults to each group.
     Currently, the hip hop matrix still exists, and has transformed from the 1990s. If a music analyst were to compare the three generations of music to one another, they would almost seem unrelated. The blues' beat was much more upbeat than the singing itself, yet today it is completely opposite. The singing is more dominant than the beat iself. Although they have their differences, each generation of this music leads back to the African American culture in the "Deep South." The matrix that exists today includes songs that reflect upon the American dream, hardships of African- Americans, Americans, drugs, money, and females. The majority of the present day hip hop and rap songs include at least one of those elements listed above. "Started from the bottom now we're here," is probably the most used phrase now due to the song, "Started for the Bottom." It describes how the African- Americans have come from being at the bottom of the "foodchain," to reaching heights of becoming the United States President. Ace Hood's song, "Bugatti," puts an emphasis on one of the world's most materialistic desired items and how he "woke up" in one. These rap and hip hop videos include the finest of luxurious in their music videos. Almost none of the newer music videos show hardships faced by the culture. Most show the benefits and luxurious they have. This current hip hop matrix that surrounds us today is much larger than most of us realize. It dates back to the 1920s and has been revolutionized in infinite ways. By looking at each era one by one and diagnosing how music transformed, it becomes clear that there was a significant social change in the African American community from the Blues Era to present day music.