RACE & IDENTITY in HIP HOP

When most people think of hip hop they tend to associate it with a certain race and then associate that race with a particular identity. Now race only has to do with the physical attributes that someone has like, their skin complexion and facial features. Where identity is based more on a person, or groups, conception and expression of their individuality; and when you think hip hop its easier to see the rappers, DJ's, and fans sharing the same identity than to say they all have the same race. The idea of hip hop being more cultural than racial wasn't really apparent in the beginning years, mostly because at that time all of the rappers and DJ's were African American and hip hop was only heard in neighborhoods that were predominantly black. It took rap groups like the Beastie Boys, 3rd Bass and Cyprus Hill to show mainstream America that Whites and Latino's were apart of hip hop too.

The identity of hip hop was basically the same for about the first decade of its existence. This was just DJ's and MC's making and performing music that people could dance to and have fun. It wasn't until Ice T dropped his song "Body Rock", in 1984 that someone actually talked about violent things, like gangs, in their songs. You can say that Ice T played a big part in pioneering the whole idea of gangster rap because a year later the first real gangster rap record was released in by Schoolly D. This led to a big change in hip hop and led to a growth in west coast rappers, who mostly were gangster rappers. Then in 1988 NWA released their debut album, Straight Outta Compton. NWA along with many more rappers like, Snoop Dogg and Ice Cube (as a solo artist) showed that hip hop's identity had changed to gangster. They justified their violent songs by saying that they represented the lives they lived in the inner city.

This gangster rap continued throughout the 90's but along with it grew many different sub-genres of hip hop, such as dance music, the 2 Live Crew, or more lyrical and relaxed music, like a Tribe Called Quest. Another area of hip hop that was growing were live performances and big concerts that had multiple, big time, artist participating. Hip hop's identity hasn't really changed that much over the past 15 years because you still have gangster rappers, dance music and lyricist. You even have rap groups that resemble those of the 90's. Hip hop is still expanding and is breaking through different generes. One of the biggest is rappers partnering up with house music and dubstep DJ's to make music that is loved worldwide. The most important thing is that  you now have way more rappers and DJ's from multiple backgrounds, races, religions and countries who now come together as one to share their love for the culture of hip hop. Now here's some live performances so you can see how crazy they are: