Tricia Rose/The Hip Hop Wars

The Hip Hop Wars


In this article, Tricia Rose does not ignore the good and bad side of hip-hop. She emphasizes that hip-hop is not dead, just the history of it is. In the early years of hip-hop, people of all different ages would actually come together for the sake of hip-hop because it was considered to be "safe" back then. No one was rapping about violence or derogatory statements on women. When Tricia Rose talks about what hip-hop was like back then, she says "It was mostly for fun and for play. It wasn't primarily an economic industry, where people got involved more for money than for creativity. It had live community origins."
In the world of hip-hop today, it seems like there is no limit to anything. Rappers have the freedom to say what they want to say. It also seems like they do not care if anyone is offended by their music as well. These are the rap artists who rap about the sex and violence. However, there are some rap artists out there, like Common, who actually rap about important topics such as politics and war. I feel that these are the kind of artists who have a major influence in our world today.

While I was reading this article, I really understood Tricia Rose's words and wisdom on this essential topic. I definitely agree with her when she said that people need to get involved with an educated, sophisticated position on hip-hop. That would really make people think about the certain messages coming from within the lyrics of a hip-hop song.

So far, we have not talked about the relevance of hip-hop in class. However, I know that will change the next time we have class.

I have to say that Common is one of my favorite artists that I listen to. He carries out important messages on politics and love which do not include derogatory remarks. I feel that his lyrics are really smooth and people should not be offended by his music at all.