Pre-Reading Questions Week Eleven

I believe that Hip Hop is so popular because during the time that it came out, it was seen as extremely different and controversial, a different sound with intoxicating beats that brought people together. It was also something that was not seen as the norm which deterred some people from the genre, but as history has shown time and time again, the youth is attracted to things that are seen as controversial in society, and with Hip Hop and Rap becoming more and more controversial it has remained largely popular, and a huge attraction as far as music goes.

In Chris Rock's comedy bit he talks about how he is tired of defending rap music. He feels as though he needs to defend this genre of music because there are some hip hop/rap artists out there that make degrading and inappropriate music, thus causing the general public to not consider hip hop/rap music art. Because of the inappropriate nature of these songs he feels as though he needs to justify why he listens to it and why it should still be considered art which is tough in some situations. Rock talks about how hip hop/rap has seemingly gone downhill with time, listing off rappers in the past and comparing them with the rap music that comes out now. Rap and Hip Hop used to be mostly about telling a story and coming up with original beats to put behind the lyrics but now Rap music has become increasingly materialistic and degrading towards women, therefore making it harder to defend and to justify as "art".

Jay Smooth thinks that in order for Hip Hop to become healthy again, that both arguments stated in the video need to come together and acknowledge each other. If neither side chooses to hear the other side of the argument and accept it then no progress will be made and the argument will continue to go "in circles". The two arguments in the hip hop discussion are that one relies on an individuals decisions on whether they listen to and participate in the rap that is put out today, and the other argument is that it is a worldwide problem that people need to come together and fix.The flaws he finds in each argument is that, if it is a problem on a bigger scale, then people don't really take personal responsibility of it. Rather than looking at the bigger picture as well as looking at themselves, they would rather choose to look outwards rather than inwards. But if it is just an individual looking in on themselves than they tend to loose the bigger picture and don't look at the problem as a whole. There are bigger issues that need to be addressed and if they are not then the cycle will just continue onto each generation.

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