It is difficult to discuss or describe my cultural background due to the lack of knowledge about my family descendents.
Culture of Hip-Hop
It is difficult to discuss or describe my cultural background due to the lack of knowledge about my family descendents. The culture I will discuss is a culture that I have been submerged in since birth, the Hip-Hop culture. This culture exhibits diverse communication patterns such as language, hand gestures, and body movements, in other words a magnitude of verbal and non-verbal communication. To help comprehend what or who is Hip-Hop, first, all classifications and thoughts of Hip-Hop must become translucent. Hip-Hop is not a concrete substance that can be narrowed down to just a number of adamant categories. Hip-Hop’s boundaries extend beyond a specific style of music, dress, economic class, race, language, and/or gender. The Hip-Hop culture is a very unique culture; unlike other cultures, which sometimes seclude individuals, groups and other cultures groups. The Hip-Hop culture invites uniqueness because uniqueness is what helps this culture to grow and sustain life. The focal points of this paper will evolve around similarities and differences of cultural background norms, the affects on my life, and how the hip-hop cultural background contributed to the dominant American culture.
The similarities and differences of hip-hop culture and American culture backgrounds are not too far apart. Hip-hop and American culture are both similar and how they where molded out of a rebelled need to express and develop cultural growth and differences. Hip-hop norms are mostly derived out of popular trends, which differentiate from American culture that is based on traditions, most of the time. Hip-hop popular trends are then developed into an individual’s own style based on who and where they are in life and in the world; another thing that is similar in both cultures are the worldwide acknowledgement of these cultures.
I believe that American culture differentiates from hip-hop culture when it comes to acceptability by other cultures throughout the world. A good example of this is how the hip-hop community is divided into four ranges that are within the United States that have their cultures. These ranges are East Coast, Mid-West, South, and West Coast. Each range has its own style of dress, language, and style music for that range, but it is not confined to that range. The role of the individuals in the hip-hop culture varies depending on who you are and where you are at in life.
The role that hip-hop culture has played in my life comes from various prospective. Hip-hop has opened doors for people of this culture and has opened the eyes of the world showing them who we are and what we stand for. An example of this is the 2004 Presidential election. During this time, some of hip-hops cultural leaders and spokes personnel of the culture developed, planned, and executed a campaign to make young people more aware of the election process and urged them to become more involved in decisions of the country. This is one of the bigger affects that the hip-hop culture has made on my life. The 2004 movement provoked an effect on the hip-hop culture in the 2007 election; which leaded to the first Black American President in the United State History.
Hip-hop cultural background contributed to the dominant American culture throughout multiple avenues. Networks are essential tools within the hip-hop culture; it is how most of our achievements, ideas, artistic expressions, language, and other various forms of what embodies the hip-hop culture are exchanged throughout the culture. Hip-Hop culture has pushed its way into opportunities, hooking its culture into some avenues of the mainstream society, becoming the driving force behind new categories in music such as rap, underground rap, hip-hop, neo-soul, and gospel rap music. Opportunities have risen within the hip-hop culture to a point that other cultures have integrated individuals from the hip-hop culture into their own.
I would not call the hip-hop culture a dominant culture of any kind; the reason being is due to the status and stature of the culture. Yes, hip-hop culture is the leading focus in most urban communities, which may be a dominating factor, but that is in a very minute part of the society in which hip-hop culture lives in. Nevertheless, the culture itself is sometimes exploited and treated like propaganda.
As far as ethnic culture, there is no set standard for this; to simply express it, you are who you are. Different races and nationalities add more substance to the culture giving it diversity the help keep it growing. Gender is somewhat of an issue, just like most cultures in the past; women have been oppressed within this culture in one way or another. Women within the hip-hop culture are showing how relentless and how much of a force they are; by being constantly over achievers and setting higher standards for those who follow them.
Economic class holds no weight on the judgment of who is a part of the hip-hop culture. I believe one of the special things about the hip-hop culture is that it does not segregate the traditional subjects of the past. The people within the culture work to keep a well grounded approach to everyday life for those whose are caught-up in the everyday hip-hop culture struggle. The economic class of an individual in the hip-hop culture might play a part in the difference of the spoken word; meaning the words, expressions, and terminologies that can and will differ.
The Hip-Hop culture is a culture construe d around factors that have a positive and negative effects on its own culture as well as other cultures in addition, hip-hop culture also embodies other cultures into is own. The language within this culture is built off of shortening of words, broken-English, and a contrast of multiple meanings to mainstream words. An example of multiple meanings to mainstream words is the word dog and animal. In the hip-hop culture, dog can be used as a greeting, “Whats up dog?” in mainstream terminologies this is equivalent to, “How are you doing or what are you doing?” Hip-hop culture is a diverse culture that holds no limits or boundaries to the people involved in this culture. The hip-hop culture gears itself to all who chooses to participate in this culture.
