Since it’s birth in 1973, the Hip-Hop culture has seen tremendous growth with its different art forms like b-boying, rapping, and DJing. Since the first DJ in hip-hop, DJ Kool Herc and the first rapper in history, Coke La Rock stepped foot into the entertainment industry, the success of hip-hop has been sky shattering.
However, hip-hop culture has been criticized over the years because of the explicit lyrics used in the songs. But, what people don’t see is the positive effect that hip-hop can have on the people and society. This happens mostly because it’s not that clear and people need a little guidance in order to understand the positive attributes of hip-hop. Well, I’m here to explain those to you.
Here are five positive attributes of the hip-hop culture:
The True Meaning Of Hustle
Hip-Hop was born in the streets of Bronx, New York, and the life of the people there was very poor. In fact, history is the witness of the fact that true hip-hop is always born in the streets and most of the artists of the culture are from harsh neighborhoods like Compton, Bronx, Detroit, etc.
Hip-Hop reflects the true meaning of hustle as almost all the artists have experienced the journey of ‘rags to riches’ through hip-hop. The most recent and history-making example of this is Jay-Z becoming the ‘first billionaire in hip-hop’.
The Phenomenon Of ‘Never Give Up’
Since hip-hop is considered the voice of the streets, it follows young artists on their journey from harsh living conditions to luxurious lifestyles. And in order to achieve such a lifestyle, one must have a ‘never give up’ attitude.
An attitude followed and demonstrated by one of the biggest names in the industry such as Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre, Eminem, and many many more. The list is so long that it’ll leave no space for the whole article.
As stated by Eminem in an interview “This is the only thing I know, so the day that I can’t rap, I would probably jump out of a window, haha”. Although he made it sound funny towards the end of the sentence, however, there’s a lot more to it. Much like other great rappers, Eminem never gave up.
The ‘Can Do’ Attitude
Hip-Hop has always been the voice of the streets and the voice of the voiceless. So, the young rappers had to have the ‘can do’ spirit in order to be heard. The best example of the ‘can do’ attitude in hip-hop is the work of N.W.A who were constantly confronted by critics, media, and law enforcement for their “violent lyrics”. However, the group was only trying to put the reality of their lives into words.
N.W.A did what they wanted to and now they are recognized as one of the best hip-hop groups in history. With individual members such as Ice Cube and Dr. Dre still experiencing immense success and recognition. All of this was possible because they have the ‘can do’ spirit.
Hip-Hop Is A Fight Against Discrimination
Hip-Hop started at a time when African-Americans had to face a lot of discrimination and were considered a minority. The culture helped the African-Americans to rise above it all and make a name for themselves.
Later, the art form spread out in the world and gave a voice to those who weren’t heard before. Hip-Hop proved to be a uniting force against the destruction that is discrimination.
Nowadays, you can find a rapper from every country, ethnicity, gender, etc. All brought together by an art form irrespective of race, gender, language, and other major factors of discrimination.
Hip-Hip Converted Violence Into A War Of Words
The culture of Hip-Hop is so beautiful that it helped the people who were stuck in gang violence like Snoop Dogg, Eazy-E, MC Ren, 50 Cent, and many more. It all started with the concept of Rap Battles. A Rap Battle can be described as a war of words where two people get a limited amount of time to come up with the most clever and humorous rhymes insulting each other to determine who is the greater MC (Mic Controller).
Rap Battles became popular in the 80s and proved to be a non-violent replacement for fights and weapon violence. People started settling their grudges with Rap Battles instead of fist fights or other violent behaviors. This aspect was and is still considered one of the best changes made by the beautiful culture of hip-hop.
Conclusion
Hip-Hop is and will continue to be one of the fastest growing cultures in the world as more and more young artists are being introduced to the industry. Instead of criticizing this beautiful culture, people should appreciate the positive attributes of the art form and should open their minds towards the fact that this culture helped many people in driving their lifestyles in a positive direction. We can all learn many positive things from the culture and it can motivate and help us in many different ways.