What happened to hip hop?

Birthed in the Bronx, 1970's hip-hop arrived. It was initially intended to be a cultural movement of expression among Latino Americans and African Americans who lived in New York City.

The heart of this genre involved activities such as rapping, making break beats, break dancing, and graffiti.

For the young Americans growing up in this era, the music was refreshing.because it came from the streets of their neighborhoods. The new genre allowed them to express themselves through the cultural movement of fashion, words, and art.

Today the ‘street genre,' has emerged into a multi-billion-dollar industry.

Hip hop's emergence into mainstream brought major changes. Hip hop strayed from its original roots as the cultural scene and started promoting sexual discrimination, and violence.

In the late 1980's when ‘gangsta rap' came on to the scene, rap jumped from being playful, and socially conscious, to being morphed into a hardcore rugged image.

This particular sub-genre began the emergence of the East and West coast rivalry, with West coast artist like NWA (Niggas With Attitude) and artists such as Snoop Dog and Dr. Dre leading the way. ‘Gangsta rap' caused an uproar from religious leaders, blaming them for the promotion of materialism, misogyny, profanity, homophobia, promiscuity and violence.

It later became the most profitable sub-genre of hip-hop.

Rappers defend themselves by claiming their lyrics are testimonies of the harsh realities of inner-city life by reflecting on, urban gang rivalries, crimes, alcoholism, and drug abuse.

While being blinded by the glitz and glam of the multi-billion dollar industry, rappers fail to realize that music is infectious.

Other than our family and friends, music has a powerful impact on how people live their lives from day-to-day.

Women are continuously being degraded, but the more I watch these videos the more I see women degrading themselves.

You'll see a half naked woman dancing, and shaking her behind while the rapper is talking about how he "hit it and quit it".

The women throw themselves at the rappers. Rappers need to be more positive, less violent, less provocative, less "bling bling."

They need to realize that children may react to their messages differently than college students. Dignity and respect should always come first in humanity.

It is truly sad when a type of behavior is accepted because it makes money.