In order to know the alternative representations of the hip-hop genre, we must first acknowledge the hip-hop culture and how the genre was made and how it has developed within the time. In the following I will discuss how the genre was created and how the genre has been influenced by the society to change.
Hip-hop is a musical genre which was originated by African- American music; the genre arose in the 1970s when block parties became popular within the black community. The genre developed to gangster rap in the 90s, this was when males where black males where portrayed to be hustlers, drugs dealers, convicts and pimps. The trend was mainly influenced by African American’s to show their struggle in the society. The racial events that took place in the 80s influenced the negativity that was produced by African- American’s in making hip-hop music. As the crime rates and gang cultures grew in America, this influenced rappers to talk about money, power, respect and sex, this is how they were also represented in music videos.
Rappers such as 2pac were represented as a thug, this is because the artist themselves were brought up in a ‘hard knock life’. This encouraged them to talk about their thug lifestyle and this was portrayed in their music videos by showing them selling drugs, pimping girls, making money and showing off their gats (guns).
However, in the present image of a male rapper has changed. For example, rapper like drake who speak about heartbreaks and goes against the stereotypical rappers as a gangster. Instead he portrays himself as a soft person who understands females and is not afraid to talk about heartbreaks.
Women are represented as sex symbols in the hip-hop genre. Women in hip-hop music videos are expected to show cleavage, strip and shake their booty. These images are why the dominant conception of women in hip-hop music videos consists of the terms- ‘hoe,’ ‘stripper,’ and ‘bitches’.
On the other hand, in the present day female rappers such as Nicki minaj are sending out message express as independent, strong, and capable of protecting themselves. A great representation of how women should be seen in music videos would be the music video ‘Irreplaceable’ by Beyonce. This video depicts how Beyonce protects herself from a man who cheated on her and also represents her as being a strong, young female empowered to take care of herself. Teaching young women how to carry themselves in a respectful and appropriate manner leads to those women knowing how to protect themselves and having respect for themselves.
