Jose Garcia

12/7/21

ENG 2100

There is no doubt that Hip-Hop has had a large impact on our culture today and will continue to affect future generations. Hip-Hop is known to have originated and largely contributed from African American and Latin communities. With the growing popularity of the genre, groups from outside cultures have appropriated the communities that built hip hop. Rather than appreciating these cultures, people fake their heritage in order to fit in within the Hip Hop community. These same people take away from these groups while never facing the struggles faced by African American and Latin communities. 

In the article, “Is This The End For ‘Urban’ Music?”, author Cate Young, asserts that the term for the “Urban” genre is a way of segregating black music and suggests it limits the capabilities of black artists. She backs up this claim by doing the following: first, she explains the origins of the term “urban music”; next, she argues that black artists and executives don’t benefit from this term; last, she argues that the music industry fails to acknowledge black music. Young appears to write in hopes of raising awareness in order to change the way the music industry deals with African American artists and their music. Because of the author’s concerning and analytical tone, it seems as if she writes for an academic audience. 

Writer, Tre Johnson, in his article, “Donald Glover’s ‘This Is America’ Is a Nightmare We Can’t Afford to Look Away From”, published in 2018, addresses the music video “This Is America” by Donald Glover and argues that it symbolizes the racial problems in the U.S. and hip-hop. He supports this claim by analyzing the conflicts within the video, then showing how they correlate to real-world problems, and finally giving other examples that expose the racial tensions within the entertainment industry. Johnson’s purpose is to expose the entertainment industry in order to show how others benefit from African American struggles rather than attempting to fix them. He adopts a questioning tone for his audience, the readers of Rolling Stone, and others interested in the topic of racial justice. 

The music industry separates “urban” genres, like hip-hop, from other genres with the notion that the genre is mainly dominated by black artists. This separation is so that “race records” can be commercialized to mainstream music. However, rather than benefiting black culture, it usually leads to appropriation and other groups benefiting from the popularization of the genre. In Tre Johnson’s article, while analyzing the music video “This Is America”, he suggests that Donald Glover’s music video symbolizes how the media traffics the pain of African American’s while they hardly benefit from it. He says black entertainers recycle their trauma into art, while the rest of America consumes and benefits from this(Johnson, T.). Cate Young makes similar claims by analyzing the origins of the “urban” genre, which developed into a generalization of the African American music industry. She claims that the urban category was created to help Black music become mainstream, however black musicians and executives never benefited from this term. Only white executives ran the urban divisions even though they were never educated about black culture(Young, C.). Both articles show how with the popularization of African American-dominated genres, like hip-hop, their culture is appropriated and they hardly benefit from it. Rather than acknowledging the significance of black culture within these genres, people become entertained and benefit from their struggles. 

In her article “Out of Line: On Hip Hop and Cultural Appropriation” 2020, writer Cyan D’Anjou asserts that people culturally appropriate African American culture through hip-hop by addressing the origins of the hip-hop movement, different types of appropriation, and how to properly appreciate black culture. By supplying the reader with information on how society connects hip-hop with both an “outlaw” notion and African American culture, D’Anjou builds her claim that people appropriate black culture through hip-hop with the desire of being edgy. D’Anjou wishes to convey to readers the importance of appreciating black culture in order to prevent people from benefiting from their culture without consent. Due to the author’s urgent tone, it seems as if she writes for an academic audience. 

With the origins of hip-hop coming from struggling cities within the U.S., the genre has had its connections to a street life persona. With hip-hop reaching to cities outside of its origins, people began building a similar persona. However, this gang and street personality others put on appropriate African American culture.  Rather than attempting to respect the cultural influence in the genre, “…many, often-white, consumers are drawn to imitating the imagery they experience through the music because of its ‘outlaw’ notion(D’Anjou, C)”. They appropriate African American culture through hip-hop with the desire to be edgy(D’Anjou, C). This explains how the idea of counter-culture is the reason for black culture to be often appropriated within hip-hop. Labeling hip-hop as a “black” genre makes it easier for people to appropriate black culture rather than appreciating the artistic value of the music. 

In the peer review article, “From Appropriation to Translation: Localizing Rap Music to Finland”, author Mervi Tervo, a researcher at the University of Lapland, argues that the globalization of hip-hop, in countries like Finland, has led to cultural appropriation of African American culture. She supports this claim by discussing the following: first, she discusses the globalization of hip-hop; next, she analyzes rap videos made in Finland; last, she shows the localizing of hip-hop in Finland. Tervo’s purpose is to raise awareness, in order to prevent cultural appropriation within the rap scene. The author’s analytical tone suggests she writes for an academic audience. 

Hip-hop’s globalization has allowed societies with completely different costumes and lifestyles to implement rap music in different ways than here in the U.S. Most of the time, outside cultures use rap in a way that benefits them commercially. By doing so, foreign societies appreciate black culture by attempting to mirror what they believe is hip-hop. Mervi Tervo argues that “ghetto imagery” has become marketable which helps artists over the world appropriate black culture. The urban life expressed in Finland is nearly non-existent which forces the Finnish rap scene to create imitation without a distinctive approach. Even without any authenticity, “…[artists] who used appropriation as their only performative strategy, [have] gained a major position in the Finnish rap scene…(Tervo, M.).” The commercialization of hip-hop has allowed foreign cultures to benefit from appropriating black culture. These outside societies have no intention to form their own authenticity or even respect African American culture. Rather, foreigners mimic their culture for their own benefits within their society. 

There are ways people can enjoy hip-hop and other forms of “black media” without completely appropriating their culture. However, with hip-hop becoming more mainstream and reaching outside cultures, they take from African American culture without adding any additional value or authenticity. Foreign cultures imitate black culture for the sole reason of benefiting themselves, without intentions of appreciating their contribution to the genre. People are entertained and at times benefit from African American media without acknowledging their struggles or understanding their culture. Bringing awareness to the cultural appropriation within these genres can help artists work against the stereotypes created within the music industry.

Work Cited

D’Anjou, C. (2020, June 22). Out of line: On hip hop and cultural appropriation. Medium. Retrieved November 9, 2021, from https://medium.com/@cyandanjou/out-of-line-on-hip-hop-and-cultural-appropriation-1c060e6801e9 

Johnson, T. (2018, June 25). Donald Glover’s ‘this is America’ is a nightmare we can’t look away from. Rolling Stone. Retrieved November 11, 2021, from https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/donald-glovers-this-is-america-is-a-nightmare-we-cant-afford-to-look-away-from-630177/. 

Tervo, Mervi. “From Appropriation to Translation: Localizing Rap Music to Finland.” Popular Music and Society, vol. 37, no. 2, Routledge, 2014, pp. 169–86, https://doi.org/10.1080/03007766.2012.740819.

Young, C. (2020, June 15). Is this the end for ‘urban’ music? NPR. Retrieved November 9, 2021, from https://www.npr.org/2020/06/15/877384808/is-this-the-end-for-urban-music.