Rap + Hip-Hop = Gun Crime??

This is a piece I wrote for Fuse Magazine that was published on Friday October 24th 2008. Sorry there are no photos but I couldn't find the article on line to get them.

Rap + Hip-Hop = Gun Crime??

"The news is littered with stories nowadays of youth crime, gang related muder, drug abuse and many more offences which are being pinned on the music which these offenders listen to. Can it really be considered that the Hip-Hop and Rap industries are responsible for this behaviour? To even begin to consider this it’s important to understand the history of it.

Collins dictionary describes Hip Hop as, “pop-culture movement compromising rap music, graffiti and break dancing,” but is that really what it started out like? The beginning of Hip Hop is still unclear today with many people believing it started in the 1970s. However, it was around long before this time, maybe not in the form we know today but the similarities are there. Earl Tucker (aka Snake Hips) was a popular performer at the Cotton Club and incorporated elements of what is now commonly known as Break Dancing.

The Cotton Club was a primarily white based Jazz club in New York City, which feature artists such as Duke of Ellington and Louis Armstrong. The Jazz influence continued throughout this era and in 1969 James Brown recorded two songs which influenced the drumming of today’s more commonly known rap. However, back when these were performing the music they played wasn’t considered offensive or “obscene” as many Hip Hop and Rap artists are being branded with lately.

The 1970s saw the rise of what many people see as the actual beginning of Hip Hop with the genre branching out into Rap and artists such as Grandmaster Flash and The Black Messengers entering the scene. One of the first major censoring campaigns took place in this era with The Black Messengers having to perform under the alias “Mechanical Devices” due to the controversy it brought with it.

The next few decades were the most important in turning Hip Hop into a genre associated with negative connotations. The introduction of “tagging” associated with graffiti was introduced, not to deface property as it has come to be used for, but was used by City couriers when they travelled on buses and the underground.

The gang related violence, which has become the main headline in most newspapers, has been blamed on the culture of Hip Hop, stemming from the publical display of violence by both Tupac Shakur and Christopher “Notorious B.I.G” Wallace in 1996, where gun violence claimed the lives of them both. The History of these two rappers turned the word Hip Hop into something of an obscenity.

With Notorious B.I.G and Tupac both involved in dealing drugs, gang related violence and with the promotion of this through their music videos, it is understandable why people are unhappy with how Hip Hop was portrayed. However, Hip Hop has taken a step back from the negativity it has received in the press, with many rappers and artists involved in charity events and campaigns such as P.Diddy and his “Vote or Die” or Dizzee Rascal’s single, Dean, donated to CALM (Campaign Against Living Miserably) which tackles suicides in young men, it is obvious to see that they are trying to turn over a new leaf and shake the negativity away from their music.

Chris Mckay"