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3.2.1 Alternative hip hop
Main article: Alternative hip hop
Though mainstream acceptance has been almost entirely limited to gangsta rap, isolated alternative rap artists, often with a socially aware and positive or optimistic tone, have achieved some success. In 1988 and 1989, albums like De La Soul's Three Feet High and Rising, Gang Starr's No More Mr. Nice Guy and the Jungle Brothers' Straight Out the Jungle are usually considered the first albums in this genre, with jazz-based samples and intelligent lyrics (see jazz rap) strongly influenced by the Afrocentric messages of Bambaataa's Zulu Nation collective. Later alternative artists, many of whom were members of the Native Tongues Posse, including Tribe Called Quest ( The Low End Theory), Mos Def ( Black on Both Sides) and The Roots ( Things Fall Apart ) also achieved some mainstream success, though the influence of jazz grew less pronounced (with some exceptions, most notably Guru's Jazzmatazz project). Jazz rap went on to influence the development of trip hop in the United Kingdom, which fused hip hop, jazz and electronic music; it is said to have been started by Massive Attack's Blue Lines ( 1991).
4 Censorship issues
Hip hop and rap music (and variations thereof) have probably encountered more problems with censorship than any other form of popular music, especially in recent years with the increase in scatalogical, sexual, and violent lyrics. The pervasive use of curse words in many songs has created challenges in the broadcast of such material both on television stations such as MTV, in music video form, and on radio. As a result, many rap/hip-hop recordings are broadcast in censored form, with offending language blanked out of the soundtrack (though usually leaving the backing music intact). The result - which quite often renders the remaining lyrics unintelligible - has become almost as widely identified with the genre as any other aspect of the music, and has been parodied in films such as , in which a character - performing in a parody of a rap music video - performs an entire verse that is blanked out.
5 References
- The Vibe History of Hip Hop. 1999. Vibe magazine. BooksEnthsiast.com
- Hip Hop America. Nelson, George. Penguin Book. 2000. BooksEnthsiast.com
- David Toop (1984/1991). Rap Attack II: African Rap To Global Hip Hop. New York. New York: Serpent's Tail. BooksEnthsiast.com.
- McLeod, Kembrew. Interview with Chuck D and Hank Shocklee . 2002. Stay Free Magazine.
- Yes Yes Y'All: Oral History of Hip Hop's First Decade. Fricke, Jim and Charlie Ahearn (eds). Experience Music Project. Perseus Books Group. BooksEnthsiast.com
- Corvino, Daniel and Shawn Livernoche. A Brief History of Rhyme and Bass: Growing Up With Hip Hop. Lightning Source Inc. BooksEnthsiast.com
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