form of literature - Lucas Bury

When covering the topic of hip-hop, the first thing worth acknowledging is that the name ‘hip-hop’ not only refers to a genre of music, but also to a whole culture. Though it started mainly as music, hip-hop, with all its key features, soon became a characteristic way of life shared by many –a defining element of a culture. Not only did hip-hop become a way of life but it became an art when regarded collectively. Within these collective manifestations of artistic and intellectual achievement, there is music, visual art, performing arts and literary art. Hip-hop is a modern, oral form of literature and it has arguably become the most accessible form of literature today.

Hip-hop culture emerged as an underground urban movement, encompassing what are now seen as the key features of hip-hop: DJing, rapping, breakdancing and graffiti art. The culture emerged in the South Bronx area of New York in the late 1970s. This was a period of hardship, with the economic stagnation of the 1970s, causing high levels of unemployment and drugrelated violence in the suburbs and poorer areas of cities such as New York, which was hit particularly hard. It became the dominant cultural movement of the African American and Hispanic communities in the 1980s and it continues to be a large culture which has even spread beyond America, remaining one of the most popular music genres worldwide today.

The reason hip-hop managed to initially catch-on so successfully and spread across America, is that it gave people a way to survive during this time of hardship through expression and communication; rap songs gave people stories and allowed them to channel and share their emotions and opinions as well as the subsequent parties which acted similarly as outlets for emotion and celebration, while murals gave people a voice. All the elements of hip-hop are artistic and art is an extremely effective means of communication and expression. Most people can recognise that visual art is very powerful, but music is arguably more so, especially as this particular genre also inspired a visual art aspect of urban expressionism, in the form of graffiti. Its success and ability to provide such a thriving culture, was also largely down to its technicality – in both music and literature.

In 2014, there was a study carried out by Musixmatch called, The Largest Vocabulary in Music. The genre of hip-hop was found to have an average of 478 unique words per song. When also considering the use of slang, metaphor and dialect, one can easily become more aware of the linguistic depth of this music. A second example of the technical depth of hip-hop is its unique conciseness in expression. In the hit Broadway play Hamilton, rap is the chosen style of music which, in a musical, makes it a key feature of the production and the most significant form of expression. The creator of Hamilton, Lin-Manuel Miranda, when speaking on the most–watched news magazine ‘60 Minutes’, quoted; “I believe that rap is uniquely suited to tell Hamilton’s story because it has more words per measure than any other genre; it has rhythm, it has density and if Hamilton had anything in his writing, it was this density”. Therefore, it was rap which allowed Miranda to present this density in a way which was concise

enough to continuously engage with the audience.

Hip-hop has arguably become one of the most accessible and popular forms of literature today. Throughout history, literature has been inspired by strong thoughts and emotions on particular events and aspects of life, for example, the poetry which came out of World War One, or numerous plays and novels set during the Great Depression in America (these being only two of many examples). It is often thought that the best literary themes explore human nature on a universal level, focusing on details such as love, hatred, redemption, struggle, tragedy, etc - all of which focus on passionate emotions, both positive and negative. The hardship which was faced by those living in America during the late 1970s (especially the African Americans and Hispanic-Americans who contributed to a disproportionately high percentage of the slum populations) at the time of the birth of hip-hop, is no different to any other circumstances which have inspired great literature, in the sense that it bred these powerful feelings which demanded expression. I believe that the reason why it is so accessible, is that the ability to comprehend and fully appreciate its true merit, is not exclusive to only those with a particular or even basic level of education, which is arguably the case for much of the highest levels of poetry and novels. It is also something which is performed to its consumers, so does not require the same level of attention or devotion to enjoy, which I believe may possibly be a key reason why theatre (and film) remains such a popular form of literature as well - the key difference being that music can be accessed anywhere through radios, records or phones and does not require one to buy tickets or commute to a theatre at a certain time to enjoy it, therefore making music more accessible than theatre and thus making hip-hop a more popular form of literature (though there are clearly many other factors contributing to its popularity). While hip-hop may require less attention or devotion to understand and appreciate than poetry for instance, it would frankly be naïve to believe that it has any less merit as a form of literature than any other form. Each of the four key features of hip-hop requires a particular depth of skill, which has been demonstrated through countless examples of DJs, rappers, breakdancers and street artists, who have been recognised as genius and have provided inspiration for millions of supporters and fans.

Perhaps due to its conception in such a harsh environment, hip-hop often contains what could be seen as a revival of romanticism - perhaps even in a heightened form. Four key elements of romanticism are emotion, imagination, nature and social class, all of which we see expressed so boldly. In many examples, hip-hop artists have expressed emotion and nature in the context of social class in an almost Darwinian style. For example, in Mobb Deep’s song ‘Survival of the Fittest’, the title makes a direct reference to Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution, with the chorus (“We live in this till the day that we die, survival of the fit only the strong survive”) doing likewise and referring to both social class and nature (“this”). In this case, nature does not refer to the beauty or danger of wild animals or plants or landscapes but the natural order of urban existence. Run-DMC presented a similar message, and it is hard to overstate their impact on the tra jectory of hip-hop. In their song ‘It’s Like That’, they say; “money is the key to end all your woes, your ups your downs, your highs and your lows / won’t you tell me last time love bought your clothes?”. This portrays the struggle for money as a means of survival as a product of recession, as well as the subsequent evaluation of utility over all else. It is clear to see the effect that America’s economic

status had on early hip-hop through the constant portrayal of the hardships of life, presented in a competitive, primal image.

As America rose out of this recession, the lower socio-economic classes retained scars in the forms of drug and gang culture. Tupac addressed this saying, “Nowadays everyone’s ashamed of the youth cos the truth look strange”. In saying this, perhaps he is implying that the rest of America is surprised and shocked by the cold reality of what is happening amongst the poorer, younger generations who are growing up in the wake of this hardship and the reality of how they cope in their environment. The Notorious B.I.G (AKA Biggie smalls [Biggie]) rapped about his own personal success in stark contrast to his previous poverty. “It’s time to get paid, blow up like the world trade” - is a reflection of his attitude towards the bottom socio-economic class (which he had belonged to) being left behind by the growing wealth of the rest of the country (the World Trade Centre was a symbol of America’s wealth and prosperity – this quote is not referring to the terror attack which happened five years after his death). Furthermore, Mob Deep’s reference to Darwin’s theory of evolution not only refers to surviving poverty but also the threat of gang violence. They open ‘Survival of the Fittest’ with: “There’s a war going on...” and then go on to compare America’s urban environment to that of the Vietnam war. While the gang violence was a feature of slum life, the drug culture was an effect of it. Cypress Hill referenced Louis Armstrong in the song ‘Insane in the Brain’, who, when talking about marijuana said; “It relaxes you, makes you forget all the bad things that happen to a negro”. This both reflects the hardship which many African Americans had been suffering throughout American history and the disproportionately large percentage of them who were, and still are, in the bottom socio-economic classes, as well as lightly touching on the emergence of a strong drug culture which subsequently caused the violent gang culture that is very often reflected in hip-hop music, and which became a large feature of the broader hiphop culture.

Whether it is the enjoyment of the sound, the satisfaction of rhyme, the appreciation of skillful rapping and lyrics or the ability to relate to the lyrics or the rapper, hip-hop can appeal to anyone of any background or taste. It certainly has enough variety to appeal to all tastes, as long as one can appreciate the values of the music and find artists and songs who appeal to their preferences in at least one aspect of the culture. Hip-hop is a culture which was borne from the passion of hardship and has therefore survived and grown beyond the bounds of its birthplace, and it owes this to its ability to appeal to so many through its many core values. While popularity may not be accepted as evidence of genuine quality, I believe hiphop has presented the world with artists who have demonstrated extraordinary skill and much of their music has strong literary merit. If someone cannot directly relate to many of the core themes of hip-hop yet can still understand the meaning of a song and feel as though they can relate to the person rapping it, I believe there must be some literary merit, as this passion is ultimately transmitted through lyrics.