Hip-Hop: The Music of Violence

For this weeks post I read "How Hip-Hop Music Lost Its Way and Betrayed its Fans," by Brent Staples. This article talked about how Hp-Hop music has turned into music about "materialism and murder." (page 299) The main bulk of the article discussed the rivalry between Hip-Hop artists and the violence that has erupted over the years due to provocative lyrics. Staples described a couple instances in which rival artists got involved in violent skirmishes leading to shootouts, and in one case, the two artists were shot to death. This illustrates the violent behaviors of the Hip-Hop industry. The author seems to assert that this violence comes from rappers "embracing violence, illiteracy, and drug dealing as "authentically" black. He claims that this is what has led to the "narrowing of Hip-Hop music." This article seemed to show the violence in the Hip-Hop industry well through examples of violent outbreaks. The only thing is that he didn't seem to explain his title. He never came out and said why Hip-Hop fans have been betrayed. He spoke about how Hip-Hop used to have a wide variety of topics and has now focused on the violent side, but it seems like Hip-Hop music is quite popular in this day and age and many people thrive on the violent topics of the music. Staples ends his article by surmising that the era of Hip-Hop music is coming to its end because much of it is seen as "unacceptable" to the world. This assumption seems to be a little unqualified due to the large popularity Hip-Hop music has with the teenage group.