The country that had once been divided on racial grounds and prejudices brought forth a seemingly militant cultural movement that would soon become one of the many things that would characterise American culture. Hip Hop, as we know it today, is the materialisation of the once-repressed but rich African-American subculture. It can be considered a ‘revolution’ in its own right, as it attempted to transcend the definition of what comprises music.  Hip Hop went beyond the limited confines of the music world. To some extent, it even challenged the socio-cultural conventions that made music synonymous with the ‘ghetto’ and black American resentment.

Social antagonisms by white-dominated society, however, only fermented agitation of the dissenting minority. Instead of going into mass street rampages and fiery protests, some chose to channel and express their dissent in musical creativity. This helped lay the foundations for a more culturally-cohesive pan-African-American unity. The collective consciousness among the disenfranchised blacks soon awakened, resulting in a revival of the African culture (a Renaissance of some sort) and finally finding its way into the overall national American psyche. This revivalism finally reinvented itself, not just as a modern parody of the African culture but a totally different kind of music genre reflective of the ghetto subculture that gained social acceptance over time. The black music, as it was discriminately called, became a standard symbol of defiance, freedom, and triumph. If one browses the music hit charts nowadays in the UK, it is no longer surprising to see Hip Hop songs hitting the top spots. Black music seems to have the last laugh after all.

But what comprises Hip Hop? It is oftentimes identified as synonymous to rap music - a vocal music style wherein the artist or singer ‘raps’ or utters song lyrics accompanied by funky beats. Rap music is further diversified into other subcategories. In ‘Gangsta’ or ‘Dirty’ rap for example, funky beats are replaced with much heavier and louder beats. However, the question is so highly contentious that it sparks debates among those who claim to be ‘purists’ or ‘oldschool’ and those who identify themselves as the ‘modernists’ or ‘newschool’. Purists always maintain the sanctity of the musical creativity and ingenuity of the artist by putting the DJ in charge. The rise of various technologies came to challenge this tradition as music makers choose to adapt new techniques only made possible by the introduction of new music software that undermine the artists or the DJ. Furthermore, rather than promoting unity among the blacks, the ‘newschool’ brand provoked bitter rivalry among competing black artists like the famous West Coast and East Coast divide. The content of the current Hip Hop music trends are also resented by the purists for wanting in spiritual depth or meaning as it only deals with violence and materialism; the ‘spiritual’ purist battles against its highly ‘commercialist’ counterpart. For many purists, the new Hip Hop trend ceases to be Hip Hop both in substance and in form. Signing major music labels for them is tantamount to a cultural and artistic sellout for the sake of material returns. For this reason, some still choose to have their independent labels to avoid dilution although chances of getting a great break are slim.