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Hip-hop isn’t just about music. It is a way of life, a culture that has influenced many art forms such as dance, poetry, graffiti, and music. With its roots from the African-African crowd in the South Bronx region of NYC, it has now become a globally popular genre of music with millions of followers. But what makes hip-hop different from other types of music?
While other music forms give an impression of being ground in a set of rules, hip-hop sets an artist free. It is an expression of freedom, the freedom to speak one’s mind through music. And it is this sense of freedom that has made hip-hop a way to tell stories of oppression. You’d often find hip-hop music centered around stories of struggle. This is mainly due to the racial abuse the African-Americans had to face and go through in the past.
One can also observe the dearth of musical instruments in hip-hop. Either there are too few or no instruments used. The music started on the streets as an unorganized form of art. Thus, initial artists hardly had access to expensive instruments. Hip-hop lives and thrives on what we call ‘beats.’ These are rhythmic ebbs and a flow of distinct sounds that become the music to hip-hop lyrics. This, in turn, was also the origin of another art form known as beat-boxing. A Cappella singing is a term often associate with rapping. It means singing without any musical instruments, not even beats. Rappers are hit with hard-hitting lyrical rhymes that flow and captivate the audience.
Hip-hop is closer to poetry than it is to music. With rhyming techniques similar to those use in poetry, hip-hop is set on the same lines. It can be describ as a fast-paced and beat-fill form of poetry. It doesn’t have melody like other conventional music forms. The power lies in the words and the beat.
One can also see brand names regularly featuring in between raps. This is a feature distinct from rap. As hip-hop finds its roots in the colored race, it became a way of expressing equality for them. And what better than flashy brands like Gucci and Ferrari to show their right to enjoy the good things in life.
Hip-hop is a more aggressive form of musical expression, with musicians putting their heart and soul into it. There are often competitions hel as to who is the fastest rapper in the region. Ugly face-offs between the big names in the game can become full-blown beef. This isn’t as easy as it sounds. Rappers have to be fast, follow a rhythm and also make sense at the same time. This makes hip-hop music tough to crack.
One artist that has been successful in recent times is Civy C-del. One can see glimpses of Notorious B.I.G. in this work. The energy that he brings on stage is something to talk about. He hit the charts hard right from his first album, “My 2 cents”. With his latest release, “The Civilian 2”, which is a sequel to his previous album, “The Civilian”, he is all set to carry the torch of hip-hop music and promises to take it to new heights. He’s active on social media platforms like Twitter and Instagram. You can listen to his songs on Sound Cloud.