the end of an era.....or is it?

Yesterday we held our last class period where we would be discussing Hip-hop as a class altogether and it was probably the most intriguing class yet. Usually in class we only hear the opinions from the same group of people, but yesterday we got to hear the thoughts and beleifs of everyone and their ideaology of what hip-hop actually is. I thought it was very interesting that while some beleifs differed on what hip-hop is, we all seemed to hold similar ideaology's about hip-hop as a culture. Many of us, myself included, beleive that hip-hop is able to bring people together no matter where they come from, how old they are, what language they speak, or even their style of fashion.
I learned that many people of our class had no idea what hip-hop even was before they enrolled in the course, but now they are no longer have to say that they are uneducated on the culture of hip-hop. i also learned that you can't judge someone as not being hip-hop based on how they dress or what their skin color is. We all can see that from different people in class, such as Tony "trouble". I would have guessed at first glance that he would be in to bands such as Incubus or Foo Fighters, but i learned that he might know more about hip-hop than anyone in the class.
The poster idealogy of what hip-hop is was also a good expression of the classmates thoughts. I think that the poster ideas of the tree growing out of the ground with the roots representing the begining of hip-hop such as Kool Herc, Grandmaster Flash, and Africa Bambaataa; and the branches representing the movements that hip-hop can cause such as a sense of freedom.
Overall, i have enjoyed this class very much. I learned much more about hip-hop than i ever thought i would from the beginnings in Harlem and the Bronx to the styles of conscious rap and the g-funk style. I reccommend this class for anyone who can take it while attending the University of Oklahoma.

i'm not a buisnessman....I'm a Business, Man!!!

"i'm not a buisnessman....I'm a Business, Man!!!" This is what Jayz-Z had to say the remix of Diamonds are forever with Kanye West. This lyrical statement shows that being involved in Hip-hop can be taken to a much higher level than just being an artist or a producer. Artists and producers such as Jay-Z, P. Diddy, 50 Cent (and the g-unit click), and many more artists have crossed the line of just being a businessman to making their name synomynous as being a full blown business in itself.
Let's look at some of the accomplishments of the artists listed above. Jay-Z was the head of Rockafella records, he is now a top the Def Jam lable, and he has his own line of shoes called the S . (dot) Carters. P. Diddy was known for being a producer and a successful artist and now he is the owner of Bad Boy entertainment, he has a very nice clothing line called Sean Jean, and not to mention that he is known for holding the most bad ass parties in the ring of celebrities in hollywood. Diddy also was a lead proponent for the Rock the Vote on Mtv with his slogan of "Vote or Die" and he has also dabbled his hand in the television industry with his show "making the band" 50 Cent has also made a name for himself as much more than just a rapper. He has made his own movie "Get Rich or Die Trying" and he is sure to star in many more films. With his group (G-Unit) , they have launched their own clothing line with the same name and they also have their own shoes.
The examples of these artists show that hip-hop is becoming an overwhelming force in Americas culture, but also in many cultures around the world. By making a name for themselves as a BUSINESS rather than just a buisnessman, they are able to gain more attention for their talent, intelligence, and what it means to be living the hip-hop lifestyle. It takes a lot more than just being a great artist to accomplish what these men have done. They continue to make a name for what they are doing and they evolve with what the people want to see.


Links:
http://www.seanjohn.com/ (P. Diddy's Clothing line)
http://g-unitclothing.com/ (50 Cent and G-Unit)

Ghost Ride the Whip

Every time something new comes along a new fad comes with it. During the history of hip-hop many fads of come and gone. Remember when it was "semi-cool" to wear your clothes backwards like Kriss Kross, how about those parachute pants that the king of cool Mc Hammer used to rock, and I can even remember that about 5 years ago when "C-walking" was a dance that everyone was trying to do. Since Lil' Wayne everyone has been trying to wear all the iced out jewelery and have "bling" everywhere, and the rims on our rides just keep getting bigger and bigger. What i'm getting at is that fads of any kind are usually something that can be fun for whatever is "in" at the time. But one fad that is known across the hip-hop world as turned out to be fatal. This fad is called "Ghost Riding the Whip"
When a person "ghost rides the whip" they get out of their car and dance around it while it, and sometimes on top of it, while it usually moves at a slow pace, sometimes the cars are left in a higher rate of speed. Recently though there have been some deaths attributed to this new fad. Most of these deaths have occurred from a head injury that happened during the stunt, but other injuries such as broken arms and legs also occur frequently. the article linked here http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/nation/4433963.html/disp/story.mpl/ap/nation/4433963.html gives a more in depth look at what ghost rinding can do.
Rapper E-40, with his song "Tell me when to go" is probably the person that brought ghost riding to a main stream level. However, he is not the first person to use the term. you can check out these links for videos of "ghost riding the whip" --------------------------> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWy_Hanw_RE&mode=related&search= , this next ones kinda of joke but it's a higher quality and you'll get the point http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZqXb53TeSY

This stunt is obviously dangerous, but there is always someone out there willing to take the risk to be popular and get the attention of others. Just like most fads though this will probably someting that loses its flavor in the next couple of years