"My Music is a product of who I am and where I came from. I'm not from Mars or nowhere else".
The focal concept of this essay is authenticity as it is given meaning in the hip-hop sub-culture. To analyse this genre of culture it seems best to consider how it has been represented and how it represents itself in society. A sub-culture can be thought of as a cultural group or class within a large culture, one having beliefs, interests and customs that are different to those of the greater population.
Hip hop music (rap) can be viewed as just one aspect of the subcultural movement of hip hop which also includes, graffiti, breakdancing, distinctive clothes and slang. When determing which people participate in hip hop subculture we look for signifiers that represent or are attached to members of the subculture. " We should not underestimate the signifying power of the spectacular subculture not only as a metaphor for potential anarchy 'out there' but as a actual mechanism for semantic disorder" (Hebdige, 1979:90 cited in Cultural Studies Theory and Practice, Barker,2000, pg 327,). Structural and semiotic theorist Hebdige analysed 'Punk' culture and concentrated specifically on that sub- cultures element of 'style', elements such as piercing, haircuts, and ribbed clothes. These assumptions/stereotypes are based on the people who display these signifiers within the subculture. When looking at hip hop 'style' elements could be seen as baggy jeans, caps turned to the back, laceless trainers, and 'hoodies', also the use of words such as "ill" or "dope". .
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Hip hop is a product of post - civil rights era America, a set of cultural forms originally nurtured by African-American, Caribbean American, and Latin American youths in and around New York in the 1970's. "Hip hop's value's are by and large fixed, it's a spirit of rebellion, identification with street culture, materialism and aggression" (Cited in 'Hip Hop America' Nelson George, 1998 ).