Killer

Hip-hop, since its inception, has constantly been a topic of fierce debate, within and outside the hip-hop community. Inside, graffiti artists, break-dancers, and especially rappers have been internally fighting over the legitimacy of various styles, rappers, and rhymes since the activities themselves began. Outside, uninitiated and often outraged members of society at large criticize and condemn hip-hop culture with concerns ranging from its legitimacy as a cultural movement and art form to the effect it has on children. Music in particular is a sore point between the two groups, as many adults were and are concerned with the influence hip-hop music has on youth culture. Such debates first began to heat up when NWA's Straight Outta Compton came out, and continued through gangsta rap to the perceived excesses and hedonism of modern rap. The chief concern seems to be "how can a bunch of thugs yelling about killing each other and owning money be art?" Indeed, while those inside the community would bristle at their entire community being cast in this light, few would deny that there is in fact rap music being produced and consumed that espouses these beliefs. When the issue is viewed in a racial light (as it often must be, given its origin and primary creators), opponents of hip-hop and rap generally come from two different camps: white Americans who believe such music is barbaric and harmful, and black Americans who view such music as harmful to the perception of black culture.

                The first group, the so-called moral guardians of society, tends to see rap as a whole as indicative of some sort of social malaise, where corrupt youth make this harmful music and their corruption spreads to other children who listen to it. This viewpoint is very clearly seen (in context of graffiti) by Koch, the mayor of New York, interviewed in Style Wars. He states that he believes that the vandalism in his city (and presumably analogs in music, though gangsta rap had not emerged yet) was not the result of youth with too much time on their hands, but instead youth with no moral compass. He viewed this culture as a scourge, something to be kept out of sight. However, some of the concerns of this group, while often voiced too contemptuously,  are valid concerns that many parents had to face. No one, black or white, rich or poor, wants their children listening to music which advocates violence and misogyny, and indeed many hip-hop songs released have been on this topic. However, the question that everyone has a much harder time answering is, "is it art?"

                The second group, while condemning much of popular hip-hop, often still embraces the notion of hip-hop as art. It is truly a black movement, almost entirely unaffected by white influence in terms of the actual music being produced (aside from a desire to consume, and therefore produce, "real" depictions of hood life). Many classic hip-hop artists, such as Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, or A Tribe Called Quest, released music talking about issues of the day, and seeking to depict a message instead of glorifying violence. While popular music has drifted in and out of such topics, hip-hop discussing difficult topics has persisted near the spotlight to this day. However, the issue that many black community members have with popular hip-hop is that some see it as a sort of minstrelsy. Artists like Gucci Mane slather themselves in gold jewelry and outlandish clothing and women and in some ways seem like caricatures of themselves, and some people believe that this presents the black community in an unflattering light.

                Nobody anywhere has a clear answer on exactly how much of hip-hop is art, and on what makes some rap art and other rap not art. From the outside, listeners endlessly debate on its impact, and inside, figures prominent in hip-hop endlessly debate on whose style is legitimate and whether materialistic rap is in fact art or not. No matter how much they argue about it, hip-hop is here, and it is constantly being served to the ears and eyes of the populace at large. The movement as a whole considers itself art, and whether other people agree or not it will proliferate as long as the people within it continue to view it as the artistic release of choice.