What is hip-hop? Many believe hip-hop is synonymous for rap music, but it goes beyond that. Hip-hop is a form of art and culture, style, and language, and for many, a way of life (Fernando, 1994). The graffiti you see on bridges, the dances you see in the clubs, the hardened attitude that the boy who sits behind you in film class has, the slang you here kids yell at the park, this is hip-hop. In the 1980s the subculture at that time was deejaying, emceeing, graffiti, and break dancing. All played a role in hip-hop's evolution and is responsible for its strong cultural influence (Light,Alan).
A hip-hop pioneer and savvy business mogul, Russell Simmons, believed that Hip-hop "speaks for the people who live in the worst economic straits since the Great Depression" (Life and Def: Sex, Drugs, Money, + God 26). Critics on rap music or hip-hop are fixated on the issues of violence and sex and harsh language, painting this negative picture of a beautiful art form. The media loves to......
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