Hip Hop, and music is at the core of my life, and I can write about this topic for a while. However, I want to focus on the similarities and or difference between Harlem today and than, African American Music today and than, and political differences today and than. The Negro Renaissance of the 20’s steamed from the freedoms that blacks had received sixty years prior, but where still unhappy with, for understandable reasons. The northern black community began to develop like a microcosm of black spirit. Corbould refers to the sounds of the streets in the public space, the orators on the street corners, the music in the clubs, and overall noise of streets, noise that could not be suppressed. However, political attitudes in America were not about to give blacks the right to express their sound. They restricted their activities in parades, and policed the streets of Harlem to instill a sense of fear in the black public. Creativity and music was encouraged as long as whites could see something “definable” in this expression.  As Hughes says, whites came to Harlem like tourists seeking this exotic world with its wondrous sounds. However, what they saw and heard was mellow version of what was really lurking in Harlem. Discontent was evident, racial prejudges were evident, and this sense of culture seemed like the only way blacks at the time had at furthering their cause. People like Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong were idolized because they were seen as the black communities road to a better life. The powerful Joe Louis seemingly became even more powerful after his victory over Schmeling. He took upon his back like Atlas the energy of the all African Americans. For a moment African Americans felt liberated. That hope would again surface in the 60’s.

 

In the 60’s blacks finally became equal citizens, in name. They were finally given the right to vote. Things seemed to be getting better. But the late 60’s brought periods of unrest and the 70’s saw an epidemic of drugs on New York streets. African Americans again had a conflict on their hands. Similarly to what happened in the 20’s, a movement began in the mid-seventies. Hip Hop was born. Like the great Louis Armstrong, and Duke Ellington this age of musician would not only play music but also speak about the troubles of living in social neglect. They would combine the sound of the Harlem Renaissance, with the beautiful oratory magic of Garvey, and King and make it something new. By 70’s and 80’s what Hughes had written about the urban tourism in 20’s did not exist. Fear was associated with Harlem. However, few things were different between those times. Men still gathered on the street and talked, kids still played in the streets. However, now more then ever a sense of unrest was felt, and certain members of society were filling to do something about it. The same men who gathered on the streets in Harlem coroneted a new style of vocal tradition in verse. In the book Can’t stop Won’t Stop, Jeff Chang writes about the history of hip-hop in detail like no other book I have read. From the Memphis clubs to early rock and roll, to James Brown, and finally the modern day father of hip-hop DJ Kool Herc. The life that hip-hop brought to the African American community is undeniable. Grandmaster Flash, Run-DMC, brought hip-hop to a new audience and made audible the struggles that African Americans were facing. Something that wasn’t possible in the 20’s. These men and women became idols because they spoke so freely and openly about the racial prejudice, which during Garvey’s time put him in jail because of “his mouth.” Once hip-hop began nothing came short of stopping it. Black Americans did not allow it. These black Americans were much better suited to deal with their cultural then their relatives in the 20’s. The sheer freedom they had to free speech allowed them to speak up and make noise without a sense of fear that their forefathers in the 20’s had. However, now like in the 20’s this black culture is seen as a menace in American lives. The BET expose’ Hip-Hop Vs. America shows why hip-hop came about, and tries to understand the counterculture of it. It also tries to explain why just like Ellington, Louis, and Armstrong hip artists were idolized and positioned with such a burden to carry the torch of black culture.