Keep It Real. Authenticity in Hip-Hop and Rap Music

Julia Trede

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Seminar paper from the year 2013 in the subject American Studies - Culture and Applied Geography, grade: 2,7, University of Kasse...

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Seminar paper from the year 2013 in the subject American Studies - Culture and Applied Geography, grade: 2,7, University of Kassel, language: English, abstract: Hip-hop does only represent a mere music genre but also constitutes a movement that emerged out of profound economic and social changes in New York of the 1970s. It is a cultural expression of an Afrodiasporic community that faced social and racial inequity. Originally, hip-hop constituted a shelter for ethnic minorities that have been socially marginalized by the dominant American culture. However, hip-hop also constitutes a commercial commodity which is often reduced to its commercial purpose. This balancing act of representing a culture on the one hand, and a commodity on the other hand, evoked a discussion on authenticity. The aim of this paper is to analyze how and to what extent authenticity is claimed in songs of hip-hop artists. In order to understand the discussion of authenticity in hip-hop it is crucial to provide an informational background of the preconditions that contributed to the development of hip-hop. Chapter 1.1 provides this basis and describes social and political circumstances that America and especially New York experienced throughout the 1970s. The resulting evolution of the hip-hop movement is subject to chapter 1.2., explaining the beginnings of the movement and outlining hip-hop's elements. Chapter 2 is concerned with the concept of authenticity. In the course of this section I will deal with Kembrew McLeod's six semantic dimensions of authenticity which serve as a basis for the subsequent analyses. The last chapter provides an analysis of five rap songs that will be analyzed according to McLeod's dimensions of authenticity. The aim of this chapter is to find out, to what extent authenticity claims are used and how many dimensions can be identified in a song. Additionally, it is analyzed, if certain dimensions a used more frequently, or more specifically, if it is possible to allocate priorities to McLeod's dimensions.