Hip Hop Culture and the African American Identity

The experience of being a part of a society where the media is a key player in the everyday experience in a developed world has evolved tremendously over time. Having said that, the African American culture has developed over time from the time of slavery to this very day. Taking a look at this culture throughout history, it is clear that from it emerged different kinds of cultures. Its community has ties to the hip hop subculture; however this connection between the African American culture and hip hop is only a one way street. Hip hop has, to some extent, defined African American culture. However, African Americans no longer define hip hop. With this essay, I would like to explain the lack of connections between the hip hop culture and the African American society living in North America. With this, I mean to explain the many misconceptions this hip hop culture gives off as stereotyping the black community in negative ways, and thus portraying a negative image. In order to prove this point I will be first looking at the history of rap music, and compare what it once was to what it has become now, and look at the ways in which this ‘gangsta culture’ misrepresents the black male and black female. The hip hop African American culture completely misrepresents what it means to be African American today.