Research Exercise- Chas Martin

Chas Martin

English at 1:30

Mr. Lohre

October 13^th, 2019

           

Run DMC, Wu tang, Ahmad Lewis, Ice cube…honestly I could go on forever. These are just a few names that brought us great hits back in the 80’s. Personally I like 80’s and 90’s hip-hop. It opened up a lot of doors for current hip-hop and spread their culture around the world. This topic was interesting for me because he mentioned so many names I knew to be too familiar. My dad used to play Run DMC when I was young and I still can remember listening to The King Of Rock or Christmas in Hollis around Christmas time. So when Beah mentions it in the story I could make that connection as a kid listening to the same music.
Now my tunes were coming out of speakers while Beah was listening to be a Walkman cassette player. They were extremely popular in the 80’s and 90’s; you could find one in any store or on any young boy or girl’s ears. Everything 80’sPodcast stated, “Over 385 million of them would be sold and it became a staple and identifiable part of the ‘80s that laid the groundwork for all future electronics that allowed you to listen to music on the go.” So without the creation of the Walkman Cassette player we may have never ended up with the ear buds we have today.

It looked exactly like this. Many upcoming rappers would buy a bunch of cassettes and record their music on the cassettes and give them out to get their music on the streets. When the RZA was an upcoming artist and creating Wu Tang they bought a bunch of yellow cassette tapes and stated that there cassettes would attack you like bees on the streets.

        The Walkman only helped spread music but people started to make it a culture. It created a new vibe in clubs and created movements that won’t be forgot. NWA started a new movement against police harassment and did it through the words in their music. This music spread across the world and created new movements that stretched further than the United States. Becky Blanchard, a researcher on social movements in the 80’s commented, “Rap shares its roots with other forms of traditionally African-American music, such as jazz, blues, and soul. Rap may also be closely linked to reggae music, a genre that also developed from the combination of traditional African drumming and the music of the European ruling class by youth of limited economic means within a system of African economic subjugation.” This was brought to life by the hip-hop music from the 80’s.

         Beah also mentions that he listen to Bob Marley in his memoir. When he was going through rehabilitation he was brought back to life through the inspiration and togetherness of his music. I also listen to reggae when I’m slumped or feeling down, the music brings you back to yourself and helps you live in the present instead of worrying about the past. Along with hip-hop, Bob Marley also led a mission of peace and created popular movements against war.

Sources:

https://web.stanford.edu/class/e297c/poverty_prejudice/mediarace/socialsignificance.htm

https://www.everything80spodcast.com