WHAT IS HIP HOP MUSIC?

One proponent asserts that hip hop music is a synonym which means hip-hop, rap music, or hip-hop music, He claims that hip hop is a music genre that is characterized by a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping. Rapping is further described as a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted.

However, Shaka Shaw, writing in Ebony Magazine on The Difference Between Rap & Hip-Hop, begs to differ. Shaka laments the that the two are merged on iTunes as the same and explains that

One common understanding is that hip-hop is a culture and rapping is one of four elements contained therein—the others being breakdancing, DJing and graffiti.

Another writer opined rather vaguely, in my opinion, that hip hop is

a style that stays aside all the other music trends. Not aside, but somewhat deeper. The reason is it is a reflection of the race, the plurality of people united by roots and origin. What attracts people in rap? Is it catchy?

I wonder whether or not hip hop record labels in Brooklyn care about those debates.

Is rap the expression of the African ancestry of African Americans?

Some believe that rap expresses the continuation of the language and traditions of Afro-American culture. They say that rap is a mixture of speech and music and that it is actually speech laid on music or beats. That sounds rather poetic. To non-natives, however, the flow of speech in rap music is too quick rapid and unintelligible. It is this expression that record labels in Brooklyn, NY try to capture through their music artists.

Is rap music the urban poetry of lyrical resistance?

As the debate continues, others classify rap music as the urban poetry of lyrical resistance. They say that it is not village music, nor is it a synonym of country music, but rather the gathering power of those united by music in big cities and that it aims to resist grief because misfortunes are more dramatic and numerous in urban areas.

Rap, they say, speaks to the mind and emotions and also to speaks to the social consciousness. If the words or courage to say those words are not there, the subconscious takes over and the rap lyrics kick in. But once captured by the beat, most people – mainly younger ones – begin to hear the words, and the words may describe just how they are feeling that day. Maybe that is why rap singers often emphatic in their expressions:

First goes the beat, and then goes the lyrics! It is not as smooth and tender as classical music, not as glossy as pop, but it has the scream of pain of real emotion of the world’s harshness. One may even state that rap is the most pain expressing music style.
Those who sing it or it is better to say read it revive their feelings not only concerning love, as most of the other styles do. Their message is about life and the problems, especially the ones of the Afro-American people. The music of pain and oppression, rap is a remedy to the latter.

Is rap music similar to dub music?

David Katz asserts that rap music has its roots in Jamaican dub music, a claim I am sure that many record labels in Brooklyn do not know. I lean towards the same view every time I hear the lyrics and staccato notes o a dub music singer.

Without the dub invention pioneered by an elite coterie of Jamaican recording engineers and record producers, rap would never have become the world’s leading form of popular culture; ambient, jungle, house, garage, grime and numerous other types of technologically-driven dance music probably would not have taken off. And there would surely be no such thing as dubsteP,
The similarity lies in the lyrical speech accompanied by music. Originated by a Jamaican musical genius called Tubby, it was said that he would record anyone as they spoke:

Producer Glen Brown, another close associate, says Tubby always had an innovative approach to recorded sound. “King Tubby always build some little speaker, and he always have a little Quickly motorbike, so King Tubby build a little thing on the bike—sometimes you’re talking to him, and he’ll record you with it.” David Katz, nd
It would surely make musical history if some Brooklyn record label twinned rap and dub in the same recording.

What ever the dissonance, there are over 100 hip hop record labels located in Brooklyn, NY, with 169 listed in the Yellow Pages alone. This indicates that numerous artists are using the medium to express their thoughts about life and other matters that interest them.

You may have visited this site to learn more about where you can eke out a record deal with some record label in Brooklyn, NY. However, I am about to turn the tables on you and ask whether or not you know that hip hop artists can start their own record label and also record their own music at home in a low cost recording studio?