Natori Beale

March 29th2016
UWRT
Instructor Marcum
FIRST DRAFT
Genre Analysis Project: DRAFT
Me: Hey dad, you hear that new song that just came out by Fetty Wap?
Dad: Fetty Wap? His is name is Fetty Wap?
Me: Yes dad, thats his name. But have you heard his new song though? I am sure you
have. They play it on the radio nonstop.
Dad: Nope, I havent heard it. What is it about anyway?
Me: Cooking pies with his baby, whatever that means.
Dad: Cooking pies? Tori, you know that means he is cooking up crack with his girl
right? I dont know what is about yalls generation of music but it does not compare to the music
back in the day.

What is good music or what was good music? Obviously, the music we listen to today is
considered good music to us because it sounds good and it grabs our attention. Or is it the beat
that is so fire to us that we cannot contain ourselves because it goes so hard? It can mean a
plethora of things or people can just develop their own opinion about it. I hope no one gets
offended by this paper because I am warning you, it might get ugly.
The beginning of R&B/ rap music all started in the late 1970s. Back then, not too many
heard about this type of music because it was not really out there like pop, rock, country, and
blues music. Hip Hop or rap music was created in New York City. In New York, they usually
would refer to it as underground music (music not being legally commercialized).

Natori Beale
March 29th2016
UWRT
Instructor Marcum
Genre Analysis Project (Final Draft)
The Evolution Of Hip Hop: What happened to good music?
Me: Hey dad, you hear that new song that just came out by Fetty Wap?
Dad: Fetty Wap? His is name is Fetty Wap?
Me: Yes dad, thats his name. But have you heard his new song though? I am sure you
have. They play it on the radio nonstop.
Dad: Nope, I havent heard it. What is it about anyway?
Me: Cooking pies with his baby, whatever that means.
Dad: Cooking pies? Tori, you know that means he is cooking up crack with his girl
right? I dont know what is about yalls generation of music but it does not compare to the music
back in the day. Hip hop now is dead.

What is good music or what was good music? Obviously, the music we listen to today is
considered good music to us because it sounds good and it grabs our attention. Or is it the beat
that is so fire to us that we cannot contain ourselves because it goes so hard? It can mean a
plethora of things or people can just develop their own opinion about it. I hope no one gets
offended by this paper because I am warning you, it might get ugly.

The beginning of R&B/ rap music all started in the late 1970s. Back then, not too many
heard about this type of music because it was not really out there like pop, rock, country, and
blues music. Hip Hop or rap music was created in New York City. In New York, they usually
would refer to it as underground music (music not being legally commercialized). The
underground music would be heard but not on the radio or on television. Even though
underground music was pretty popular around this time, it did not pay as much. Most of the
rappers would find work as a DJ, introducing a whole new realm of music by mixing different
beats and songs together; something that would still be used todays music. After underground
music was introduced, that is when everything began to take a big turn in the hip hop/ rap music
industry. In the mid-1980s, hip hop and rap music began to make its mark. People we did not
know at that time began to come out of hiding, spreading their music around for the world to
hear. Celebrities like LL Cool J, NWA, Run DMC, Tupac Shakur, MC Hammer, Janet Jackson,
Will Smith, A Tribe Called Quest, The Notorious B.I.G and more celebrities took the hip hop
industry to another level. With selling out tours, distributing many albums, and being known
worldwide, everyone in the hip hop industry were unstoppable. Not only was their music catchy,
but their music had meaning along with the nice beats. During the mid-1980s into the 90s, many
social, community, and worldwide issues took place. Some issues that took place were police
brutality, racism towards African Americans, false accusations (perceptions) towards black
males, and violence. Talking about these things would either become a repetitive situation talked
about in the media, riots, or would bring communities closer together. One song that drove the
media crazy during hip-hops major explosion was N.W.As F*** the Police. This particular
song definitely (even in the title) was directed towards the police and to let them know that the
way they handled things was wrong. Messages through music did not last long. As the years

passed on, going into the early 2000s until as of today, the hip hop and rap music industry took a
downward spiral.
As we started entering into the 2000s, hip hop and rap music slowly began to shift into a
different form. Around this time, you had artists like Common, Kanye West, Usher, Nelly,
Fabulous, Chingy, Jay-Z, Beyonc, Eve, Alicia Keys, Eminem, and more who thrived during this
time period. You could notice a little difference in the songs from the early 2000s from the music
from the 80s and 90s, but it was not huge gap between the two. The artists still had that
awareness and put that into their music. The artists would incorporate their personal life and
worldwide situations into their music to put it out there that they wanted to be heard and wanted
others to know that they should not be afraid to take a stand. Slowly each year, the hip hop music
would not be the way it used to be. Instead of actually listening to the words of a song, the main
focus is the overall beat of the music that keeps everyone going, especially the fans. We are all
pretty much fans of any music, but it is hip hop and r&b music that really gets the people
going.
Now, 16 years later, we have been introduced to a new genre of music which is referred
to as trap music. Trap music started to become popular in mid-2012. This type of music is
widely known for their (what my generation calls it) fire beats and the people behind these
songs. Just like trap and rap music, R&B, and hip-hop music have nice beats but where they
differ from trap music are the overall lyrics of the music. Everyone, including myself, listens to
the beat of the music rather than the music. A few years back, my dad made a good point about
the fall of rap and hip hop music- We fail to actually listen to the words of the music. When we
hear a good beat, we assume the song is going to be good. Why dont we just listen to the words?
It is like the beat puts us in a trance and hypnotizes us in the rhythm of the music, keeping us

from thinking about the actual lyrics in the song. When we hear a rap or trap song, we pretty
much groove to the beat of the song, casting out any thought of the lyrics behind it. When you
put these two things together, you get two completely different outcomes. After my dad made his
point about the fall of rap and hip hop, I started to listen to the words in each rap or trap song that
either came on the radio, that was played at a party, or that I just looked up when it was brought
to my attention. During this research of mine, I would listen to the song and then look at the
lyrics. One song that came up in my research is a song called Red Opps by the rapper 21
Savage. While listening to this song, I frowned the entire time. It made no sense at all and had no
meaning to it, as opposed to the music back then. One thing I can honestly say stood out the most
was the songs beat because it was so good and it made me so mad because I did not want to like
any parts of this song. When I asked different people about this song, many would say, That is
my s***! or I love that song! However, when I asked if they knew exactly what he was
saying in the song or knew the meaning (if there was one), many said they did not know, they
just liked the beat. Why is that? Why make someone so popular and their music makes no sense?
If anything he could have been rapping about eating his own feces and no would care. Another
song with the same situation is the song Panda by the rapper Desiigner. This song was inspired
by the white BMW X6 and its resemblance to a panda. As I listened to the song and analyzed the
lyrics, it made no sense with the title of the song, but the beat was so good.
Listening to the songs from back in 1990s and the early 2000s, you can tell a difference
between the music back then and now as of 2016. What happened to music when it had meaning
and why do we accept that? I can honestly say, counting from hands, that there are a few songs
from my generation that have meaning. It should not just be a few, it should be all songs. Most of
the songs now talk about nonsense and we just do not care, we just groove to the beat of the

music. We give most of these rap artists credit for straight garbage and it is so sad. We consider
what music we listen to now as good music but it is not good music. What ever happened to
rappers talking about the issues going on in the world or trying to make a change and reaching
out to the young community about taking the right path in life or making people feel good about
themselves and uplifting one other? What ever happened to that? This generation of music talks
about women with big breasts and behinds, smoking weeds, getting money, and a whole bunch
of other things that make no sense and we accept that. I am sure Tupac, The Notorious B.I.G, and
other late old school music artists are turning in their graves right about now.

CITATIONS:

http://runthetrap.com/what-is-trap-music/
http://hiphopdx.com/editorials/id.723/title.5-things-that-killed-hip-hop

http://genius.com/21-savage-red-opps-lyrics
https://whatwentwrongwith.com/2014/02/23/what-went-wrong-with-hip-hop-and-rap-a-

timeline/
https://www.englishclub.com/vocabulary/music-hip-hop.htm
http://genius.com/Desiigner-panda-lyrics