Hip Hop Isn't So Bad Afterall... (Photo-Caption-Citation #2)

This picture shows the music artists who does not believe in Hip Hop Violence. Common, Nas, Erykah Badu, Mos Def, and KRS One (just to name a few) uses positive words in their lyrics. They mostly sing or rap about social problems in communities, or world issues. These people show that hip hop isn't all about the money, cars, clothes, and women or men. It expresses positive outlooks on how hip hop can be helpful.

Muhammad, Ashahed. "Hip Hop: The voice of youth and social activism.." (2008): n. pag. Web. 11 Nov 2010. <http://www.finalcall.com/artman/publish/article_5078.shtml>.

A Positive Outlook On Hip Hop (Quotation-Paraphrase-Citation #1)

"The stakes are higher because racism and now hip hop have limited what it means to be black by insisting on one measure: street culture as embodied by Biggie Smalls and Jay-Z...”
- Thomas Chatterton Williams

This quote was said by Thomas Chatterton Williams, the author of "Losing My Cool: How a Father's Love and 15,000 Books Beat Hip-Hop Culture." He thinks that the probability of violence is higher in our society because of discrimination (racism) and the limits to hip hop. It's becoming a hindrance to expressing the way people are and how they feel about a certain topic. It limits them from being the "race" they were once able to express in a way to appeal to others. He uses Biggie Smalls and Jay-Z as prime examples because those two rappers was, basically, limited to topics they could rap about. For instance, Jay-Z mostly incorporates the usage of Christianity in his lyrics; meanwhile, Biggie Smalls incorporated his money, cars, women, and friends (better known as Bad Boys) in his lyrics. Thomas Chatterton Williams speaks his mind on how difficult the music industry is and how hard it is to clear the name of "negativity".

The article is about the positive effects of hip hop. This author explains how hip hop is not trying to sway youth into doing bad things, they actually promote non-violence. Thomas Chatterton Williams was interviewed on how he felt hip hop was helpful for the youth, and he specifically stated that it affected "black people". The author of this article, Stephen Allen, describes how hip hop not only affects African-Americans, it also affects all races.

Allen, Stephen. "Positive Effects Of Hip Hop Outweigh Bad." Community Voices (2009): n. pag. Web. 10 Nov 2010. <http://oaklandlocal.com/blogs/2010/05/positive-effects-hip-hop-outweigh-bad-community-voices>.