any black and Hispanic families while many whites fled the area. Renewal projects also caused massive relocations of economically delicate blacks and Hispanics into the South Bronx. (Rose, 30) These displaced citizens were left with “few city resources, fragmented leadership, and limited political power” and the South Bronx started to become depicted as “drained of life, energy, and vitality.” (Rose, 33)
The youngest generation of these relocated families began frantically searching for outlets to channel their creativity and aggression, and soon hip-hop emerged, providing black youths with an identity and cultural support groups through deejaying, rapping, break dancing, and graffiti production. (Rose, 33-34) Author Tricia Rose suggests in her seminal masterpiece, Black Noise, that rap is deeply rooted in “premodern oral traditions” while hip-hop itself follows in the footsteps of previous black musical styles such as jazz, blues, and southern soul music. (Rose, 21, 185) These genres of music all have historic roots in black culture and society and were later commercialized and expanded to wider audiences, both globally and ethnically: something that is currently happening to hip-hop.
Early rappers voiced their frustrations of a society in which urban blacks were oppressed, powerless, vulnerable, and underrepresented. The first rappers criticized institutions such as the police, the government, and media, as well as the discrimination faced by blacks; the themes in these songs clearly representative of the plight of blacks. (Rose, 106) Boogie Down Productions’ 1989 song “Who Protects Us From You?” is a prime example of themes used in early rap songs, commenting on the ills of police brutality and racism. (Rose, 106)
These early rap artists such as Grandmaster Flash and the Sugarhill Gang were signed to small independent labels and those not a fan of the genre assumed rap and hip-hop would be a passing fad. (Rose, 6) However, doubts of hip-hop’s ability to become a viable commercial force were quelled in 1979 when the Sugarhill Gang’s song “Rapper’s Delight” sold millions of copies and rose to the top of the charts, establishing hip-hop as a true commercial force. (Rose, 6) The economic triumph of “Rapper’s Delight” also gave evidence to the fact that demographics of hip-hop consumers were growing to encompass more than just urban blacks. Hoping to profit from the commercial success of hip-hop, the six major record labels (CBS, Polygram, Warner, BMG, Capitol-EMI, and MCA) started purchasing the independent labels, with the hope of reaping the benefits derived from the toil of these smaller labels that originally brought hip-hop to prominence. (Rose, 7)
After the major labels bought out the smaller independent companies, there was a noticeable shift in the lyrical content of hip-hop. (Hurt, 2006) Whereas, previously the lyrics focused on social, political, and cultural issues, the lyrics now were becoming more hyper-violent and hyper-masculine, eventually coming together as a new genre known as “Gangsta Rap” which rose in popularity and sales while being heavily promoted by the major labels. (Hurt, 2006)
Along with the major label’s growing interest in hip-hop, MTV’s decision to air “Yo MTV Raps” in 1989 helped mark the emergent influence and commercialization of rap. This moment is significant in hip-hop history, as prior to this show, MTV had never devoted much airtime to hip-hop or black artists in general, fearing its predominately white teen audience base would not be receptive of the content. (Rose, 8) “Yo! MTV Raps” became highly successful and confirmed that hip-hop could be especially “marketable to white suburban teens” as well as the original black audience base. (Rose, 8)
The premiering of “Yo! MTV Raps” influenced a monumental shift in hip-hop culture as now music videos became a major factor in hip-hop. By airing music videos on MTV, hip-hop artists were able to gain visibility and expand the genre’s audience base to an ever-growing white market. With the growing importance of music videos, there was an “inc