Ethnography

The genre I am picking for my ethnography is 80-00's Hip/Hop/Rap. The reason I am picking this genre is because a lot of the things that the genre of Hip/Hop talks about is drugs, money and females, however, artists like Tupac talk about very specific, real life situations. This makes it very raw and honest in terms of context and lyrics which allows there to be a balance in terms of what the genre talks about.

The genre of Hip/Hop in the 00's was mainly melodic and rhythmic. By this I mean that the instrumentals were really rich and full in sound, there was a lot of bass and instruments such as piano had a very catchy melody which is what made the song stand out. An example of this would be Changes by Tupac, the lead instrument is the piano which has a very catchy, melodic and cheerful feel which makes the song sound very positive and rhythmic. In my opinion, the way I hear these songs in my head makes me think that music has changed a lot in the last 20 years because Hip/Hop/Rap used to be a genre which sanded out a lot because of the fullness of sounds used in addition to the vocals and lyrics, however, in this day and age this genre has changed massively in my perspective because it is minimal in terms of sound in comparison to the early 2000's.

Hip/Hop was and still is a very controversial genre because it also started in the 1980's in a New York neighborhood called South Bronx when aspiring rappers from that neighborhood would make songs developed in a way that the communities struggles to find its own voice. Through the years of the 1980's and 1990's Hip/Hop was heavily influenced on negative things such as police, politics and drugs. This is evidently why this genre is such as a controversial genre because it negatively influences young people because of lyrics used and the context of the music itself. Swear words would be used in lyrics to demonstrate the hatred or the emotions that rappers felt on society or whatever the song was about and this would be a bad role model for young kids in there childhood.

Hip/Hop was made using real instruments and with vocals using a microphone and recorded into a musical software. The musical software would most likely be pro tools and this software came out in the 1980's in a time where Hip/Hop was beginning to create is own success. The music would be listened to on radio, live shows and shows that were on MTV such as MTV unplugged and the top 40 charts.

Most of the Hip/Hop/Rap genre would be made at a mid/fast tempo where rappers would use a lot of lyrics in a single phrase. Ass there was a lot of lyrical content in these lyrics, the songs would usually last a good 4-5 minutes. The reason songs were this long is because of the problems and political things that happened in that specific time in which the songs were released. There was a lot more to talk about because back in the 80's Hip/Hop music used there lyrics to talk about things such as racism and problems in society such as shootings and crime which caused a lot of popularity in the charts and success began to rise for the genre of Hip/Hop.

The Hip/Hop style changed variously depending on the type of music that was being made, in relation to lyrics and the intent the musician is trying to propose. However, most rappers would be dressed with: Hats, Jewellery and sometimes baggy trousers and jeans. A lot of the time on stage rappers would jump on stage and get the crowd to rap in unison to the them. There wasn't much dancing in terms of choreographs and dance routines but free styling would be used in live performances to show off the talent of the musician.

The effect of this type of music would go from jumping and waving there hands up and down to break dancing and street dancing. There would also be clapping sometimes but majority of the time this genre would create a lot jumping and also shouting from the crowd to interact with the performer on stage.

In terms of Media, Hip/Hop in between the 80's and the 2000's didn't involve social media. It only involved MTV, live shows, music show awards and radio. This is how artists would promote there music in comparison to current music. Even though the process of MTV and radio is still used, social media is now heavily relied on due to interactions with fans around the world and recording companies. Whilst in the earlier days of Hip/Hop you would be noticed by going into a record label and perform one of your tracks or performances in local venues. This genre in the 80's would be sold on Vinyl, in the 90's it would be sold on CD and in the 2000's music would be streamed and downloaded on musical platforms such as: iTunes,  Spotify and Sound Cloud.