Post by Koala on Oct 12, 2010 19:39:49 GMT -5
Starting with a brief history:
Hip-hop and rap was imported over to Japan after the movie "Wild Style" came out in 1983, and Japanese people quickly jumped on breakdancing and bboying as well as hip-hop fashion as "kakkoi" and "yabai". In Yoyogi Park, Djs such as DJ Krush sprung to accommodate the sudden crowd of breakdancers who showed up there to practice and hold competitions. Back then the Japanese only were concerned with the imagery from "Wild Style," since they gave the Japanese language up as being unfit for rapping.
During this time American critiqued the Japanese as just making hip-hop a "trend" to follow. They pointed out the extreme in the Japanese hip-hop fan scale, although the numbers were few: Blackfaces who tanned or painted their skin black and fixed their hair in afros and dreadlocks. Americans said the Japanese had no right to pretend to Black when they do not give a damn about Black culture and their struggles and history. Blackfaces countered saying that coloring their skin black was their way of showing respect for Black culture.
Fast forwarding to when hip-hop was no longer a trend, but a mainstay in Japanese music and culture (however small the scene is); some Japanese rappers have developed their own Japanese style and flow of rhymes. They've developed clothing lines and brand names that the most famous American hip-hop artists jump on: Bape, Ice Creams. Pharrell and the Teriyaki Boyz are just one of the many collaborations between American and Japanese hip-hop artists.
But can they still be considered authentic musicians when the basis for all of their music is whatever comes out in America? Is it okay that hip-hop fans in Japan don't know anything about the American hip-hop legends that spawned the genre? Is it okay that a lot of Japanese rappers still either copy the American gangsta style with their guns and ghettos, when Japan has no ghetto? Or that the others, knowing not to rap about nonexistant ghettos, instead spit rhymes about love, their cellphones, and other stupid crap; should they be dismissing their society as problem-less since they don't share the same issues of poverty and violence that America has?
Lastly, keep in mind that there are rappers who strive to develop their own unique style in order to differentiate themselves from America. But there are always rappers who don gangster clothes and copy the American beats and rhymes. If you ask the average Japanese person with no history of hip-hop fandom, they will point out the latter as being more authentic, because it sounds closer to American music. Are they right?
I threw alot at you, but go ahead and have fun debating if you have free time on your hands
Hip-hop and rap was imported over to Japan after the movie "Wild Style" came out in 1983, and Japanese people quickly jumped on breakdancing and bboying as well as hip-hop fashion as "kakkoi" and "yabai". In Yoyogi Park, Djs such as DJ Krush sprung to accommodate the sudden crowd of breakdancers who showed up there to practice and hold competitions. Back then the Japanese only were concerned with the imagery from "Wild Style," since they gave the Japanese language up as being unfit for rapping.
During this time American critiqued the Japanese as just making hip-hop a "trend" to follow. They pointed out the extreme in the Japanese hip-hop fan scale, although the numbers were few: Blackfaces who tanned or painted their skin black and fixed their hair in afros and dreadlocks. Americans said the Japanese had no right to pretend to Black when they do not give a damn about Black culture and their struggles and history. Blackfaces countered saying that coloring their skin black was their way of showing respect for Black culture.
Fast forwarding to when hip-hop was no longer a trend, but a mainstay in Japanese music and culture (however small the scene is); some Japanese rappers have developed their own Japanese style and flow of rhymes. They've developed clothing lines and brand names that the most famous American hip-hop artists jump on: Bape, Ice Creams. Pharrell and the Teriyaki Boyz are just one of the many collaborations between American and Japanese hip-hop artists.
But can they still be considered authentic musicians when the basis for all of their music is whatever comes out in America? Is it okay that hip-hop fans in Japan don't know anything about the American hip-hop legends that spawned the genre? Is it okay that a lot of Japanese rappers still either copy the American gangsta style with their guns and ghettos, when Japan has no ghetto? Or that the others, knowing not to rap about nonexistant ghettos, instead spit rhymes about love, their cellphones, and other stupid crap; should they be dismissing their society as problem-less since they don't share the same issues of poverty and violence that America has?
Lastly, keep in mind that there are rappers who strive to develop their own unique style in order to differentiate themselves from America. But there are always rappers who don gangster clothes and copy the American beats and rhymes. If you ask the average Japanese person with no history of hip-hop fandom, they will point out the latter as being more authentic, because it sounds closer to American music. Are they right?
I threw alot at you, but go ahead and have fun debating if you have free time on your hands