The effect of Hip Hop on Modern Culture

Mod West ISU Essay

Just as the vinyl records on a DJ's turntable turn round and round, so does the cycle of modern trends. It moves from extremes, from one pole to another. On one side is realism, the ideas of reason and science, represented by such movements as the enlightenment and realism. On the other side are the ideas of fantasy, the ideas of dreams and the ethereal, represented by such movements like impressionism and romanticism.

Hip-hop culture, music, art and fashion represents another spin on the turntable. Culture did a 180 degree turn from the lushness and decadence of the disco era to the down to earth, grass roots culture of hip-hop. It was grounding in many areas of modern culture. It brought the world of high art out of the galleries and onto the streets where it could be appreciated by all. Hip hop culture changed the idea of fashion from the decorative and elaborate to the simple and plain.

Les Demoiselles d'Avignon. Oil on Canvas (244 x 23...

Pablo Picasso, 1937, Guernica, protest against Fas...

Portrait of Gertrude Stein, 1906, Metropolitan Mus...

Hip hop music has created a musical tornado that has heavily influenced the global musical village. Hip hop culture has also been responsible for a global change in the way people view themselves.

The style of art of the late sixties and early seventies was influenced by three main artists, Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dali, and Man Ray. Dali's style is characterized by his 1931 painting, The Persistence of Memory. His later works shared the ethereal, lush qualities of his earlier works. Towards the end of his life, Man Ray, the photographer and painter experimented with the light absorption properties of very expensive materials like gold and silver. Pablo Picasso's later works were heavily influenced by the work of Eugene Delacroix. His 1967 sculpture, Head of a Woman, is indicative of the style of his later...