Slaves who survived the journey from Africa to America didn’t share language, music-making or drumming because they were not permitted. Therefore singing and using call and response became a way of creating a community within a group of strangers. When slaves worked in the fields a great deal of verbal communication took place. Culture identification, language and sight communication took place.
When communication was established a bond was created. A cluster of words, sight and sound mixed with other cultures unlike each other. Some sounds were not heard but vibrated deep down in their souls. Hidden visions with profiles so low that you had to look very close in order to see the signs.
In music, the call and response is a succession of two distinct phrases usually played by different musicians, where the second phrase is heard as a direct commentary on or response to the first. It corresponds to the call-and-response pattern in human communication and is found as a basic element of musical form, such as verse-chorus form, in many traditions. Other call and response combinations are male and female vocals. The mix of Hip Hop with RnB is a good mix.
This theme in African American music has continued throughout musical history, creating a Civil Rights Movement. Hip Hop consists of a stylized rhythmic music that accompanies rhythmic and rhyming lyrics that is chanted in a very stylish way. This Hip Hop culture developed into a subculture that is defined by 12 key stylistic elements. Master of Ceremonies, Rapping, Beatboxing, Call and Response, Dis Jockeying, Unique Recording Style, Scratching, Sampling, Break Dancing, Fashioning, Spoken Word and Graffiti Writing.
Another style of the Hip Hop culture is the positive message style. A way that is crucial for the uplifting of communities. It will be a great benefit to society if people that now oppose Hip Hop try to embrace the culture rather than attacking it. Hip Hop music can reference slavery and emancipation to make people aware of current parallels in the American society to the times of slavery. Some will argue that references to slavery and emancipation are still relevant in popular music today.
With all due respect it shows not just the lyricism of these songs, but other characteristics like call and response, percussion and emotion. Despite everything else Hip Hop in the United States still remain to be a strong vocal fraction in our communities. Many people believe that Hip Hop can represent a positive message.
Some attempts to undermine the intentionality of Hip Hop and its negative effects. Some promotes the notion that this positive socio-cultural form is a plus for touchy and concerning topics. The positive message Hip Hop artists should generally have more economic wealth, score higher on the peoples’ choice list. It should have a call and response to conflicts with a response more politically stable to combat the modern day conflicts.
