Dougie
02-17-2003, 08:20 AM
Here is my English GCSE argumentative writing assignment. I hope you all read it although it is a bit long and give me some feedback:
Dear Q Magazine,
I am writing to you in response to your article on the 25th January 2003, which explained how bands such as The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and Queen are still as popular with today’s music listeners as they were twenty years ago.
Twenty years from now, I believe that Hip-Hop will be remembered, and in this article, I explain why it should, should not, and how it will be remembered.
When people look back at Hip Hop, they will most likely remember it for the wrong reasons. In the past few years, the face of Hip Hop has changed dramatically with the murders of such artists as Tupac (2Pac) Shakur, The Notorious B.I.G (Biggie Smalls) and Jam Master Jay of Run DMC.
Tupac and Biggie were murdered in 1996, and ’97 respectively. They were involved in an East coast – West coast rivalry that consisted of rappers from each coast continually ‘dissing’ (mocking) one another and this even continued on to rappers threatening to kill one another. These rivalries are widely believed to be the reasons for the murders of these two artists. When people think of these two artists, they will most likely think of their murders, however, I believe that they should be remembered for their talent and their ability to reach out to people.
Jam Master Jay’s death brings up another problem that rap music faces in today’s world. He was said to be killed because of drug related problems. Artists today like Dr. Dre, Xzibit and Snoop Dogg constantly rap about the use of drugs such as marijuana or even stronger drugs like ecstasy or LSD. These records are then marketed towards teenagers who hear these lyrics and may feel they want to follow in their idols footsteps by taking these drugs. I feel that this side of rap music, is definitely the worst and it is one thing I believe the rappers should cut down on.
The most prominent reason why Hip Hop may be remembered in twenty years is the lyrics. You can rarely pick up a rap c.d in a music store which does not have a “Warning: Parental Advisory – Explicit Lyrics/Content” sticker on the front cover. Nearly all rappers swear on their records and have received a lot of criticism. Although I personally, do not see anything wrong with this, other people, especially adults, may not want their children to be encouraged to swear, as it tends to gain people a bad image.
The artist who will definitely be remembered twenty years from now is Marshall Mathers a.k.a Eminem. Eminem has been criticized extremely heavily for the content in his songs. Eminem has rapped about killing women, including his wife, about how his mother uses drugs and often uses homophobic phrases. But I think people should lighten up, Eminem has openly said that his music is not meant to be taken literally and even performed live on stage at the 2000 Grammy awards with the openly homosexual Elton John – a performance which will go down in history as being a classic. I believe that people look at the worst side of Eminem without looking at his good sides. Despite being bullied for most of his life and having to be raised by an incompetent single mother, he has grown to be a great father. Eminem has dedicated a lot of songs to his daughter Hailie Jade, and has openly said how much he loves her. Also, Eminem can help people look past racial boundaries. He is the first white person since Elvis Pressley to become successful in a genre of music considered only for black people. There are even some critics who call Eminem a Nazi, but how could this be when his five closest friends, who are members of his record company and group, are black? I believe that Eminem can be a good role model for the young of today, as long as they are willing to look beyond his bad features. This paragraph can be summed up in a line from Eminem’s latest single ‘Superman’ when he says:
‘If my music is literal, then I’m a criminal – how the f**k could I raise a little girl? I couldn’t, and I wouldn’t be fit to.’
I believe that Hip Hop should be seen as a success story for many artists. People like Eminem, 2 Pac, Ice Cube and Dr. Dre grew up in either poverty or extremely rough – gang populated areas, and sometimes both. So when these rappers grow popular they should be represented as a sign of hope for young people in these areas who may feel they have no chance of having a high quality of life.
Hip Hop is also seen as a way for many people to express their feelings and raise awareness on topics. Artists like 2 Pac used their records to express his feelings on society. He frequently used stories in his songs to raise awareness on topics such as teen pregnancy, racism and drugs within young black people.
Also, Hip Hop is not just music, it is a culture and this is what sets it apart from other genres of music. Hip Hop consists of four elements: emceeing, dj-ing, graffiti and break dancing. It is this culture that gives some young people a feeling that they belong to something and each element allows people to express themselves in very different ways.
More good news for Hip Hop is that it is starting to be respected and people are starting to realize that isn’t merely people ‘talking fast’. Hip Hop is also becoming a bigger part of the music scene and more and more artists are becoming superstars. Some of the richest people in music are Hip Hop artists, like Sean ‘P. Diddy’ Combes or Dr. Dre. New Hip Hop artists like Ja Rule or 50 Cent are also regularly reaching top spots in today’s music charts.
So in conclusion, I believe that for a genre of music that’s only been around for twenty years, Hip Hop has grown massively to appeal to all kinds of people from different communities and races. In twenty years, I believe that today’s artists are most likely to be remembered for the wrong reasons by all the naïve people – however, hopefully people will have the sense to look past all the negatives to realize that Hip Hop is not just a type of music – but it is a culture that gives hope to many people throughout the world!
Dear Q Magazine,
I am writing to you in response to your article on the 25th January 2003, which explained how bands such as The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and Queen are still as popular with today’s music listeners as they were twenty years ago.
Twenty years from now, I believe that Hip-Hop will be remembered, and in this article, I explain why it should, should not, and how it will be remembered.
When people look back at Hip Hop, they will most likely remember it for the wrong reasons. In the past few years, the face of Hip Hop has changed dramatically with the murders of such artists as Tupac (2Pac) Shakur, The Notorious B.I.G (Biggie Smalls) and Jam Master Jay of Run DMC.
Tupac and Biggie were murdered in 1996, and ’97 respectively. They were involved in an East coast – West coast rivalry that consisted of rappers from each coast continually ‘dissing’ (mocking) one another and this even continued on to rappers threatening to kill one another. These rivalries are widely believed to be the reasons for the murders of these two artists. When people think of these two artists, they will most likely think of their murders, however, I believe that they should be remembered for their talent and their ability to reach out to people.
Jam Master Jay’s death brings up another problem that rap music faces in today’s world. He was said to be killed because of drug related problems. Artists today like Dr. Dre, Xzibit and Snoop Dogg constantly rap about the use of drugs such as marijuana or even stronger drugs like ecstasy or LSD. These records are then marketed towards teenagers who hear these lyrics and may feel they want to follow in their idols footsteps by taking these drugs. I feel that this side of rap music, is definitely the worst and it is one thing I believe the rappers should cut down on.
The most prominent reason why Hip Hop may be remembered in twenty years is the lyrics. You can rarely pick up a rap c.d in a music store which does not have a “Warning: Parental Advisory – Explicit Lyrics/Content” sticker on the front cover. Nearly all rappers swear on their records and have received a lot of criticism. Although I personally, do not see anything wrong with this, other people, especially adults, may not want their children to be encouraged to swear, as it tends to gain people a bad image.
The artist who will definitely be remembered twenty years from now is Marshall Mathers a.k.a Eminem. Eminem has been criticized extremely heavily for the content in his songs. Eminem has rapped about killing women, including his wife, about how his mother uses drugs and often uses homophobic phrases. But I think people should lighten up, Eminem has openly said that his music is not meant to be taken literally and even performed live on stage at the 2000 Grammy awards with the openly homosexual Elton John – a performance which will go down in history as being a classic. I believe that people look at the worst side of Eminem without looking at his good sides. Despite being bullied for most of his life and having to be raised by an incompetent single mother, he has grown to be a great father. Eminem has dedicated a lot of songs to his daughter Hailie Jade, and has openly said how much he loves her. Also, Eminem can help people look past racial boundaries. He is the first white person since Elvis Pressley to become successful in a genre of music considered only for black people. There are even some critics who call Eminem a Nazi, but how could this be when his five closest friends, who are members of his record company and group, are black? I believe that Eminem can be a good role model for the young of today, as long as they are willing to look beyond his bad features. This paragraph can be summed up in a line from Eminem’s latest single ‘Superman’ when he says:
‘If my music is literal, then I’m a criminal – how the f**k could I raise a little girl? I couldn’t, and I wouldn’t be fit to.’
I believe that Hip Hop should be seen as a success story for many artists. People like Eminem, 2 Pac, Ice Cube and Dr. Dre grew up in either poverty or extremely rough – gang populated areas, and sometimes both. So when these rappers grow popular they should be represented as a sign of hope for young people in these areas who may feel they have no chance of having a high quality of life.
Hip Hop is also seen as a way for many people to express their feelings and raise awareness on topics. Artists like 2 Pac used their records to express his feelings on society. He frequently used stories in his songs to raise awareness on topics such as teen pregnancy, racism and drugs within young black people.
Also, Hip Hop is not just music, it is a culture and this is what sets it apart from other genres of music. Hip Hop consists of four elements: emceeing, dj-ing, graffiti and break dancing. It is this culture that gives some young people a feeling that they belong to something and each element allows people to express themselves in very different ways.
More good news for Hip Hop is that it is starting to be respected and people are starting to realize that isn’t merely people ‘talking fast’. Hip Hop is also becoming a bigger part of the music scene and more and more artists are becoming superstars. Some of the richest people in music are Hip Hop artists, like Sean ‘P. Diddy’ Combes or Dr. Dre. New Hip Hop artists like Ja Rule or 50 Cent are also regularly reaching top spots in today’s music charts.
So in conclusion, I believe that for a genre of music that’s only been around for twenty years, Hip Hop has grown massively to appeal to all kinds of people from different communities and races. In twenty years, I believe that today’s artists are most likely to be remembered for the wrong reasons by all the naïve people – however, hopefully people will have the sense to look past all the negatives to realize that Hip Hop is not just a type of music – but it is a culture that gives hope to many people throughout the world!