A Style Nobody can Deal With: Politics, Styles and the Postindustrial City in Hip Hop

This article gives a great insight on the foundations of Hip Hop and the challenges faced during this time period. Contrary to most people I understood and connected to this article very well. However, I have to agree with Dr. Bogad that this was different time and Hip Hop has evolved since then.
Rose’s article identified key points in the development of Hip Hop. She talks about how “Hip Hop replicates and reimagines the experiences of urban life and symbolically appropriates urban space through sampling, attitude, dance, style and sound effects.” The problem with the replication of such images is that it has taken this notion to the extremes. It has been difficult for entrepreneurs in this industry to draw the line on “its complicity with commercialism.”
One thing I did not understand from the reading was how she talked about the use of commodity in Hip Hop but she failed to express the use of women as commodity in Hip Hop videos.
My direct experiences in the Hip Hop world have been very limited. Shamefully when I came here and learned about Hip Hop it was at Hope High School from the African American students there. I would hear them singing songs that I did not understand and my brother’s friends watching the videos in BET. I respect those who enjoy Hip Hop but ever since high school I have overlooked it because of the subliminal messages that I disagree with, especially those reflecting women.