Jay Ford states that "it is important to understand that you are a part of the Hip Hop era, whether you know it or not." That is a true statement because I am part of the Hip Hop era. I have been listening to rap since 1983. I was only five years old at the time. I could remember the block parties like it was yesterday. Back then; if you didn't have rap at the block party, then it wasn't a party. That was the core of the party. People were break dancing, b-bopping, and rhyming.
I have to agree with Jay Ford, when he said, "Hip Hop has and will continue to influence the world." Back then; we had rappers like Run DMC and Slick Rick, who influenced the way people dress. Because of Run DMC, people wore Adidas. If you didn't have a pair of Adidas, then you were not in style. Then you had Slick Rick who wore all the flashy jewelry, like the big rope chains, gold teeth, and four finger rings. The people wanted to be just like him too, wearing all the flashy jewelry. These days we have rappers like Jay-Z, who too has an influence on how people dress. He came out with a song last year and in the song he stated "And I don't wear jerseys I'm thirty plus. Give me a crisp pair of jeans n***a, button ups. S dots on my feet make myself complete." Just a few simple words made people go out and buy S dots, which are sneakers, and button up shirts. So as you can see, just like back then, Hip Hop still has an influence on the way people dress.
Society in general has an influence on the way people live, but Hip Hop is one of the major influences. Everybody wants to be in style, but everybody can't afford to do it. This is where the violence comes into to place. Yes, Hip Hop does have a role in some of the crimes that have occurred. Like Biggie Smalls said "mom dukes ain't giving me s**t, so for the bread and butter, I leave n****s in the gutter." People have to rob others to get what they want. If they have to beat somebody down or kill him or her just to get what they want, then that is what they would do.
Like I said before, I know that I am apart of the Hip Hop era. As I got older and really understood what the rappers were talking about, I began living part of my life through what I was hearing. My first two years in High School, I always wore fifty-four elevens. That's what we called Reebok Classics because that's how much they cost after taxes. I had every color and style. But then rapper Foxy Brown came on the scene and stated "f**k those Reebok broads, you made it known who your wife was." After hearing that, I stopped wearing Reeboks. Then there was a time when I was real friendly, but all that changed when I heard a verse from Biggie Smalls. He stated, "it's the ones that smoke blunts wit ya, see ya picture, now they wanna grab the gats and come and get ya." Basically what he is saying is the ones who smile in your face all the time are the ones who are scheming and plotting on you, to take what you got or to take you down. These are just a couple of things of how I know that I am apart of Hip Hop.
With all of what I said in mind, Hip Hop has both a positive and negative effect on the way people live their day-to-day lives, as well as the fashion industry. We see examples of this everyday with Hip Hop Stars/Moguls, like Sean "P. Diddy" Combs and Jay-Z. They're branching away from music and using their influence to gain other sources of revenue. If Hip Hop was not a heavily followed industry, we would not see successful clothing companies, restaurants, record labels or sneakers. If Hip Hop were not a heavily imitated industry, we would not see the media blaming deaths and drug use on rap songs. We would not see Artist's like Eminem under constant media gunfire and in the mix of controversy. Things like these happen because everyone knows the influence Hip Hop has on people, both young and old. And at this point, there is pretty much nothing anyone can do to stop its strength.