Justin Kaplan- Discussion Panel
I thoroughly enjoyed the discussion panel this week in class because it gave us a great inside look on the hip-hop and rap industry. Professor Pate and Melisa Riviere were extremely interesting and it was really cool to see the differences between the hip-hop and rap "spheres." After listening to the panelists I definitely stand by my beliefs in that I do not believe that vulgar lyrics have anything to do with the fact that hip-hop is at the top of the music industry. The hip-hop and rap industry has grown so much in the last 10-15 years and it is not because of the type of language that the artists are using in their songs. The way that children are brought up these days is a lot different than in the past and the music that they are listening to is also. According to Professor Pate, Hip-Hop and rap is a medium that helps to bring people together. The vulgar language has nothing to do with why hip-hop is at the top of the charts rather I believe that it has to do with the greater appreciation that us Americans have of the lyrics and the music that these artists are writing. I really enjoyed both panelists and I believe that they did a great job answering a lot of our questions that we had about the hip-hop and rap industry.