Phase 3 Cover Letter(Kill Culture)

In this essay I spoke on the evolution of hip hop and its effect on inner city communities all over the world.I took the reader from the origin of Hip-Hop in the 80s all the way to the present day, giving the reader background as well as full updated context on the topic at hand. The feedback I was given was to add quotes, and talk about why music has become more negative and why, as well as specifying that lean is made in The US and a couple of more critiques were made. I made sure to add a couple more quotes, including one from NBA Youngboy from his song “I Hate Youngboy”, and in my conclusion I made sure to talk about why music has become more negative over the years. In this essay I educated the reader on slang terms used in hip-hop culture as well as the differences between each era by highlighting important individuals from each decade to show as evidence for how the genre has changed. From groups like Run DMC and Public Enemy, Beastie Boys to groups like Mobb Deep and Wu-Tang Clan, to the Neptunes and Roc Nation, to O block and 4KT. The groups I mentioned from the 80s were all conscious to a degree, the groups from the 90s were gritty, the groups from the 2000’s were fashion forward and the groups from the 2010s were more violent. This is the overall best way to differentiate each decade of hip-hop up to now in my personal opinion. The sad part is that it looks like this next generation will be defined the same way as the 2010s, which shows a lack of diversity in the trajectory of a genre that can have detrimental effects on the youth. I also go into to many different statistical pieces of evidence that show there has been a rise in crime in the last couple of years, during the same time drill has only gotten bigger and more spread out. I also spoke on the fact that this isn’t just an American issue but it is a world issue as we are now seeing kids from London to Ghana to Ireland all attach themselves to drill music. 

I think I did a good job at providing information about this topic, as well as breaking down each era of this genre and distinguishing them. I also used quotes from a variety of sources including interviews, songs and articles. I feel I could have done better by predicting what the future holds in a more full manner as well as showing an opposing argument, and the good side of this era of hip hop.