Why People Have Misconceptions About Hip Hop

Many people tend to misunderstand hip-hop, and look down upon hip hop music in comparison to other genres of music. There are a lot of 'rappers' who misrepresent hip hop, and this is the main reason why people have these misconceptions that they have. Listeners are only exposed to mainstream rap played on the radio; they aren't going to be into the underground artists whose music actually has substance.

Many artists who are new to the music industry are very often taken advantage of by record labels. These labels exploit the artists' talents, and abuse the artists for profit. Usually the companies will change up the entire artist, from how they dress and act in public, to what their music sounds like. These artists are naive and will do anything the record labels tell them will make them famous.

In an article by News Week Magazine gives examples of Salt 'n' Pepa, who were taken advantage of by their record label: 

CHERYL JAMES AND SANDY DENTON knew very little about the music business when they landed their recording contract that transformed a couple of Sears' customer-service reps into rap's most successful girl group: Salt 'N' Pepa. How little? In 1985, when their manager said sign on the dotted line, they did: a 1~year contract with Next Plateau Records for 50 cents per album sold  with no option to renegotiate even if they were to become, say, a top 40 hit machine. Three platinum albums later, they made about $100,000 a year each, while their manager and record company raked in millions. "I always knew something wasn't right with it, but I didn't know what," says Denton of their ironclad deal. "We were intimidated by this white business-man telling us it was the right thing to do." Adds James: "We never even thought of a lawyer" (A Risky Business).

These rappers who don't know what to expect when it comes to record labels usually end up with little to no money once they are not famous anymore. And the music they come up with is a false representation of who they and where they come from. When in fact they put on a facade created by the record company so that the artist will be praised by the audience. Then once the artist's prominence has dwindled and they no longer have a use for them they spit them back out into the real world without having actually made any real money. The music that is being made by such rap artists make songs that often cheapens any other artists' music, from the perspective of someone who doesn't acknowledge hip hop's full potential. 

Rap music does have a tendency to be negative and materialistic. The hip hop music that is put out is a reflection of our society's current state. In Jeff Mendelman's rendition of Mos Def's song Hip hop, he stated: “rap music will reflect and analyze wherever we’re at in America. If we’re virtuous, so too will rap. If we remain a misogynistic, malevolent, materialistic society, so too will rap” (Mendelman). 

There are just certain artists who portray hip hop in a very negative way. It isn't limited to only mainstream, but that tends to be what most people hear and base their attitude towards hip hop solely off what is played on the radio.

 "A Risky Business." Newsweek 18 July 1994: 56-57. Rap Coalition. Web. 10 Apr. 2013. <http://www.rapcoalition.org/A%20Risky%20Business.htm>.

Mendelman, Jeff. "From Jay-Z to Kanye West: Does Rap Music Promote Bad Values?"PolicyMic. N.p., 2012. Web. 10 Apr. 2013. <http://www.policymic.com/articles/3001/from-jay-z-to-kanye-west-does-rap-music-promote-bad-values>.