Point of No Return: The Representation of African Americans' Problems in US Hip-Hop Songs from 1990 to 2000

master's thesis

• Title: "Točka bez povratka": prikaz problema afroamerikanaca u američkim hip-hop pjesmama od 1990. do 2000.
• Author: Borna Linarić
• Mentor: Marijana Grbeša-Zenzerović (mentor)
• Committee member: Marijana Grbeša-Zenzerović (predsjednik povjerenstva)
• Committee member: Igor Kanižaj (član povjerenstva)
• Committee member: Milica Vučković (član povjerenstva)
• Granter: University of Zagreb; The Faculty of Political Science; Zagreb
• Defense date and country: 2018-09-24, Croatia
• Scientific / art field, discipline and subdiscipline: SOCIAL SCIENCES; Information and Communication Sciences; Journalism

Abstract

Svrha ovoga rada je identificiranje koncepata koji prevladavaju u američkim hip hop pjesmama u vremenskom razdoblju od 1990.-2000. godine kada je hip hop doživio svoju prvu komercijalnu ekspanziju u glazbenoj industriji. Odabrani žanr i pjesme analizirane su unutar konteksta političkog problema afroameričke zajednice i rasizma u SAD-u te formacije društvenog pokreta s ishodištem u hip hopu. Metodologija korištena u radu je analiza sadržaja. Odabrane pjesme, njih 146, te pripadajući autori birani su po principu debitanatskih albuma prvih izvođača i glazbenika hip hop žanra na početku 1990-ih godina. Analizom sadržaja utvrđena su zajednička obilježja odabranih pjesama koja su pokazala kako koncepti koji prevladavaju u hop hop pjesmama iz razdoblja 1990.-2000. su: reference na boju kože, reference na negativne stereotipe o Afroamerikancima, reference na seksističke primjedbe prema ženama, reference na policiju u negativnom kontekstu, reference na oružje, reference na drogu, te reference na kriminalne radnje i nasilje. Hip hop žanr i društveni pokret koji se oko njega formirao, skretao je pozornost javnosti i institucija moći na različite oblike rasizma u američkom društvu koji su preživjeli nastojanja desegregacije i politika integracije. Hip hop je postao najvidljiviji simbol Afroameričke zajednice 1990-ih godina te je putem glazbenog izražaja nastavljena borba za prava i dostojanstvo Afroameričke zajednice u SAD-u.

Abstract (english)

The purpose of this paper is to identify the concepts that prevail in American hip hop songs, in the period 1990-2000, when hip hop experienced its first commercial expansion in the music industry. Selected genre and songs have been analysed in the context of the political problems of the African American community and racism in the United States and the formation of a hip hop social movement. The methodology used in the paper is content analysis. The selected songs, 146, and their respective authors were chosen according to the principle of debut albums of the early performers and musicians of hip hop genres at the beginning of the 1990s. Content analysis found common features of selected songs that demonstrated the concepts that prevail in hip hop songs from the 1990s to 2000s: skin color references, references to negative stereotypes about African-Americans, references to sexist remarks to women, references to the police in a negative context, references to weapons, references to drugs, and references to criminal acts and violence. The hip hop genre and the social movement that formed around it drew the attention of the public and power institutions to various forms of racism in American society that survived the efforts of disaggregation and integration policies. Hip hop became the most visible symbol of the African American community in the 1990s, and through the musical expression continued the struggle for the rights and dignity of the African American community in the United States.

• Keywords: hip hop; SAD; rasizam; Afroamerikanci; desegregacija; društveni pokret; analiza sadržaja
• Keywords (english): hip hop; USA; racism; African-Americans; desegregation; social movement
• Language: croatian
• URN:NBN: urn:nbn:hr:114:611278
• Study programme: Title: Novinarstvo; Study programme type: sveučilišni; Study level: diplomski; Academic / professional title: magistar/magistra novinarstva (magistar/magistra novinarstva)
• Type of resource: text
• File origin: Born digital
• Access conditions: Open access
• Created on: 2018-12-14 12:16:09