Does Modern Hip-hop Have More Influence But Less Accountability Than Ever? (Discussion)

I’d like to lead a discussion on if modern hip hop has more influence but less accountability than ever.

The Meter of Influence: Hip-Hop’s Expanding Reach

If we analyze what the meter of influence is in comparison to hip hop’s reach and its ability to expand that, we would have to look at hip-hop’s unprecedented influence on modern and past culture, fashion, language, and even social norms.

In my 31 years of life, I’m finally in a position where I can recall times that’s considered the past. The culture I remember would value entertainment that was linked to technology. Specifically I have my mind go to video games. We can say that and super customized cars. So that would be flashy rims, tv screens in the back of the seats, and maybe convertibles. I just painted my main perception of the mid to early 2000s. These were the materialistic things that cost large amounts of money.

Hip hop stops reflecting culture and starts actively defining it when the people who are of age or properly qualify to actually work within the industry. can and actually choose to do so. This is where you will start to notice that they are actively choosing to wear clothes that… might not be… a go to for your average consumer, and they attempt to address in order to make a statement in itself. The language that they choose ends up being something that is understood to possibly ruffle feathers or even upset. 
But it’s done out of a drive and purpose that is bigger than the individual themselves. And that ends up defining the social norm because if this person or representative of hip hop ends up being successful, despite… going against the grain in these ways, it becomes a social norm because of that influence that they end up acquiring as a result of sticking to what their guide or blueprint would be considered to be.

There’s been several waves of trends that has gone on to take the world by storm. Arguably, one of the most important tools that helped fuel this would be social media. 
And its ability to put contents out in a global scale. That’s only one angle, though. You can review clothing. 
Sneakers. And the lingo that would be native to whatever region, the celebrities of hip hop would be from.

Hip-hop ends up acting as a mirror of generational values. Just through existing. As people continue to live life, their values and the way they raised themselves or were raised by others ends up showing as they ingrain themselves into society. 
They eventually become a working member of society that contributes to things that shapes and molds the world that we see today. And… It… becomes directly tied to hip hop as they continue to claim the community. 
It might not be outright saying the words that they claim hip hop, but there will be telling signs and other things that will show that they are locked in with what’s considered hip hop culture. And as these people continue to live and lead their life, it pushes values that run the world in new or even controversial directions. When they do things that are considered innovative, when you are prolific and influential in a way that is unforeseen, it becomes news that, ends up being highly important to the rest of the world. 
That means that you tapped into a formula or algorithm, maybe. And you figured out a new recipe for success that can be duplicated and shared among the world that might not know how to integrate that into their life and help contribute to the rest of the world.. in a way that enhances what they are currently doing already.

Hip hop was always meant to lead cultural trends when you look back at its history of it being a response to oppression. They were never really meant to fit in. And that display of being a rebel ended up becoming a trend. 
And it revealed that if you can play along with the rules while also not following the ones that were made before you, in an ethical way. You are a champion. Now, it’s gotten to where it evolved to ingrain itself into existing trends as you get to see more hip hop collaborations with seemingly unrelated industries. 
And in turn, what that did was create a pocket where hip hop itself was trying to keep up with the Joneses in a way. There’s a way that you can tell the difference. between the 2 and that is its origins. Everything that was hip hop. down to its root and core stemmed from elevating yourself out of unfavorable conditions or having an opportunity to reach a status or level that’s higher than what that person’s experiencing already. 
In a way, the community itself is synonymous with inspiration and being able to motivate others to better themselves. Every leader that we can recall has had these humble beginnings, as we could call it. And rose to a level that was much different than where they started at. 
And that in turn, their life story ended up becoming… a trendy thing to emulate.

I can even attest to how my relationship as an artist has been with my audience being something that shapes the way that we see hip hop. I actively contribute myself just off my personal life choices. My response to things that the average person can go through and even above average. what someone who is part of humanity would be able to learn from. 
It’s, Going back to that existing point where how you live your life ends up being placed on a microscope. Something that’s studied and watched and dissected in several different ways. It’s different from having what was considered a traditional career because there would be a point that you can clock out of whatever it is that you did. 
And After that, you go off the grid. Most hip hop musicians and anyone else that considers themselves part of artistry ends up agreeing and whether it’s understood at the beginning or later on to have their lifestyle be the thing that is always watched. You end up giving away a large part of your privacy in a way. 
But it becomes up to the artist to make that trade-off something that’s worth it.

Tracing Accountability: A Legacy Carried Forward

Let’s take Michael Jackson for example. I consider him a great example of accountability and legacy. He was in his prime a little ahead of my time, but when you follow the stories of the standard he held himself and the people he would work with, it easily applies as someone of hip hop culture that set the standard.

He’s someone that could be studied even today with how he was a mirror of expectations that society would go on to have for performers and impactful individuals. When people wanted to be the greatest at something, they would always reference him. He would be the standard for what model work would be.

It was important that we would get to experience such a powerful personality. Society needs these type of people to continue redefining what it means to reach for the stars when deciding to do more than simply be good at something. These type of people help us to be great!

It’s tough to say 100% whether we as a society are creating new talent that can mirror the likes of another Michael Jackson for example, but we definitely can say that expectations from performers (music or not) skyrockets as time goes on. It’s because the bar continues to get raised.

Societal Reflections: Influence, Responsibility, and Accountability

I wanna speak more to the social reflections point made earlier and how it impacts the artists more than we would initially think. Politics ends up playing a role in the way hip hop influencers are perceived, both federally and locally. An example would be where there’s actually some areas that give people a harder time at living their life just for things you wouldn’t expect. It could be for wearing certain clothing, accessories, playing certain music, and anything other than what would normally be expected. It’s a highly popular conundrum in the hip hop community although it’s been the case in other cultures too.

It’s unfortunate because often it’s musicians in hip hop that gather the most heat behind these occurrences because of a responsibility placement put on them when something goes wrong in the community they’re most known in. Members of these areas understand that the rappers spends good majority of time with the future of their community. It’s actually had a moment in time when video games would influence this same perception. A good majority of the games were promoted in hip hop too.

Accountability has to happen individually before it becomes a societal construct. What you’re asking for when trying to enforce this is creating a community full of leaders. It’s absolutely possible too, it just has to expand eventually. Being accountable as someone with influence happens best with those that had to overcome adversity enough before earning that authority. The imbalance between the two while the state culture continues to change puts more pressure on the leaders of today because they have to keep up with the joneses in a way to continue this dominance. People’s priorities change eventually and holding influence isn’t their prerogative anymore. In most cases I’m finding that’s because they’re tired of adjusting their character for what it takes to remain an accountable individual. There’s a level of flexibility that goes under the radar way too much.