SOCIAL IMPACTS:

Probably the largest impact that hip-hop has had on youth culture lies in its ability to cross social and racial borders and bring people together. Music director and movie producer Mark Shimmel, put it this way in an interview with U.S Life and Culture when talking about the impact of hip-hop. “The sociological and cultural impact of rock and roll pales in comparison to what hip-hop has been able to accomplish. Hip-hop is the singular most important melding of black and white cultures that has ever existed in the United States,” Shimmel said. “Hip-hop is a story about music, but it is much more than that. Urban music, like Motown, worked for white audiences, but you did not see blacks and whites together at live concerts. Hip-hop changed that, because it was about fashion and language from the beginning, and -- most importantly -- captured a sense of urgency that teenagers in the suburbs and in the cities could relate to. When hip-hop artists wrote about the world they saw in the inner city, black and white teens recognized that the isolation of suburbia was not much different.” Hip-hop is a music that has transcended cultural and racial barriers and has given millions of people insight in how it’s like to live in these “ghettos”. By giving insight to the rest of the world we are better able to address issues in these communities as well as in our own communities and try to bring about change. Hip-hop brings not only white and black people together but it also reaches out to every minority. More and more artists from all different backgrounds are now exploring hip hop as a means of communication and to tell their “story” and its popularity will only continue to grow as artists from every ethic background continue to reach out to the world.