In 1985 the legendary forefather of rap, Kurtis Blow,
set the rap industry off by being the first hip-hop artist to ever appear in a
television commercial. Cola was the first company to take a huge risk by
deciding to use rap star as a tool to market their soda to inner-city youth.
Needless to say their ideas paid off in a major way. During this time period,
the American society was still afraid of the rap culture. so whoever was the
person behind their marketing campaign had a lot of "heart" and
deserves a rap lifetime achievement award. His idea helped bring the industry
to the mainstream media.
Run-D.M.C rap royal impressionist, had written catchy
phrases referencing name brands in the unique style on the microphone, but none
of those attempts hit you in the chest like a ton of cement bricks the way the
verses Kurtis Blow delivered on the television screen when his commercial was
first aired. Rap had finally made it through the corporate doors, but there
were still a lot of people who were terrified by its death and destruction
caused by commercialism.
Why Did People Think Rap Music Wasn't Going To Make It?
The reason people thought rap music wasn't going to
make it, because American pop culture was a monster music genre that
systematically stayed topping the charts, leaving no room for any other musical
genre type.
Throughout the years, Hip-hop has dodged more than its
fair share of bullets from its moral enemies, such as C.Deloris Tucker and
various other political assassins who will remain nameless. If it wasn't for
brothers like Tupac and mogul Russell Simmons, who weren't afraid to call these
media snipers from out of the shadows and expose them to the world, the
industry would probably not be alive and flourishing today. Nowadays the rap
industry only threat is other rappers in the game taking each other life. These
artists are taken rap beef way further then wax.
Hip-hop culture is a worldwide network of communities,
wherein every artist is direct or indirect association with one another. Every
rapper can contribute his career in some way to the success and talent of
another rapper. Whether an artist was brought into Hip-hop's inner circle by
another rapper or influenced by the talents of another rapper, the two have
formed an unbreakable link. Every single artist believes in the hip-hop art
form and everything it stands for. Therefore if hip-hop were ever destroyed
today, it would result in a historical tragedy domino effect, destroying the
hopes, dreams, and lifestyle of all its cultural practitioners. Think about
it-rap is very deep. They are people who base their entire purpose for
breathing on Hip-hop. If Rap dies, then shortly after they will fade away.
