Future of Hip Hop

By Akai Milan

Choice Future Of Hip Hop

When thinking about my Special Subject Project, I knew that such a long project meant that a lot
of time, work and effort needed to be spent in order to obtain the best grade possible. Due
to this, I knew my chosen topic had to circle round something I was truly passionate about.
This gives reasoning for why I have decided to further investigate into the future of hip hop.
Additionally, I believe that this topic was chosen by heart, as hip hop has gone through an
extensive collection of sounds throughout its not long lived years. As a result, this makes sure
that extra time has to be spent on coming up with a final opinion of what the genre of music
will sound like in the near future as it has gone through its different textures. Lastly, the
fact that Ive grown up listening to hip hop throughout my entire life simply shows why I
chose this to be the topic discussed. The fact that I have so much background knowledge on
the culture, instantly makes my project more applicable to do to at a high degree. The
addition of other peoples opinions and knowledge also makes for a benefit, as it would
enhance my knowledge on societys views of hip hop today.
Throughout this project, I am hoping to find out many peoples opinion - within the music
industry and not - on what hip hops sound will be in the future, and how this sound will be
marketed to consumers. As well as showcasing the possibilities of hip hops future, you will
also learn about hip hops history within this project. Overall, this gives the project more
prospective showing where hip hop has come...and where it may be heading.

Research Methods - Part One

Many questions such as the questionnaires age
and occupation were asked to simply get a
background understanding of who they
were as people. The question about their
musical background portrayed what they
grew up listening to and was most
influenced by. The outcome for who are
your favourite artists was used also for the
same results. Finally, the question about Hip
Hops future gave me peoples prediction of
what they believe Hip Hop will succumb to
in the near future. The questions not
mentioning Hip Hops future were mainly
used in order for me to justify why people
chose the answers that they did. As a result,
it gave me more of an understanding of
their journey through rap.
I decided to go with a questionnaire in order to
figure out my projects question, as it is
unbiased and had the ability to easily and
quickly obtained the information I needed.

Research Methods Part Two

I chose to use a variety of different people throughout my questionnaire, as I wanted to display
three categories of different opinions, with this being: the musicians and engineers, labels
and managers, and lastly civilians. I also chose a variety of ages within each group in order to
not make my data biased and to ensure that it had variety. I also used the same technique for
cultural differences, musical differences, and up-bringing.
I decided to use primary data only and not secondary, as it deemed seemingly difficult to find
accurate secondary data. When going out and collecting my primary data, I used my phone to
record an interview with the people being questioned, as I wanted to get word for word how
they answered the questions. Additionally, I made sure that the people being questioned
hadnt heard the questions being asked before hand, as I wanted to get a natural and not
processed or thoroughly thought about answer. This portrayed their exact and true feelings
about the questions at that time, which I felt made the answers more honest.

I decided to use five people for the questionnaire for the Musicians and Engineers group, as it
gave me a variety of answers to work with. I wanted to do the same for the Labels and
Managers group, but none of the labels I had emailed managed to get back to me in time.
Lastly, I used four people for the questionnaire for the Civilians group again for the same
reasons; variety.

Research Methods - Timeline

2nd

Jan: Visit
Essex to
interview
Molly, Mikis,
and Blair.

1st Dec 31st

Dec: Complete
and finalise
the slides on
Hip Hops
history.

1st Jan: Take a trip

down to South
London to
interview Nyshai
and two known
civilians.

9th Jan: Show the

embodiment of
answers obtained
from
questionnaires on
my Excel files.

3rd Jan: Take a trip to

North London to
interview Marcellus,
Miguel, and Mike
(from Warner). After
this, visit the inner
city of London in
order to interview
two known civilians.

11th Jan: Give

comparisons
between the
different group of
questionnaires.

10th Jan: Analyse

the answers
given from the
questionnaires.

12th Jan:
Write up
my
research
log and
final overall
conclusion.

Until 23rd
March: Keep
updating my
research
through
analysis on
research,
conclusions
and
evaluations.

Research Methods Tick Sheet

Schedule
Date

Task

Completed

Comments

27th November -

Select a subject and

provide a proposal on the
topic

This was completed by

the date expected, with
no problems given

1st December 31st

December

Research the history of

Hip Hop and its
foundations

This was very well

organised, giving me
extra time for completion

1st January 3rd January

Interview those being

questioned about this
topic by visiting them

This was the most time

consuming, but was
worth the end result

9th & 10th January

Write up the answers

given in these interviews
and then analyse

This took a day longer

than expected, causing
me to go off schedule

11th January -

Give comparisons on the

groups of answers given

Completed on time

12th January -

Write up my research log

and overall evaluation

Completion made it
ready for the due date

This tick sheet was produced within my coursework, as I felt like it was the easiest way to keep
track of what it is I am supposed to be doing, and what given time.

Research Methods Part Three

I gave the Hip Hops history research the most time for completion, as I felt as if it was extremely
important in order to guide readers through Hip Hops past, as it has gone through its journeys of
ups and downs. Everyday I plan to search through different videos on YouTube in order to obtain
the correct material. From this, I shall add bits of information here and there, in order to tailor my
final product and break down of Hip Hops history. I have chosen not to use Wikipedia or any
other sites for this particular research, as when looking into them, they seemed very unreliable
sources to attain the correct data from.
Ive given myself three days in order to travel to different locations and interview the people
chosen. I shall travel via train, and once meeting, I will interview them using my phone audio
recordings, as I want to get their answers word for word. As a result, I can provide detailed
descriptions on how they truly feel about the topic. By giving myself a day to analyse the
questionnaires answers, I will be able to provide on set and natural thought on why they have
chosen these answers. I have decided to do so, so close to the date of asking the questions, as I
wanted my brain to not be fresh on the topic and be influenced by other sources read throughout
this time. The same reasons go for the comparisons of answers given.
Lastly, the overall conclusion, felt like a easy procedure to follow, as all I had to do was look at the
answers given and apply this knowledge to detail what I thought would be the overall outcome of
Hip Hop in the future. This is why I gave myself a day to finish this.

History of Hip Hop Slide Breakdown

Beginnings
Break-beats and Gangs
The Come-Up
The Influenced
The Come-Up: Part Two
MTV
Changes
Deals and Chart Success
Parental Advisory
Death Row and Gang Violence
West Coast vs. East Coast
West Coast vs. East Coast: Part Two
West Coast vs. East Coast: The End
Hip Hop At The Top

Beginnings

Hip Hop music has been with us for more than thirty years now, with it today, selling more
records than any other music genre
People of the Bronx believed that music genres such as Disco, were well out of touch with
the lives that they were living. The positive music outlet that was being heard within the 70s,
seemed very far away from what those of poverty were experiencing. They felt as if they
werent as of high of a society to be down with the flashy high classed dancing. As a result of
this, they created their own
In 1971, DJ Cool Herk was the first DJ to bring a Manhattan technique to the Bronx this
being, street DJing with two turntables instead of one. As a result, DJs had the ability to
transition from one song to another without having to stop the record playing. However,
unlike other DJs, Cool Herk didnt play Disco music, but rather hardcore funk music, that
others ignored
With Herks key observational skills, he noticed that energy on the dance floor is peak during
the instrumental breaks of records. This caused DJ Cool Herk to come up with the
fundamentals of Hip Hop by combining a load of instrumental breaks together in order to
create a continuous flow of dancing within the crowd this would later be known as used by
many Hip Hop pioneers in order to create the beats they wanted to rap over. This is sampling

Break-beats and Gangs

Due to DJ Cool Herks new DJing technique, which later became known as the break-beats,
a new style of dancing became popular within the streets. This is style would later be named
break-dancing
As break-dancing became seemingly more popular, another pioneer of Hip Hop got hold of
the break beat style, his name was Afrika Bambaataa. When Bambaataa became a DJ, he
unleashed a new energy into Hip Hop an energy that influenced many street gangs within
the Bronx
Afrikan Bambaataa himself was associated with a gang within the Bronx, but decided to lead
the Bronx into another direction when witnessing the imprisonment and killings of many of
his close friends and family members. He helped by forming Zulu nation this was a
collective of Hip Hop pioneers that organised parties and then put the money they made
into self-help projects
This was a dramatic change for the Bronx, as the Zulu nation had originally been The Black
Spades, the biggest gang within the Bronx. This caused children that had previously joined
gangs, to channel their energy to break dancing literally taking to the streets, with speakers
and turntables

The Come-Up

With the come-up of break dancing DJs started to come up with decided DJ techniques.
Scratching was one of them, with the DJ moving the record back and forth, scratching it
through the needle. However, the trick was to do this without damaging the vinyl. DJs also
began using two copies of the same record, playing them off with each other, pushing them
back to extend the beat. This was known as back-spinning
The last piece of Hip Hop to emerge was the style of rapping. However, it had not been
named rap yet, as a style of picking up the microphone and rapping over it was known as
mcing. By the late 1970s, mcing had formed its named, Hip Hop
Tapes were the thing back then in order to spread the love of Hip Hop
As the 70s came to a close, Hip Hop not being noticed by record companies was all about to
change
Impressed by its originality, Sylvia Robinson decided to produce a Hip Hop record, and was
looking for a rapper to rap on it. Big Bank Hank was discovered when Robinson was ordering
pizza, as he was rapping to himself whilst preparing her food. Asking him if he wanted to
make a record, she brought Hank into her sons car and auditioned him to record that she
wanted to cut. A week later he recorded the track in the studio which was done in one take

The Influenced

Rappers Delight was released in 1979 and became a massive regional commercial success.
However, the streets didnt take a liking towards the record, as they believed it was too soft
not resembling the Hip Hop that they wanted to hear. Every rapper at the time was mortified,
as they believed that the higher society was messing about with their art form, making it
something that it wasnt at the time
At the time, the record was also disliked by the streets, as most of the lyrics were not
originally written by Big Bank Hank himself. This was noticed when Big Bank Hank rapped
the C-A-S-NA, the O-V-A and the rest is F-L-Y, as this was a rappers name known
throughout the Bronx; Casanova Fly was someone that Big Bank Hank was very close with
Graffiti and tagging arrived in the streets due to Hip Hop
Blondies Rapture was one of the first songs to have the influence of a non-coloured person
rapping this was all due to Fab Five Freddy, as he was close friends with the group and one
day, asked Debbie to make a record about him
Blondies Rapture later reached the number one spot on the US national chart. This paved
the way for what was to come of Hip Hop as it starting to be played throughout the discos
and nightclubs of downtown Manhattan

The Come-Up: Part Two

Afrika Bambaataa would later make one of the most influential Hip Hop dance songs ever
this being Planet Rock. Planet Rock was influenced by Afrika Bambaataa hanging out with a
load of punk rock artists when DJ at parties. This gave the record its futuristic techno feel
When released in 1982, Planet Rock became the fastest selling 12 inch single ever. It was
released through a small independent record label known as Tommy Boy Records
Planet Rock had approximately 12 different songs that were sampled within the record with
one of them being Kraftwerks Trans-Europe Express, which cause them to get sued by
Kraftwerks publishing company
Grand Master Flash The Message, was the song that knocked Planet Rocks stature off the
table. The Message was the most roar form of rap put on record, demanding for it to be
taken seriously. However, The Message almost never happened, as when Grand Master Flash
and The Furious Five were brought the song, they didnt at first want to record it, as it was
the slow tempo and seriousness of the track was the opposite of what was going on in the
streets at the time
When Ronald Reagan won the presidential elections in 1984, he celebrated by inviting the
New York City Breakers, to his inaugural ball. Break dancing was now adored by middle
America, but Hip Hop music was still not as accepted

MTV

Launched in 1981, MTV was the first station to lay non-stop music videos around the clock.
MTV considered itself a rock channel, with its first two years on air, it played no Hip Hop
Hip Hops exclusion ended, with the arrival of Run DMC. In 1983, Run DMC became the first
rap group ever shown on MTV
With the sound and values that embodied Rock n Rolls rebelliousness, Run DMC was
entered into the brand of rap that capture the imagination. All Rock n Rollers loved this
and would later cause Hip Hop to become the new Rock n Roll. This was proven when Run
DMC collaborated with Aerosmith to remix Walk This Way
Run DMC were familiar with the beginning drum break-down section of the song, as they
always used to rap over the beat, but had never heard the actual whole song. When Rick
Rubin told them his vision, they sat down and listened to the track past the drum loop that
they had always rapped to. When hearing the first parts of the song, they called Rick Rubin
and told him that they didnt want to do it as all the homies would laugh at us. After a long
talk with Rubin, they decided to write to the song and record it, as they gradually heard it
working
The Walk This Way remix displayed the head on collision between Rock and Rap, which made
it perfect for MTV making the song go to number four on the US pop chart

Changes

Yo MTV raps was created as a daily show dedicated to Hip Hop, obtaining the biggest
audience on the channel. By the end of the 80s, Hip Hop would become a regular visitor to
the US pop charts, moving above and beyond its original fan base in New York
Def Jam Recordings was the first label to specialise exclusively in rap. The group to actively
define the label was Public Enemy. Public Enemy wanted to make music that was not listened
to by female fans, as they felt that at the time it was sold out, with all the RnB that was
being heard. They deliberately didnt use melodies and made sure that things were out of
tune and out of time, because they wanted to create a feeling
Ice-T was the first rapper to come out of the East Coast, and his style resembled a more hard
edging sound that was not offered on the East side of America
N.W.A were a different form of rap group, as their lyrics and topics were more vivid than
others. They mainly talked about the violence of their hometown, Compton, as well as the
gang violence spread throughout America. The Straight Outta Compton album would later
be held as a music landmark for Hip Hop
When F*ck The Police dropped, it was not taken lightly by the police, as the FBI wrote
N.W.A a letter saying that the law enforcement didnt like the song. However, this only made
their album sell more, obtaining a white suburban audience for N.W.As message

Deals and Chart Success

Due to this encounter with the police, N.W.A started making more music that would get
people worked up even more. This gives reasoning for why they consistently said the word
n*gga and b*tch
In 1989, west coast rapper Tone Loc would change the topics of Hip Hop through the song
Wild Thing. Wild Thing was a song about having fun and chasing girls. Wild Thing stayed in
the US charts for so long, that it became the second biggest selling single of all time. This
caused a lot of labels to look for more clean cut friendly rap artists to sign, with the first
major record label to plunge in being Capitol Records. They paid $3,250,000 to sign an MC
from Oakland California, known as MC Hammer
With single Cant Touch This, MC Hammer went to the top of the US pop chart for 21
weeks, making him have the best selling album in the world that year. However, MC
Hammers mainstream acceptability and pop success went against everything that rap had
previously stood for, causing the streets to label Hammer too pop
Vanilla Ice was a rapper from Dallas who had a core black fan base. He later signed a
$1,500,000 deal with SPK records turning him into a novelty act. He later went on to sell 15
million copies of his album, due to singles topping the charts, such as Ice Ice Baby. This
caused his core fans to label him as a sell out, due to him going pop

Parental Advisory

At this time, rap seemed to be following in Rock n Rolls footsteps, beginning as a black
ghetto music and becoming pop. However, in Miami Florida, a rap group was emerging, that
was far from pop oriented. 2 Live Crew had a rap sound that revolved around sex. Their
stage act consisted of half naked women dancing, making them the most talked about group
in Miami. When their music later spread from the city to outer city suburbs, middle class
parents were horrified at what their children were listening to. Taking action upon this, a
Florida judge ruled 2 Live Crews album to be obscene, the ruling made it legal to sell the
record or perform its lyrics in the state of Florida. In 1990, the court threw out the obscenity
charges, allowing the album to be back on sale, causing the 2 Live Crew to become the most
famous group in America
Police brutality was something Americas black communities had complained about for years.
In 1991, an incident was caught on camera that proved it was true. The brutal and
unprovoked beating of Rodney King, later influenced Ice T to write the song Cop Killer with a
group called Body Count. This was a protest record against the police, but gained little
attention. In April of 92 however, Cop Killer became the most notorious song in America, due
to the riots of Rodney King. However, Cop Killer was a rock record that had no rapping on it,
but was later labelled a rap record in order to scare the public into not liking it

Death Row and Gang Violence

In 1991, Gangsta rap was out selling any form of rap music, with artists such as N.W.A and Ice
T being the pivotal messengers of this genre. However, by 1992, N.W.A split up and their
producer turned rapper, Dr Dre, made his first solo album, The Chronic. This was released by
Death Row Records, with The Chronic being the making of Death Row; selling over
$3,000,000 copies and staying in the top 10 pop charts for an amazing eight months. The
albums main track, Nuthin But A G Thing, became a Gangsta rap anthem, and featured a new
artists signed by Death Row, Snoop Dogg
In 1993, during the shooting of Snoop Doggs Who Am I (Whats My Name)? video, fights
began to spring out between gang members. An argument had broken out between Snoops
body guards and some members of a rival gang, with the row going on for several days,
before one of the members of the gang were shot dead leaving Snoop facing a third degree
murder charge. Two months after the shooting, Snoops album was released, selling 800,000
copies in its first week alone, resulting in it going straight to number one in the charts. It later
went on to sell 5,000,000 copies. With Snoop going to court for a killing, many people started
to see Gangsta rap as not being just a description of the streets anymore, but rather apart of
it. This later went on to having the first black person complain about rap, this being C.Delores
Tucker

West Coast vs. East Coast

Former drug dealer Biggie Smalls, was the first East Coast rapper, to match with West Coast
Gangsta, on his own terms. Biggie Smalls single-handedly put New York rap back on the map,
having continuous chart success and later on selling 11,000,000 albums. However, another
rap artists was also on the rise, but this time being from the West Coast. This was Tupac.
Their stardom, placed on opposite sides of the country, gave rise to a friendship that would
ultimately turn sour
Tupac went through a series of convictions with the law. In November 1994, he faced a rape
charge. After Tupacs first court date, he went to meet Biggie Smalls in the studio to talk, but
never got to, as he was shot 9 times at the door. Despite his injuries, which included the
removal of a testicle, he returned to court next day and was found guilty of rape, sentencing
him to 4 years in prison. With Tupac in jail, his latest album, Me Against The World, went
straight to the US pop charts, making him the first artist ever to have a number record whilst
in jail. Tupac came out of prison after a year, and immediately signed with Death Row
Records. The next morning after Tupacs exit from prison, he had made a double CD in the
studio, with his first album making $10,000,000 in its first week
While in prison, Tupac had become convinced that the man responsible for his shooting, was
his old friend Biggie Smalls, resulting in him making Hit Em Up

West Coast vs. East Coast: Part Two

Hit Em Up addressed the issues that Tupac had towards Biggie Smalls. The song didnt only
target Biggie, but also Biggies wife, his label Bad Boy Records, Bad Boys Owner Puffy Combs,
and about anyone who ever recorded with them. With one song, Tupac had consumed a feud
that had built fire for the entire rap scene
The tension between West Coast and East Coast was built by another clash of personalities,
which mirrored the feud between Tupac and Biggie. This involved the owners of their record
companies, Death Row and Bad Boy. Death Row was founded by Mario Suge Knight, a 21
stone former body guard. With a criminal conviction for armed assault to his name, he was
by far the most feared and intimidating executive in the music industry. He had a habit of
dressing in red, the colour favoured by LAs most feared street gang, the bloods. Bad Boys
boss was Sean Puffy Combs, having discovered Biggie Smalls, Puff was busy raising his own
profile by appearing in all of his artists videos
At the Source awards, Suge Knight made his feelings towards Puffy Combs public. This then
added fire to the Tupac and Biggie beef, as it now appeared to be a diss war between the East
Coast and the West Coast. However, on the night of December 1996, East Coast West Coast
feud, did begin to look like a real war. Death Rows owner Suge Knight and superstar Tupac
Shakur were riding in a car that was sprayed with bullets in a drive-by shooting

West Coast vs. East Coast: The End

Suge Knight was unhurt, but Tupac had been hit four times, making the biggest selling name
in rap murdered. This caused many Gangsta rappers to fear for their lives, as they all didnt
know how this had all come about
In November 1996, Suge Knight was convicted of assault, and was sentenced to nine years in
prison. With its owner in jail, Death Row fell apart, with Snoop and Dr Dre leaving the label,
resulting in most other artist following them. Death Row was later dropped, and the label
collapsed
In March 1997, Biggie Smalls was in Los Angeles, when his car stopped at a traffic light the
gunman pulled along side and shot him six times, he died instantly. This again sent shocked
waves throughout the rap industry. No-one was ever charged for either of the murders,
leaving many to think again, about the connection between violent lyrics and the reality of
violent death. The fate of Biggie and Tupac felt the demise of Gangsta rap
With Biggie Smalls gone, Sean Puffy Combs decided to make his first ever song about the
death of his former friend, named Are We Missing You became one of the biggest sellers of
the year, showing that Hip Hop was only getting bigger
The party and pop-aesthetic that Wyclef, Lauryn Hill, Jay Z, and many other artists shared in,
was starting to become accepted to both the hardcore rap fan and also the hardcore rapper

Hip Hop At The Top

In 1998, Jay Zs Hard Knock Life went to the top of the US album chart and stayed for five
weeks, selling 8,000,000 copies
After Jay Zs success, came DMX, topping charts continuously. Then came Foxy Brown. After
that came Method Man, and then Wu Tang Clan and Nas
As Hip Hop was the pivotal genre and most dominant of all music now, endorsements started
to get hold of the artists making many of them faces of drinks, fast food, clothing brands,
and many other commercially advertised products. Reasoning behind this is because Hip Hop
makes the most money, stacking in approximately $4,000,000,000 a year in the late 90s
However, when coming to the early 2000s, Hip Hop, as well as all other genres of music,
would soon see a decline in their record sales. This is due to illegal downloading, which was
used worldwide by the year 2001. The automatic approach to illegal downloading was for the
record labels to target those behind the sites and get them to take them down. However, this
ensued a problem, as this strategy just caused web designers to make more illegal
downloading sites making them unstoppable. As a result, artists had to earn most of their
money through the medium of selling out shows and performing non-stop. Many artists had
to lease their cars and make down- payments on their houses just to make up for the loss in
record sales. Only recently, have we come to a solution to illegal downloading, with this being
streaming. Streaming sites make you pay a monthly bill of however much in order for you in
return to obtain as much music as you like. Due to this dramatic change in sales, I went round
asking what people thought would be the future for Hip Hop music as well as its sales

Musicians and Engineers Answers

Nyshai Caynes, also known

as, Bandanna Clips is
a young up and
coming rap artists,
formerly known as
being in the group
House Of Pharaohs.
To date, he has
11,400 followers on
Instagram, and 6,453
on twitter.

When reviewing Nyshais answers, it

seems as if he has been influenced by
the later styles of Hip Hop, with these
mainly being grime acts. This may give
reasoning for why he believes that turn
up music is set to continue in being the
four-front in Hip Hops sound, as this
type of music started emerging
throughout the Hip Hop scene within
the mid 2000s. Nyshais music also
resembles turn up music (also known
as Trap), with this being a lot of auto
tune used on the voice and exaggerated
drops within the beats, in order to carry
the song. The fact that his answer is the
same as the music he is currently
making, may display why he is making
this music, as he is using it as a tool to
stay current and to still be heard within
the future.
Lastly, streaming is the way Nyshai
obtains all of his music and sees it not
changing as it is such a powerful
technique.

Molly Rainford is a 15 year

old singer, who gained
popularity when
finishing sixth place in
the Britain's Got
Talent Final of 2012.
Since then she has
been signed by Sony,
but has yet come to
release any songs.
She has also appeared
on Friday Download
as a TV presenter.

Molly is clearly influenced by the

soulful era of Hip Hop music, rather
than the 808s and Heartbreaks of
todays sound. The fact that she has
been subjective to the soul years of
Hip Hop, may justify why she believes
that the sound of Hip Hop is
eventually come back round. Even
though Molly states that she loves the
90s era of Hip Hop, you can still see by
her favourite artists, that she has also
taken a liking towards some of the
newer generations of the style (e.g.
Nicki Minaj and Drake). The eclectic
range of Mollys Hip Hop taste could
display why she believes that when
Hip Hop does come back to its roots,
itll also have a twist.

When answering the last question, it

seems as if Molly is unaware of
whether streaming will be way
musicians make their money or not.
She later elaborated on this, saying
that people are always coming up
with something new, give reasoning
for why streaming may not be the
technique used within the future. She
believes that everything usually stays
the same, but we just disguise it
within a new form this is what may
happen with streaming.

Marcellus Fernandes is an
award winning Engineer
and Producer who is
highly-respected within
the music industry for
good work and
dependability. He has
worked with the likes of
Wretch 32, Jessie J,
David Bowie, The Sugar
Babes, Peter Andre,
Rihanna, All Saints,
Sinead OConnor, and
many more.

As shown throughout the

questionnaire, Marc adores the 90s Hip
Hop sound. So much so, that he
believes it is soon going to return.
When asking Marc why he believes that
90s music will return, he replied by
saying, If you look at the Hip Hop
scene at the moment, all youre hearing
is artists competing with one another
through song, you know diss tracks. You
had the diss track by Kendrick a few
years back which kind of kicked started
everything off again, then Drake fired
back at Meek Mill last year, and now
everything thats happening with Chip
within the grime scene. It just reminds
me of when Biggie and Tupac where
going at it, however, I believe that this
time we have learnt to keep it all
strictly within the music weve learnt
to not take it to the streets no more.
Also, if you look at 17 year old Afro, he
clearly resembles Old Skool Hip Hop,
and Ive seen many young artists like
him recently that seem to be on the
come up. When talking to Marc I could
see that he had a very optimistic view
upon life and how things work, this
shows why he believes that their is
someone creating a new way to put an
end to illegal downloading and
streaming

Mikis Michaelides is a
producer mainly
known for his work
with Doc Brown and
music on CBBC show
4oclock club. He is
known for his
versatility in produced
records, as he can go
from having a nice jazz
soothing sound to his
songs, to also having
hard hitting percussive
drums on records that
you would hear
underground artists on

When hearing Mikis answers to the

questions, I instantly thought that quite the
entrepreneurial view on how things work.
The fact that I know many kids that believe
Grime is soon to take over, shows that
Mikis is trying to keep up to date with what
the children like and are listening to. The
fact that he particularly doesnt like Grime
also shows this, as his favourite artists
reference the era of the 90s. When later
talking to Mikis about this further, he stated
that Throughout my years of being in the
business, I have noticed that, its not the
adults who run Hip Hop, its the youth. The
genre of Hip Hop is a kids sound, the way
they dress, they way they use slang to
portray their stories its very much child
like. The kids run this! From hearing this, I
instantly knew where Mikis was coming
from, as many adults cant stand Hip Hops
sound now, just as their parents didnt like
the genre of Hip Hop when it was
introduced to the music scene. So who is
keeping all of the current Hip Hop music at
the top of the charts; children are. The
same children that are buying tickets to see
the shows.
Streaming seems to be a nice middle man
between record sales and illegal
downloading, giving reasoning for why
Mikis thinks itll stay.

Miguel Mansfield, also known

as, Swift-Lee is a musician
in North London. For years,
Swift-Lee has been on the
come-up, releasing song
after song, and mixtape
after mixtape on YouTube
and ITunes. Before going
solo, Swift-Lee was
formerly in a rap duo, but
later split due to unsolved
differences in the direction
of the group.

Miguels style of music that he creates,

can be describes as alternative soul. He
seems to provide you with the clean cut
grime beat that you would generally
hear an underground artists rap to, as
well as maintain soothing string sections
throughout his tracks. The fact that his
music is quite underground and
withholds elements of grime within it,
may convey the ideology of why Miguel
believes Grime is the next sound that
Hip Hop is soon to witness. You can see
through his wording that he wants this
to happen, as his music would seemingly
get more viewers listening, as his sound
resembles elements of Grime.
I really liked the way, Miguel answered
the question about consumer purchase
of music, as he seemed to add the
justification that many underground and
up and coming artists still use ITunes to
sell their music, as much of the content
is not yet popular enough to be noticed
by Apple Music. He feels as if people will
always be willing to purchase music, but
it is just the question of how will the
labels control the use of illegal
downloading and streaming.

Labels and Managers Answers

Mike Sault is the director of

A&R for Warner Chappell
UK. Warner Chappell UK is
a publishing company,
meaning that they sign
artists and writers to their
label, and give them a sum
of money to develop
themselves in becoming
better at their crafts.

Mike Sault answers seem to be more

political driven rather than anything else.
You can see this through the way he and
many others within the label business are
looking at the most popular trends. They
can see that Grime is finding a lane for
itself within the Hip Hop culture due to cosigns by major artists such as: Drake and
Kanye West. But, they are also seeing that
the youth love the beats that are coming
from the American airwaves right now. By
simply combining the style of Grime onto
those beats, Mike and many others within
Warner, believe that this may be the
future for Hip Hop. Throughout Mike
Saults answer, you can see him justifying
the positives and negatives to streaming
and illegal downloading. He seems to like
the medium that streaming has set
between purchasing record and
downloading them illegal, but can also see
that the shows are resulting in the most
revenue for most artists, making them less
dependent on their labels, meaning that
they may no longer be needed in the near
future.

Alpha Dog management is

managed by Blair
Dreelan, a former
musician in a band called
East 17. The band were
known for being one of
the most popular UK boy
bands of the mid 1990s.
After their departure,
Blair decided to get into
the field of
management, managing
artists such as Bars and
Melody and more.

By looking at Blairs musical background

and location of where he is living at the
moment, you can automatically see that
he was brought up with a suburban
attitude. The fact that he also says that
he is fond of Hip Hop, seems as if he
doesnt enjoy the genre as much as he
does of his pop groups that he was
majorly influenced by. The fact that he
also believes that trap music combines all
of the styles of Hip Hop, also conveys like
lack of knowledge on the Hip Hop
community. Trap music is a completely
knew style of rap, as it is built mainly
around ad-libs rather than deep thinking
lyrical content something that Hip Hop
music used to always contain back in the
day.
Lastly, Blair doesnt seem 100% sure on
whether streaming will always be their,
due to the use of probably. However,
he does wish that the purchasing of
music would come back, as he believes
the feeling of buying a record is
something that the children of this
generation are missing out on.

Civilians Answers
As you can depict through the answers that Archie Lyndhurst
left me with, he wasnt too familiar with the state of Hip
Hop today and wasnt too clear on its past either, due to
him not being too much of a fan of the culture. This is
instantly witnessed through his musical backgrounds,
stating that he listens to a lot of heavy metal bands.
Archies indecisiveness when answering the questions
also shows this, as he is constantly on sure of how to
answer the questions. However, Archie does state that
he thinks that streaming will continue to be the outlet
that musicians use in order to obtain income from
releases.
I am glad that Archie contained this unconfident stature
about the questions asked, as I believe this would later
strengthen my prediction on the future of Hip Hop, as
others were very sure of their answers. This gave me
variation.

Hollie Stantons musical background is very current rap

orientated. This is shown through artists such as Drake
and Nicki Minaj. The fact that Hollie is a prime example
who goes the full extent to support the artists (by
buying tickets for concerts), shows that the mediums of
streaming are working. The fact that she cant see any
other technique, beating illegal downloading the way
streaming services have, shows that she is thinking
primarily design and concept. Hollie isnt only thinking
about if, but is also thinking of how which shows that
she has had a deeper collective thought about the
process.
Hollie also believes that Trap music is yet to become as
popular as it can be, as she believes that it is mighty
energetic and fun to listen to. I believe that this view is
primarily due to her musical background.

From reviewing Fleur Ablemuns musical background, it

seems as if she listens to nothing but Hip Hop music, as
all of the artists mentioned are current grime or trap
musicians. This can also be implied when said that rap is
her favourite type of music. However, with nothing but
rap influences, you would expect more support from her
towards those artists but instead she decides to date
still illegally download. When later asking about why she
still uses illegal downloading, she replied with, If you
can get something for free, you should take it. This is an
answer that has passed many lips when coming to talk of
music accessibility. She also stated that most of the
people within the urban community still use illegal
downloading. This displays that no matter how popular
the style of music is, residents of urban communities will
more often than not, not purchase artists music, as they
need as much money as they can earn in order to keep
them off of the streets. Lastly, Fleur seemed very
assuring and straight forward with her answer of what
the future of rap will be, as her answer was very short
and non- explaining, as if it was obvious.

Niyi Akinkulumande comes from a religious up bringing,

showcasing why his parents have vividly drilled the
values of men and women equality into their sons well
being personality. The fact that he likes rap music, but
finds that he can not listen to it due to this reason,
shows that many people are still not accepted of the
genre, mainly due to its vulgar language. As Hip Hop is
at such a high level popularity wise, I believe that there
is no going back to the banning of certain artists music,
however, I do believe that some will go to the extreme
of completely tuning out rap music as a whole,
boycotting its services to prove a point that the
language must change. Will this make a substantial
difference to sales, probably not but it is still
something to think about.
The fact that Niyi knows what others are listening to shows
that he is keeping in touch with todays culture, but at
the same time not listening to most of its music. He also
makes a point that Spotify will be the upmost future of
consumer purchasing alone, but other streaming sites.

Research Log
The information for the slides about the history of Hip Hop were obtained through the medium
of mainly YouTube. The links used were: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vyBwzCWcdVI and
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LhrSlOa2bsA . When watching other videos on this topic,
they seemed to go around the block and not get straight to the point. The videos chosen
however, felt very descriptive, and had a detailed structure that I knew I could obtain information
from. Other than the links provided above, prior knowledge of this topic was used in order to
finalise and fulfil its completion.

On the other hand, the information obtained through the questionnaires were achieved when
visiting these people in their home town. As discussed previously, I recorded them off of my
phone through audio, as I wanted to depict a clear answer on what they truly thought on the
questions asked. This gives reasoning for why I visited them, as the answers would have been
thought about if I just sent them over through via email etc.
I wanted to obtain more information on the labels and managers side of the questionnaire, but
only knew two appropriate people that I could ask with the form of technique that I was using.
Later on, I decided to compromise my technique in order to get more data for my project. I done
this by emailing a variety of labels, unfortunately none of them got back to me in time, and still
haven't to this date.
Overall, all the people asked, were those of whom I knew.

Musicians and Engineers Introduction

to Evaluation
The musicians within this questionnaire had very different opinions on what the future of Hip Hop would
sound, with Nyshai stating that he believes Trap music is the future, Molly thinking that everything will
repeat itself again but just add a twist to the style, and Miguel stating that Grime may be on the comeup. However, there are some similarities between Miguel and Nyshais choice of sound for the future, as
both genres are quite energetic, hype, and bounced to Skippy beats and lyrics. This similarity between
their choices may to the environment on their up-bringing, as they were both brought up and still to this
day living in an urban area. Another similarity between the musicians was seen between Molly and
Nyshais opinions on streaming continuing to lead the future for consumer purchase, this same pick may
be due to their closeness in age as streaming is more of a thing with the youth of today. However,
Miguel made an interesting point on people still willing to pay for music as shown throughout his music,
but it is just about the labels controlling this and making it work for mainstream artists.
The engineers on the other hand had very different views on the future sound of Hip Hop, with Marc
believing that we are heading back into the 90s sound of Hip Hop again, and Mikis believing that Grime
may took over the scene. Marc seems to have a similar view to Mollys view, and I believe this is due to
both of their very soulful musical backgrounds. Mikis on the other hand has the same views as Miguel,
with the come-up of Grime, and could be due to the their closeness in age. Marc and Mikis also have
complete opposing views on the consumer purchase question also, with Marc believing that there is
someone creating something to catapulting us back into the record purchasing age again, whereas Mikis
thinks that this is impossible and illegal downloading is inevitable, making streaming always be current.

Labels and Managers Introduction to

Evaluation
Both Warner Chappell and Alphadog Management see the greatness that Trap music provides in todays
current state of music. However, Mike (Warner Chappell) can also see the popularity growth of Grime
over the recent year, making him believe that there should be a mid ground between the two in order
for Hip Hop to have that future sound. I believe both of their answers are basically the same, as they are
thinking business minded. They may not necessarily like the genres of music being talked about, but can
sure as hell see a trend of the two over the last few years causing them to talk from the prospective of
the streets.
Again, when answering the consumer purchase question, both give the answer of streaming, however, they
also dont want this to happen as record companies could possibly collapsed due to the independency of
the artist. This shows yet, again that they are thinking business wise.

Civilians Introduction to Evaluation

The civilian answers to the future sound of Hip Hop are very different, with Archies indecisive answer, Hollie
believing that Trap music will seemingly become even more popular, Fleur thinking that Grime is soon to
take over the top spot, and lastly, Niyi believing that something between Trap and Grime is yet to come.
I believe all of these different answers are due to the different ethnic backgrounds of the artists or
musical backgrounds. Archie, is the son of the famous Nicholas Lyndhurst, as a result of this he had quite
a wealthy up bringing, probably causing his to have a more musical appreciation for classic rock bands,
as he does. Hollie on the other hand is an inner city living accountant who loves rap. Stereotypically,
accountants arent very cool people, I believe her liking towards rap is her element to stay hip and cool
as Russell Simmons once said, the uncool kids are the ones who really sell the records. You know,
honestly, you have the cool kids, who buy the record the first week it drops. And then you get the
uncool kids who buy the record because the cool kids have told them this is what you need to stay
current. Fleur is a urban adolescent who listens to rap and rap only, as she is from Peckham and loves
Grime (Grime mainly coming from North London artists), it makes sense that she thinks that the
popularity growth of Grime is just going to continue over the next years, as its dramatic climax in views
have come out of no-where within the last year. Lastly, as Niyi is a Nigerian child with a strict religious
up-bringing, it makes sense that he doesnt listen to much of todays cultural music, as most is sold
through the medium of sex. However, he still feels the need to keep up to date with what is going on
even though he doesnt listen in, giving reasoning for why he chose Trap and grime music.
Lastly, all of the civilians believe that streaming will be the use of consumer purchasing in the future except
for Fleur, who still uses illegal downloading, as much of her money has to go towards travel and keeping
her off the streets.

Evaluation
Overall, I believe that the future sound of music will more melodic trap music. I say this due to as of last year,
many of the chart topping singles were trap melodic songs e.g. Rihanna B*tch Better Have My
Money, Drake Hotline Bling, Bryson Tillers Trapsoul Mixtape, The Weeknd The Hills, Fetty Wap Trap
Queen, etc. It seems as if audiences are enjoying the hard hitting beats that the trap movement is
bringing, but at the same time love the simple melodic sing along up beat melodies. The combination of
the two seem to be working perfectly in unison with one another, and I believe will be the way forward
for the next few years for the Hip Hop sound. To add to this, I still believe Grime will keep on becoming
seemingly more popular throughout the globe, but to be at the four-front of the Hip Hop genre, I can
not see it doing this for a few more years.
As a way of purchasing music, I believe that streaming is the future for consumer purchase. I say this purely
due to the Kanye incident recently. Kanye recently dropped an album, but only released it through the
medium of his friends, Jay Z, streaming service, which many artist including himself have a percentage
cut in. Kanye later on stated that his album will be of purchase only on Tidal, the streaming service used
for release. As a result, Tidals subscriber service doubled its numbers. Rihanna also help the service do
the same by releasing her album a week early on Tidal before anywhere else, causing people to sign up
for Tidal. As Kanye has stated on Twitter, that he shall release a new album within the summer of 2016,
it seems as if this is the route that musicians will soon be taking making their consumers have to chose
between the streaming service they approve of the most. This will soon be very costly for consumers, as
many of our artists will be down with different streaming services, causing us to either rock with one or
have to rock with all.