'It can be reasonably argued that the vast majority of musical production at any one time involves musicians working in relatively stable 'genre worlds' within which ongoing creative practice is not so much about sudden bursts but he continual producti...

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Tammy Dixon

‘It can be reasonably argued that the vast majority of musical production at any one time involves musicians working in relatively stable ‘genre worlds’ within which ongoing creative practice is not so much about sudden bursts but he continual production of familiarity….. such rules may guide the notes a guitarist may select to play… the way a star may conduct themselves in public… the way the audiences behave… and how journalists may aesthetically evaluate a performance’

Negus K. (1999) Music Genres & Corporate Cultures

When talking about the Hip Hop genre theres are certain codes and traits which artists have been following for years and then there are certain stereotypes. For example you can look at a picture of Jay-Z taken in 1999, he’s wearing baggy trousers, Timberland Boots and  a hooded top, you then look at a picture in 2003 and you see him wearing the same.  These codes of familiarity are mimicked by the fans.in this genre one glance at someones trainers turns into a full scale investigation into the music they like whether theyre into the straight up gangsta rappers like 50 cent or the ‘blingers’ like Jay-Z.  Hip Hop has always drawn a lot of its creative energy from the underworld, labels like Death Row, Murder Inc and Bad Boy reflect this.  The style of dress code of trousers falling from the waist comes from prison where inmates aren’t allowed to wear belts. Prison and crime has always been a massive part of hip hop culture so much so there is now a special hip hop division in the U.S specifically trained to deal with the gun violence. Rappers are fighting other rappers. The 50 cent versus Ja Rule feud is a good example, the story is different depending on who’s side you listen to, Ja Rule says there wasn’t enough respect shown to him on a video shoot, the two of them are from the same town, 50 cent says it was because Ja Rule’s chain was stolen in a club an he spoke to the guy that stole it. 50 cents track Wanksta is allegedly aimed at Ja Rule. It has now turned into a dissing war using the music to put across their views and arguments about each other etc. However its now turned into a war between the labels, Muder Inc versus shady/aftermath which includes Eminem, Dr Dre, Obie Trice and D12 as well as G-Unit and 50 cent. 50 Cent often said that Ja Rule was a Tupac wannabe and that he could never be as great as Tupac, so Ja's reply was to make a diss track with one of Tupacs former friends Fatal Hussein from Tupacs crew "The Outlawz", this track was called the wrap and Ja Rule said it was the final diss in the feud, whether it is remains to be seen, but let shope this doesn’t escalate to any actual gun violence because nobody in hip hop wants to see either artist killed. All this being put out so publically effects the fans, they start to act like their favourite stars, get into arguments with other fans and something that starts out as a simple misunderstanding is blown out of all proportion an can end up in serious violence, even after the rappers themselves have called a truce.

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‘One of the most obvious ways that these (genre) expectations may circulate is through the institutionalised system of media, particularly radio and video (press) and the way this contributes to the definition and boundaries of what falls within and without a genre’

Negus K. (1999) Music Genres & Corporate Cultures

Mtv played the biggest part in hip hop becoming the global culture that it is today. It was only when they started playing the mainstream video’s in the 1980’s that they played it and at first even they only played a dozen out of  around 750 available at ...

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