Karan's Cultural Diversity

Hip Hop was born in the United States within the lowest ranks of the population. Similarly to the Blues, Hip Hop was popular in African American culture and communities. The music was a form of communication for these communities during a time of turmoil and oppression. The oldest forms of Hip Hop were not recorded due to the economical conditions of the time, therefore it’s earliest history is lost. It is stated that Hip Hop truly took form in the 1970s, but would not become nationally popular until the 1980s.      As stated in the video, Rapper's Delight by the Sugarhills Gang was the first recorded and distributed form of Hip Hop. Prior to this, the use of cassette tapes, “mix tapes”, were the only way Hip Hop music could go further than a small group of people. The album was similar to the speech-song that we’ve previously seen in the Blues. This album was monumental in growing the Hip Hop industry and making it a dream for millions of people to join the Sugarhill G...

  For this blog I choose to interview my Aunt, who has been part of our family for, well since I can remember really. I have been on many trips to different states and even Europe with my Uncle and Aunt. Safe to say, I have a very close relationship with both my Uncle and Aunt, but I know nothing about her musical taste. Every car ride with them has never really been music that she chose to play, it's mostly been music from my sister or cousin. If you asked me to name a song that my Aunt enjoyed listening to, I could not at all think of a singular song.  To preface this interview, my Aunt has said that she struggles to memorize lyrics to songs. For example, we were coming back from a night out after getting ice cream to top the night off. On the way back, it was around midnight, we were singing along to the songs that were being played by my sister. Well singing is very generous to say, but go along with it. While we were singing our hearts out, my aunt was trying to pull ...

  As some of you may know I am a part of the Esports team for a game called Valorant. In this game there is a character named Astra, who is considered the role of a controller/smokes character. Astra is considered of Gahnian descent and all aspects of her character, trailer music, and accent show this. The main thing I want to focus on though is that second item, a trailer song that was used for her reveal.            The song was created by JessB, a New Zealand raised rapper, who was adopted at a young age into her Aunt/Uncles family. Though, her birth mother and father are from Kenya and stayed there throughout her life. In an article written by Nicky Park, JessB states the culture shock she experienced while visiting Kenya after growing up in New Zealand. She also states the importance of keeping in touch with her roots back home with her parents and with her birth parents. She continued to reflect on the trip, “It's not something I would eve...