Hip hop has spawned dozens of sub-genres which incorporate a domineering style of music production or rapping, and it exhibits elements of trifunctionalism.
Hip-Hop has now expanded and gone on a global scale, millions of rap albums are sold in foreign countries, some are not English speaking countries, yet people go out of their way and purchase these albums even thought they don’t understand the message the song carries, and manage to memorize the lyrics and sing along not knowing what they are saying. In foreign countries Hip-Hop has influenced natives to pursue rap careers and do what is being done in the United States such as following the trends, in their country. This is a product of globalization and it explains how popular culture can be interwoven with the everyday life of individuals that follow it, and how it can affect them in many ways.
Like jazz, hip-hop is one of the few musical genres that scholars see as entirely American. Here, it is important to note the varying social influences that affect hip-hop's message in different nations. Frequently a musical response to political and/or social injustices, the face of hip-hop varies greatly from nation to nation.
For example, in South Africa the largest form of hip hop is called Kwaito, which has had a growth similar to American hip hop. Kwaito is a direct reflection of a post apartheid South Africa and is a voice for the voiceless; a term that U.S. hip hop is often referred to. Kwaito has become much more than just music, it has evolved into a lifestyle, encompassing all aspects of life including language and fashion. The music of Kwaito is both politically and party driven. The politically fuelled music gives a voice to oppressed people that have no other way to voice their concerns and find music to be very accessible, not only to themselves but also to the audiences they are trying to reach. On the other hand the club driven music can also be seen as political in the sense that the artists couldn't care less about the post apartheid life they live and are more concerned about having a good time and not how their access to this life came about. Kwaito is a music that came from a once hated and oppressed people, but it is now sweeping the nation. The main consumers of Kwaito are adolescents and half of the South African population is under 21. Some of the large Kwaito artists have sold over 100,000 albums, and in an industry where 25,000 albums sold is considered a gold record, those are impressive numbers. Kwaito allows the participation and creative engagement of otherwise socially excluded peoples in the generation of popular media.
In Jamaica the sounds of hip hop are derived from American and Jamaican influences. Jamaican hip hop is defined both through dancehall and Reggae music. Jamaican Kool Herc brought the sound systems, technology, and techniques of Reggae music to New York during the 1970s. Jamaican hip hop artists often rap in both Brooklyn and Jamaican accents. Jamaican hip hop subject matter is often influenced by outside and internal forces. Outside forces such as the bling-bling era of today's modern hip hop and internal influences coming from the use of anti colonialism and marijuana or "Ganja" references which Rastafarians believe bring them closer to God.
Author Wayne Marshall argues that "Hip hop, as with any number of African-American cultural forms before it, offers a range of compelling and contradictory significations to Jamaican artist and audiences. From "modern blackness" to foreign mind", transnational cosmopolitanism to militant pan-Africanism, radical remixology to outright mimicry, hip-hop in Jamaica embodies the myriad ways that Jamaicans embrace, reject, and incorporate foreign yet familiar forms."
In the developing world hip hop has made a considerable impact in the social context. Despite the lack of resources, hip hop has made considerable inroads. Because funds are limited, hip hop artists are forced to use very basic tools, and even graffiti, an important aspect of the hip hop culture, is constrained because it is not available to the average person. Many hip hop artists that make it out of the developing world come to places like the United States in search of an identity and place that fits them specifically. Maya Arulpragasm is a Sri Lankan born hip hop artist in this situation. She claims, "I'm just trying to build some sort of bridge, I'm trying to create a third place, somewhere in between the developed world and the developing world."
Having its roots from reggae, disco, funk, hip hop has since exponentially expanded into a widely accepted form of representation world wide. It expansion includes events like Afrika Bambaataa releasing "Planet Rock" in 1982 which tried to establish a more global harmony in hip hop. In the 1990s MC Solaar became an international hit that was not from America, the first of his kind. From the 80s onward, television became the major source of widespread outsourcing of hip hop to the global world. From Yo! MTV Raps (a television show that was shown in many countries) to Public Enemy's world tour, hip hop spread further to Latin America and became highly mainstream. Ranging from countries like France, Spain, England, the US and many many other countries world wide, voices want to be heard, and hip hop allows them to do so. As such, hip hop has been cut mixed and changed to the areas that adapt to it.
Early hip hop has often been credited with helping to reduce inner-city gang violence by replacing physical violence with hip hop battles of dance and artwork. However, with the emergence of commercial and crime-related rap during the early 1990s, an emphasis on violence was incorporated, with many rappers boasting about drugs, weapons, misogyny, and violence. While hip hop music now appeals to a broader demographic, media critics argue that socially and politically conscious hip hop has long been disregarded by mainstream America in favor of its media-baiting sibling, gangsta rap.
Many artists are now considered to be alternative/underground hip hop when they attempt to reflect what they believe to be the original elements of the culture. Artists/groups such as Lupe Fiasco, Talib Kweli, Mos Def, Dilated Peoples, Dead Prez, Blackalicious, Jurassic 5, Immortal Technique and newly added Ghana Force may emphasize messages of verbal skill, unity, or activism instead of messages of violence, material wealth, and misogyny.
Authenticity is often a serious debate within hip hop culture. Dating back to its origins in the 1970s in the Bronx, hip hop revolved around a culture of protest and freedom of expression in the wake of oppression. As hip hop has become less of an underground culture, it is subject to debate whether or not the spirit of hip hop is embodied in protest, or whether it can evolve to exist in a marketable integrated version. In "Authenticity Within Hip-Hop and Other Cultures Threatened with Assimilation," Commentator Kembrew McLeod argues that hip hop culture is actually threatened with assimilation by a larger, mainstream culture.
In support of this position, editors of magazines such as the Village Voice have said that hip hop is slowly losing its edge due to the genre's involvement in the mainstream, hyper-capitalist world. Believing that hip hop should be utilized as a voice for social justice, Tate points out that in the marketable version of hip hop, there isn't a role for this evolved genre in context of the original theme hip hop originated from (freedom from oppression). The problem with Black progressive political organizing isn't that hip hop, but that the No. 1 issue on the table needs to be poverty, and nobody knows how to make poverty sexy.
Tate discusses how the dynamic of progressive Black politics cannot apply to the genre of hip hop in the current state today due to the genre's heavy involvement in the market. In his article he discusses Hip Hop's 30th birthday and its evolution has been a devolution due to its capitalistic endeavors. Both Tate and McLeod argue that hip hop has lost its authenticity due to its losing sight of the revolutionary theme and humble "folksy" beginnings the music originated from. "This is the first time artists from around the world will be performing in an international context. The ones that are coming are considered to be the key members of the contemporary underground hip-hop movement." This is how the music landscape has broadened around the world over the last ten years. The maturation of Hip Hop has gotten older with the genres age, but the initial reasoning of why Hip Hop has started will always be intact. Expression and oppression will always be at the root of any Hip Hop movement.
Though born in the United States, the reach of hip hop is global. Youth culture and opinion is meted out in both Israeli hip hop and Palestinian hip hop, while France, Germany, the U.K., Africa and the Caribbean have long-established hip hop followings. According to the U.S. Department of State, hip hop is "now the center of a mega music and fashion industry around the world", that crosses social barriers and cuts across racial lines. National Geographic recognizes hip hop as "the world's favorite youth culture" in which "just about every country on the planet seems to have developed its own local rap scene."