Turkish Youth in Germany and Their Hip Hop as a Media Essay

Turkish Youth in Germany and Their Hip Hop as a Media - Essay Example It is the further hope of this author that by engaging with the information within this essay, the reader will calm to a more full and complete understanding of the way in which Turkish hip hop music was born and why it has developed in the unique way in which it has. As with many forms of art and expression, the genre of hip hop itself was born during the early 1970s. Beyond merely giving birth to this defining genre of uniquely American music, this particular decade, as well as the one which preceded it, was fertile ground for the development and expression of new art forms, music, means of understanding, philosophy, and a range of other expression and thought related activities (Brunson, 2011). Due to the way in which society was beginning to cast off the balance that it previously defined it and actively seeking to create new realities and means of expression to fit the needs and trends of the current generation, hip-hop was yet another in a long line of new wave expressionism that ultimately caught on and has prevailed for over 40 years now. Recognizing the transformative power that this genre of music could have for those individuals that considered themselves as a minority within a particular culture could have, it was not long before Turkish immigrants began to engage with the music genre and seek to mould it to the unique hardships and cultural issues they faced within Germany. Just as with rock ‘n roll before it and jazz before rock ‘n roll, Turkish hip-hop was syncretic in its form; allowing it to mix with African beats, current affairs/lyrics, and traditional Turkish melody (Bennett, 2009). In such a way, it cannot and should not be understood by the reader that Turkish hip hop is somehow unique and was ultimately created from any type of a blank slate. Rather, it was merely the evolution of different textural and musical elements that