Check-in #3

In this course, I have become familiar with a new subculture, one that I did not even recognize as a subculture prior to taking this class. When I first had to write about hip-hop, I was entirely lost. I viewed hip-hop as nothing but a musical genre, and had no real interest in it. However, upon writing my first paper, the rhetorical analysis, I realized that hip-hop was so much more than music. On a superficial level, hip-hop is music, a style of dress, perhaps a certain "swagger" that people carry themselves with. But hip-hop goes deeper than that. Hip-hop is an expression of individuality, an art form. Hip-hop is also a bridge that brings people from different backgrounds together and gives them something to unite under. Hip-hop is hope, as it gives underprivileged children an icon to look up to that could very likely have come from the same humble beginnings as them, such as Eminem. I have come to thoroughly enjoy writing about hip-hop. Writing about hip-hop culture gives me a chance to understand new concepts, and forces me to look through the eyes of others. It has helped me grow in so many ways, both as a writer and a person. My first paper, my mindset was not in the right place. I couldn't help but think, "I don't want to write about hip-hop, I know nothing about it." Now that I have written about it, and enjoyed it, my attitude towards writing about new things has changed. I have come to embrace new challenges as a chance to expand my mind and my writing abilities. Hip-hop culture has helped me to grow, and part of this growth was a true understanding of what hip-hop culture really is.