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Exploring Hip Hop Singing/Rapping Techniques 

My prof actually suggested this area for me to look into. I think there is definitely a difference seen between Korea's Hip Hop Scene and the Western Hip Hop Scene and this is something that can be expanded on. 

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I am not an expert on hip hop as it is not what I frequently listen to/ am exposed to but the definition of hip hop is that it is a music genre that was developed in the United States by African Americans in the inner city. It compromises four main things: Mcing/rapping, DJing, breakdancing and graffiti writing. 

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There is a common misconception that rap = hip hop. However this is not true rap is a subsection of hip hop and not all rap belongs to hip hop. (I used to think rap = hip hop too) Many pop songs, especially Korean Pop Songs include raps, in fact many groups have a rap line which are members whose role in the group is to deliver the rap. These idol rappers, although they do rap, are not any where near being hip hop artists. 

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This is because hip hop represents a type of culture and it should impact and affect the listens and everyone who comes in contact with it. The content of the raps affect whether or not a rap is considered hip hop as the lyrics need to be something that affects society and provide new insights.

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In many Korean Pop Songs, the raps are fun and to add hype to the song. Examples would be Exo songs which are clearly pop songs and the raps have lines like "Shawty Imma Party til the Sundown". Their songs are in no way bad with the raps, it is just not hip hop.  

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This is similar to how in Western countries, some pop songs have raps but these songs will also not be considered hip hop. 

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I think this in-between would be a fun topic to delve into, to explore the raps and rapping techniques in pop songs as well as in hip hop across the different countries and cultures. 

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I will end off this section with this video in which Jackson from Got7 explains it pretty well. Here, he talks about he is not a 'rapper' even though he raps. RM, from BTS, on the other hand is a rapper as he raps with meaning to his words, he started as an underground rapper before becoming an idol rapper. RM has proved himself worthy of the title of a hip hop artist through his songs, especially from his solo mixtape as he addresses many social issues in his lyrics.

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