During the late 1970s, the streets of the inner city of New York witnessed the birth of a dynamically expressive verbal art form known as rap music. Spawned from within the rich African American socio-cultural continuum, this art form became known as the verbal expression of a youth culture. Originally thought to be a passing trend, rap music has remained at the forefront of a contemporary pop culture called hip hop. "'Hip hop' is the total expression; in attitude, dress, dance, graffiti art and music of an ever growing African-American youth subculture which challenges the status quo and moves them into a crucible for change". Through rap music, African American youths have developed a mode of expression that is quintessentially their own.
Rap has become the language of the urban street culture, and youth across the nation have followed its lead. With a "blend of reality and fiction, rap is a contemporary response to the pleasures and problems of black urban life in contemporary America" Rap is referred to as "rhythmic American poetry".
After two plus decades, this hip hop culture is still a very present and most popular expressive art form. Its survival is due in part to the fact that hip hop is a representation of an indigenous socio-cultural form of a rich African American tradition. This strong tradition functions as the background for rap artists to dramatically voice their concerns about issues that speak to the young urban African American population. From its inception, hip hop culture with its socio-cultural influence has made an indelible impact on the African American community and American society as a whole. One of the most significant reasons for hip hop culture's acceptance and appreciation by the general American population is that more and more young Americans find socio-psychological self expressions, thought provoking verbal dexterity, emotionally involving content and outward physical expressions as saliently conveyed within it. The rap music phenomenon or hip hop culture has become so firmly entrenched within the melting pot of American culture that average Americans across the nation have felt its socio-cultural effects. In fact, its influence has grown and even spilled over into the global community. Today, many young people throughout the world idolize rap music or hip hop culture as a mode of self expression to realize their communicative intentions.
Ganguro, commonly known as 'blackface' with some outstanding hip hop physical features, has emerged as a new fashion style among some Japanese teenage girls in some Japanese metropolitan cities like Tokyo. Because of the global influence of hip hop culture, some Japanese teenagers become ganguro girls to make themselves stand out as being different from others of the same generation. Wearing boots with solid platform soles over 10 centimeters high, bright colored tight mini-skirts, having blond or white hair, and wearing shimmering makeup are the particular features of ganguro girls. Some ganguro girls even go to the extreme by having their faces and necks tanned or blackened, often highlighted by white makeup. In so doing, they make themselves look similar to black women. As often observed in today's Japan, ganguro is not an isolated social phenomenon, but an impact exerted by hip hop culture upon the Japanese young generation. Different from other observations in Japan and other parts of the world, such as imitation of popular hip hop music, lyrics, and dancing movements, ganguro is mainly an imitation of hip hop image.
There have been several speculations about motivations for some Japanese girls to become ganguro Some speculate that ganguro girls are using hip hop image to rebel against wearing traditional school uniforms to express their individuality. Others speculate that ganguro girls imitate celebrities like Namie Amuro, a Japanese singer and model, who became substantially popular in Japan in the 1990s, when she performed with a darkened skin. Still others speculate that some Japanese girls, inspired by the perceived coolness, imitate hip-hop acts that they admire and emulate popular performers like Lauryn Hill and TLC.
Although ganguro as a fashion style does not fit well with traditional Japanese social standards and cultural values, it becomes popular among some girls who are just approaching adult life. Many non-ganguro girls and boys readily accept some of the ganguro elements, and fearing exclusion, some may often conform to the style due to peer pressures.
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