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Essay on Hip Hip

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The Introduction

Hip hop as a ding an sich is marked by some confusion. Consider the name; is it "hip hop," "hip-hop" or "hiphop"? You will see all three used in titles in this bibliography. Hip hop is, at the same time, a cultural phenomenon that developed in the late 70's in the projects in Brooklyn and the Bronx, and a musical style from that phenomenon. Nevertheless, hip hop has become a pervasive element of popular culture, as witnessed by this bibliography. There are hip hop exercise videos, children's books as well as books, magazines, magazine articles and theses about it.

Before we get to the bibliography, a brief hip hop history is in order. Hip hop began in the mid- to late 70's, but its roots …show more content…

He participated in many early "battles," or competitions between DJs and MCs. In addition to rapping, these battles were decided on who had the more interesting collection of breaks to play. Afrika Bambatta's breaks were drawn from many genres, including rock, rhythm & blues, mambo, German disco and calypso.4 This aspect in hip hop, incorporating "found sounds" (which can include recorded samples of music by other groups in addition to voices or ambient sounds) has led to lawsuits when the groups involved failed to credit their sources.5

Another early hip hop innovator was DJ Grandmaster Flash. He extended Kool Herc's break beat deejaying by pre-cueing records to match the songs. This meant there was a much smoother transition between songs. matching songs. Indeed many of the recordings in the discography identify the number of beats per minute for each song, enabling a DJ to match songs on this basis.

Scratching, an important part of hip hop music was developed by Grand Wizard Theodore. This technique involves moving a record back and forth underneath the needle, creating a scratching, percussive sound. This technique has led some to claim that hip hop has led to the emergence of the DJ as musician, calling the turntable used in this way a percussion instrument.6

Hip hop has also had

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