The hip-hop culture began in the streets of New York City during the 1970’s and has gone through tremendous changes up until now. Hip-Hop consists of four elements: rap, graffiti, break-dancing, and the disc jockey. In this paper, I intend to fully explain the evolution of rap music, from its infancy to the giant industry it is today.
Hip-Hop emerged in the 1970’s upon the arrival of a one Kool DJ Herc. Kool DJ Herc migrated to the United States from Kingston, Jamaica and settled in the West Bronx of New York. Kool DJ Herc was a disc jockey that attempted to incorporate his Jamaica style of disc jockeying, which involved reciting improvised rhymes over reggae records. Unfortunately for Kool DJ Herc New York seemed
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They became known as Kool DJ Herc and the Herculoids (Brewster and Broughton, 2000).
As rap music spread throughout the urban community of New York, many people began to use it as a form of expression that offered unlimited boundaries. There were no set rules, except to be original and to rhyme to the beat of the music. One could rap about the issues pertaining to his or her life or something as simple as a day at school.
Kool DJ Herc opened the door to the world for many up and comers such as Grandmaster Flash. DJ Grandmaster Flash and his group the Furious Five were hip-hop, greatest innovators, transcending the genres’ party music origins to explore the full scope of its lyrical and sonic horizons. Grandmaster Flash, born Joseph Saddler, began spinning records as a team growing up in the Bronx. By age 19, while attending technical school courses in electronics during the day, he was also d-jaying on a local disco circuit. Over time he developed a series of groundbreaking techniques including “cutting” (moving between tracks exactly on beat), “back spinning” (manually turning records to repeat brief snippets of sound), and “phasing” (manipulating turntable speeds). In short Grandmaster Flash created the basic vocabulary, which DJ’s continue to follow even today (Brewster and Broughton, 2000).
Grandmaster Flash did not begin collaborating with rappers until around 1977, first teaming up with the legendary
In the early 80s in South Bronx, hip hop culture was created as a way people expressed themselves to make a statement of some sort of art form that was diffused within the local community without outside influences orally and through localization. Commercialization changed and evolved these cultures making the producers not equal the consumers; globalization diffused these cultures with mass communication with the media. Spatially, hip hop used to be concentrated within a local community and it spread through relocation of the subway graffitti, while now it’s urbanized around the globe. In terms of social characteristics, rap has always been there as a way to express oneself through art forms such as b-boying, graffiti, and rapping; now it’s
Rap is a genre in music that consists of rhyming or being poetic over a certain unique beat. The origin of rap is significantly different from any other form of music. The flow, change, subject of the music, and the instrumentals behind the rapping has all changed with time. Most people would underestimate the complexity of the music and the evolution it has undergone. The real roots of rap music began in the late 1980’s with the “Golden Age.” It was innovative and mostly based around the party scene. Gangsta Rap followed the Golden age and was very impactful on the young culture. After the Gangsta Rap era came the time in rap referred to as Crunk Rap which combined the country sound with the party lifestyle. Conscious
The birthplace of hip-hop in New York City to be exact 1520 Sedgwick Avenue in the Bronx is where it all began. DJ Kool Herc was from Kingston, Jamaica. His birth given name was Clive Campbell and he later moved to Bronx, New York. When he moved to New York he already had the knowledge of a mobile sound system. The foundation of hip-hop was created when he showed off his DJing skills to the Bronx community. The party that was being held was Herc’s little sister back to school party. He was entertaining the party and ended up trying something new on the turntables by extending an instrumental beat to let the people dance longer then he would begin rapping during the extended breakdancing. He mostly played funk records like James Brown and Jimmy Castor Bunch. Dj Kool Herc later than started to drift away when hip-hop became more popular. At this time hip-hop was not national or international at all. The in the 80’s
DJ Kool Herc is credited as one, if not the originator, of hip-hop. Kool Herc brought his Caribbean style when emigrated from Jamaica in 1967. He began this new musical journey with the desire to bring the powerful Jamaican Dancehall sound system to play music at parties and in the streets. In 1973 he had created his own sound system
In order to understand hip-hop dance, it is important to recognize hip-hop music and where it came from. Many scholars of rap music relate the founding of rap to African and African American oral and musical traditions, specifically African griots and storytellers. They link the rhythm of rap to the use of drums in Africa and to African American music in the United States, from slave songs and spirituals to jazz and R&B. Scholars have found very interesting connections between rap music and Black nationalist traditions (traditions historically practiced by black people that serve as part of their racial identity). Rap is similar to the “call and response of the black church, the joy and pain of the blues, the jive talk and slang of the hipsters and jazz musicians, the boasting of street talk, the sidesplitting humor of comedians, and the articulateness of black activists.” All of these African American oral traditions, including rap, can be traced back to West African oral traditions. In traditional African societies, the spoken word and oral culture included poetry, storytelling, and speaking to drumbeats. The links between rap music and African American oral and musical traditions demonstrate that hip-hop music represents more than just sound. It represents history. This aspect of it, in my opinion, makes this type of music very unique and makes it carry more value.
Hip-Hop started in the early 1970's by Clive Campbell, known as DJ Kool Herc, in Bronx, New York. He was born
One of the most popular Hip-Hop groups is Run D.M.C, however; “The Message” by Grandmaster Flash and The Furious Five. The 80s formed the roots of Hip-Hop occasionally having bad
a. DJ Kool Herc originated the idea of extending beats and isolating beats by using two record players.
Hip-Hop isn’t just four elements combined within a culture, it is also “ a way of life, a language, a fashion, a set of values, and a unique perspective” (Efrem 2), the hip-hop basic and sub-elements have a strong impact in the American society mainly on its
Hip-hop culture began to develop in the south Bronx area of New York City during the 1970s. It had a significant influence in the music industry. Hip-hop music generally includes rapping, but other elements such as sampling and beatboxing also play important roles. Rapping, as a key part in the hip-hop music, takes different forms, which including signifying, dozen, toast and jazz poetry. Initially, hip-hop music was a voice of people living in low-income areas, reflecting social, economic and political phenomenon in their life [1]. As time moves on, hip-hop music reached its “golden age”, where it became a mainstream music, featuring diversity, quality, innovation and influence [2]. Gangsta rap, one of the most significant innovations in
The rap genre originated from some of the most underprivileged areas of New York in the 1970’s. What was once DJ’s talking over a beat they were playing to encourage more activity on the dance floor, turned in to a new genre of music called rap. The majority of earlier rap songs were fun inducing tracks, but in the 1980’s, Grandmaster Flash and The Furious Five introduced social consciousness to the genre. They sparked a long lasting impact on rap as it started to evolve rapidly as time went on. The 90’s was home to “gangsta rap,” followed by a softer side of song writing pioneered by the likes of Outkast and Kanye West in the 2000’s. Today, rap music is very diverse and more accepting of different styles than it was before. However, throughout the entire history of rap music, the one thing that has stayed
When member of the “Ghetto Brothers”, Black Benjie was killed, hundreds of gang members from various gangs met and called truce. Though it did not end gangs it changed the ways in dealing with agression. They dealed with their aggression by battling in forms of dance, or DJ’ing (Price 2-12). When Clive Campbell, also known as Kool Herc arrived in the Bronx from Jamaica he brought with him his passion for music. He was a very unique DJ and changed the stereotypical beat that was being heard and focused on the breakdown. (Welcome to The Official Site of The Universal Zulu Nation). Kool Herc and the Herculords were the first known Hip Hop Crew. He changed the way of gangs across the Bronx and pretty soon every gang had their own DJ. Kool Herc was in the East and West part of the Bronx. Grandmaster Flash was in the South. Afrika Bambaataa was in the South East and North. Though Kool Herc set the stones for the making of Hip Hop, Afrika Bambaataa was the first ambassador.
Today’s hip hop have changed as where the DJ was once is now the producer as the key music maker, and the park was once is now a studio.
Jamaican DJ's (DJ Kool Herc has been credited as the first) mixed sounds from several turntables, devices that would become a rap trademark. Although mixing from large sounds systems began to be employed at New York house parties in the 1970s, it didn't really emerge as a recorded sound until the Sugarhill Gang's "Rapper's Delight" in 1979. While many critics and listeners shrugged the song aside as a fluke novelty hit, the early rap sound--usually composed of slangy, boastful spoken rhymes over basic bass and percussion grooves--continued to spread in the early '80s, due in large part to the efforts of the Sugarhill label itself. Grandmaster Flash's hard-hitting 1982 single, "The Message," really stands as rap's watershed mark, with a massive impact belied by its relatively modest peak on the pop charts. No longer could rap be ignored as a frivolous microgenre; here was straight up social commentary, reporting from the front lines of the ghetto with more immediacy than almost any newspaper or television broadcast.
Hip-Hop is a cultural movement that emerged from the dilapidated South Bronx, New York in the early 1970’s. The area’s mostly African American and Puerto Rican residents originated this uniquely American musical genre and culture that over the past four decades has developed into a global sensation impacting the formation of youth culture around the world. The South Bronx was a whirlpool of political, social, and economic upheaval in the years leading up to the inception of Hip-Hop. The early part of the 1970’s found many African American and Hispanic communities desperately seeking relief from the poverty, drug, and crime epidemics engulfing the gang dominated neighborhoods. Hip-Hop proved to be successful as both a creative outlet for