The History Of Hip Hop

Hip hop, the creation of electronic sound and enticing language is a style born from the African American and Hispanic cultures. It formed in New York City from block parties and the participation of the youth culture. This style of music began as a minimal change in rhythm to a globally popular culture consisting of graffiti art, dancing, and music. Hip hop was not only a type of tasteful music, but it also became a benchmark in history. When this style of music was created, it served as an outlet for those who did not have a voice, particularly the minority groups. These groups were given rights that they deserved just like everyone else. In the 1970’s is when hip hop began to spread, creating not just

“I said the hip hop, Hippie to the hippie, the hip, hip hop, and you don’t stop, a rock it to the bang, bang boogie, say you jump the boogie, to the rhythm of the boogie, the beat.” “Rapper’s Delight” is a song recorded in 1979 by American hip hop trio The Sugarhill Gang. It was the original 12-inch single was 15 minutes of incontestable urban-playboy bragging. “Rapper’s Delight” was not the first single but, it is generally considered to be the song that made hip hop in the United States popular and around the world. “Love, love me do, you know I love you, I’ll always be true, so please, love me do, whoa, love me do” The Beatles. “Love Me Do” was recorded in 1962 by The Beatles. “Love Me Do” a favorite for the lovers of oldies music. The

Do you remember a time, during which hip hop music was a voice against African American oppression? Honestly, it is hard to tell nowadays. Even though hip hop was a concept coined my American artists, it is rooted in many cultures among different nations. It is one of the only nationalistic movements that have not lost its fundamental heritage throughout the test of time. Hip hop music has always been a voice for the voiceless, but in the past decade, the music genre has declined into commercialism. While these mainstream artists are cashing in their paychecks, young, talented artists, like the SaveMoney Crew are reinstating the consciousness in rap that has been missing for some time now. I believe that the majority of mainstream rap has changed for the worse because rappers are largely making music about meaningless things like extravagant purchases, hard core drugs, and sexual exploits, instead of using their position and influence to advocate against police brutality, discrimination, and the struggles inherent in a life of poverty like the underground movement spearheaded by the Savemoney Crew and other young, socially conscious rappers.

In this essay, I will be informing you, as the reader on the evolution of Hip-Hop/Rap. The key points will be where it is today, how this genre of music is not only used as music; but is used as communication to connect with the listeners, how it affects people; physically, mentally and psychologically. In other words, I will be addressing where it was created and how it is used to speak and communicate with the listeners.

From the early 1980’s into the early 1990’s, hip-hop was an integral tool in the dissemination of young people’s voices against mainstream politics. These times were tense and rather controversial. It began with Reagan’s call for the reemergence of state rights; this call was a form of political messaging which utilized coded language targeting different groups with dual messages also known as dog whistling. It allowed individual states total power and control in instituting their own policies including segregation. On top of the aforementioned and in light of the increased state regulation, intense and increased police brutality became an unfortunate reflection of the times. As a result, many people, especially those of color, lost trust in

Hip hop is a culture style that started in the 1970’s. Majority of different funk groups began playing disco music at that time it was popular. During this time funk music was technology driven more electronic sounds was being used on the drum machines. Funk was the new dance in the early 70’s. This particular style of singing in which was being used is called rapping, this begun in African American, Urban Areas, Jamaican American, Latino American and many others cities of the United States. The group of artist or singer say words with a rhythm that rhymes. Some hip hop music lyrics are about violence and illegal drugs. Often time lyrics are about the life of urban people who stay in big cities. Other styles that hip hop uses come from pop music such as disco and reggae. Hip hop and rap music has become very popular and a successful genre in music. The style of dressing called urban clothes is also involved with the hip hop culture. They wore big baggy pants, large t-shirts, and Timberland leather work boots. In the 2000’s the United States and Canada popular music style was hip hop music (Kavanagh).

In seventh grade, I stumbled my way upon the Detroit based rapper Eminem. I was at 150 listens on his track The Real Slim Shady before I knew it. I then found my way into Kanye West, which exploded my interest into the genre. I have listened to all of the considered essential hip hop “classic” and modern day albums. I noticed in these “classic” albums very distinct change in subject matter and style that each of the different areas of rappers on where they originate from. Some people believe that the hip-hop culture is at a decline with the lose of this uniqueness and individuality shown in each of these areas. I too even thought that the hip-hop culture was at a decline until I was researching my topic, but instead this individuality and uniqueness in the rapper’s different stories that they tell in their raps. The genre has expanded throughout the world and continued to evolve while sticking to these roots of individuality and uniqueness.

“I want kids of this generation to see that everything is cool, that there 's some kind of unity in hip-hop. We all found something that 's really important to us, and music is all we 've really got” – Missy Elliot. Hip-Hop is a cultural movement and popular genre of music that emerged during the early 1970 's by working class Black youths in New York City. The cultural movement has rapidly expanded across different countries and ethnicities over the years, becoming one of the few markers that define a generation. Hip-Hop can be seen as “the fundamental matrix of self-expression for this whole generation” (Katz & Smith, 1993). Through music, itself, artists can express their feelings towards different events or social changes that they’ve see or have experienced in their lives. According to Frith (1986), this perspective towards writing music is similar to Mooney’s argument that popular song lyrics is a reflection of what’s missing or needed at their time, giving us a trace of America’s ‘mood’ throughout history. In return, music artists captivate the minds of people among various backgrounds who use these relatable music lyrics as a source of empowerment or as an expression of their own thoughts. While some music artists create music to uplift their audience by giving them a sense of freedom, other artists create music that separates their audience by dehumanizing one group and giving power to the other.

The release of the the album “Straight Outta Compton” was the beginning of the new gansta rap with the release of the record F**k the police which spoke on the hardships people were receiving from law enforcement. The power of their rhymes sparked a social revolution and influenced people all around the world. Straight Outta Compton the movie goes on to depict the lives of the five group members and the trials and tribulations that they are faced with being in a group along with living in the community they did being African-American males. The movie shows the rise and fall of the group, ultimately showing the split of the group, the loss of a group member and the solo music and industry careers of fellow members. Socially Straight outta Compton shows its audience the inside of the change of the hip hop culture forever.

I enjoyed Rebecca Walker’s descriptions of the hip hop culture when she was younger. I did enjoy the author’s style, she explains how she discovered what hip-hop “was”, and how it didn’t only change her but, and how it has changed the way people think about hip-hop too. Walker states, “That desire to come together irrespective of superficial differences and sometimes in celebration of them, was what gave hip-hop authenticity that was what kept it honest.” (From the story Before Hip-Hop Was Hip-Hop). If you asked someone today what they think hip-hop is, they wouldn’t actually know. "

Most people today don't believe that hip hop has a positive effect on people, specifically as an inspirational means for social justice and personal hardship. Instead most people critique hip hop and believe that the music is ugly and it can make the person become a misogynist and violent. However, I argue that hip hop has been one of the most cultural changing movements in history and it has many positive aspects. For example, the hip-hop group NWA has provided people with free speech in the United States in the 80’s and 90’s. Overall hip-hip has always been a topic, by which people have never like ever since it started and came about.

This well written movie contains multiple different genres for instance: history, music, drama, biography, as well as making it into a documentary. Straight Outta Compton being classified as a history film makes it appealing because it allows younger generations that were not aware of the police brutality and the music industry that happened in the late 80s and early 90s. This move allows the audience to see what it was like back then to be a minority. Straight Outta Compton has a unique part to it considering how the movie is about N.W.A.’s music production, yet the movie also has intense background music. This music allows the audience to feel more connected do to the fact music can be suspenseful, sad, or up beat to tie the emotions of the audience to the actors in the film. Music draws in the audience members attention to make them more intrigued and involved. This puts them in a “now moment”, and places them almost as if they are watching the scene unfold in real life. The producers of Straight Outta Compton Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, Tomica Wright, Matt Alvarez, and Scott Bernstein did a fantastic job picking the actors in this film to make the documentary more realistic. The actors provided a very realistic perspective of the five young men in their earlier years. Having this many genres it makes Straight Outta Compton appealing

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.

The most popular and influential form of African-American pop music of the 1980's and 1990's, rap is also one of the most controversial styles of the rock era. And not just among the guardians of cultural taste and purity that have always been counted among rock 'n' roll's chief enemies--Black, White, rock and soul audiences continue to fiercely debate the musical and social merits of rap, whose most radical innovations subverted many of the musical and cultural tenets upon which rock was built. Antecedents of rap are easy to find in rock with other kinds of music. Music is often used to tell a story, often with spoken rhymes over instruments and rhythms. Talking blues, spoken passages of sanctified prose in gospel,

Hip Hop in the most popular genre of music between all African American communities, not just in America, but worldwide. Hip Hop has expanded itself into music, fashion, advertisement, movies, and it’s given many rappers, and those associated with the genre, the chance to influence their communities, societies and their culture in general, but commercial Hip Hop in the U.S. has branded Hip Hop in a negative way. (The Young and The Hip-Hop, Hip Hop Culture Center in Harlem, 2012, Web, Oct. 27, 2014) This is all due to the negative imagery and negative lyrics like the term nigga, negative implications of Hip Hop include exploiting black adolescent girls, promoting unhealthy lifestyles, and implying that the open use of the word nigga is not harmful. Hip Hop has become a global phenomenon where it has evolved from a genre of music to a lifestyle for the African American community.