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(New page: Hip hop is a cultural movement which developed in New York City in the 1970s primarily among African Americans and Latinos. Its four main elements are emceeing (often called rapping), DJin...)
 
 
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The relationship between graffiti and hip hop culture arises from the appearance of new and increasingly elaborate and pervasive forms of the practice in areas where other elements of hip hop were evolving as art forms, with a heavy overlap between those who wrote and those who practiced other elements of the culture. Beatboxing is a mainly percussive vocal form in which various technical effects of hip hop DJs are imitated.
 
The relationship between graffiti and hip hop culture arises from the appearance of new and increasingly elaborate and pervasive forms of the practice in areas where other elements of hip hop were evolving as art forms, with a heavy overlap between those who wrote and those who practiced other elements of the culture. Beatboxing is a mainly percussive vocal form in which various technical effects of hip hop DJs are imitated.
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== Etymology ==
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The word [[Hip (slang)|"hip"]] was used as [[African American Vernacular English]] (AAVE) as early as 1904. The colloquial language meant "informed" or "current," and was likely derived from the earlier form ''hep''.
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[[Keith "Cowboy" Wiggins]], a rapper with [[Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five]] has been credited with the coining of the term ''hip hop'' in 1978 while teasing a friend who had just joined the US Army, by [[scat singing]] the words "hip/hop/hip/hop" in a way that mimicked the [[rhythm]]ic cadence of marching soldiers.  Cowboy later worked the "hip hop" cadence into a part of his stage performance.  <ref name="furious5"/> The group frequently performed with disco artists who would refer to this new type of MC / DJ produced music by calling them "those hip-hoppers".  The name was originally meant as a sign of disrespect, but soon come to identify this new music and culture.  Other artists quickly copied the Furious Five and began using the term in their music; for example the opening of the song "[[Rapper's Delight]]" by [[The Sugarhill Gang]] in addition the verse found on [[Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five]]'s own "[[Supperrappin]]", both released in 1979.  [[Lovebug Starski]], and [[DJ Hollywood]] then began using the term when referring to this new ''[[disco]] rap'' music.  Hip hop pioneer and South Bronx community leader [[Afrika Bambaataa]] also credits [[Lovebug Starski]], a Bronx DJ who put out a single called "The Positive Life" in 1981, as the first to use the term "Hip Hop," as it relates to the culture.  Bambaataa, a former [[Black Spades]] gang member also did much to further popularize the term. <ref>[http://72.14.209.104/search?q=cache:nmWYaxJvswsJ:www.zulunation.com/hip_hop_history_2.htm+%22keith+cowboy%22+%22hip+hop%22+military&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=3 Zulu Nation: History of Hip-Hop] </ref> <ref name="furious5"> 
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[http://web.archive.org/web/20060317071002/http://www.furious5.net/cowboy.htm Keith Cowboy - The Real Mc Coy<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> <ref>[http://72.14.209.104/search?q=cache:nmWYaxJvswsJ:www.zulunation.com/hip_hop_history_2.htm+%22keith+cowboy%22+%22hip+hop%22+military&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=3 http://www.zulunation.com/hip_hop_history2.htm] (cached)  </ref>
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== History==
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Jamaican born [[DJ]] Clive "[[Kool Herc]]" Campbell is credited as originating [[hip hop music]], in the [[Bronx, New York]], after moving to New York at the age of thirteen.  Herc created the blueprint for hip hop music and culture by building upon the Jamaican tradition of [[toasting]], or boasting impromptu poetry and sayings over music, which he witnessed as a child in Jamaica. <ref>[[Jeff Chang (journalist)|Chang, Jeff]].  ''Can't Stop, Won't Stop''. St. Martin's Press, New York: 2005</ref>
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Herc and other DJs would tap into the power lines to connect their equipment and perform, at venues such as public basketball courts and the  historic building "where hip hop was born," 1520 Sedgwick Avenue, Bronx, New York. <ref name=Times>[http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/01/15/tenants-might-buy-the-birthplace-of-hip-hop/?hp Tenants Might Buy the Birthplace of Hip-Hop], [[Jennifer 8. Lee]], New York Times, January 15, 2008.</ref>
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Their equipment was composed of huge stacks of speakers, turntables, and one or more microphones.<ref>Kenner, Rob. "Dancehall," In The Vibe History of Hip-hop, ed. Alan Light, 350-7. New York: Three Rivers Press, 1999.</ref> In late 1979, [[Debbie Harry]] of ''[[Blondie (band)|Blondie]]'' took [[Chic (band)|Chic]] co-founder and lead guitarist [[Nile Rodgers]] to such an event, as the main backing track used was the break from Chic's ''[[Good Times (song)|Good Times]].''<ref name="Nile">{{citeweb|url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-SCGNOieBI&feature=related|title=The Story of Rapper's Delight by Nile Rodgers|publisher=RapProject.tv|accessdate=2008-10-12}}</ref>
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Herc was also the developer of [[break (music)|break-beat]] [[DJ|deejaying]], where the breaks of [[funk]] songs&mdash;the part most suited to dance, usually [[percussion instrument|percussion]]-based&mdash;were isolated and repeated for the purpose of all-night dance parties.  This [[breakbeat]] DJing, using hard funk, rock, and records with Latin percussion, formed the basis of hip hop music. Campbell's announcements and exhortations to dancers would lead to the syncopated, rhymed spoken accompaniment we now know as [[rapping]].  He dubbed his dancers break-boys and break-girls,  or simply [[breakdance|b-boys]] and b-girls.  According to Herc, "breaking" was also street slang for "getting excited" and "acting energetically".<ref>Kool Herc, in Israel (director), ''The Freshest Kids'', QD3, 2002.</ref> Herc's terms b-boy, b-girl and breaking became part of the lexicon of hip hop culture,  before that culture itself had developed a name.
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Later DJs such as [[Grand Wizard Theodore]], [[DJ Grandmaster Flash|Grandmaster Flash]] and [[Jazzy Jay]] refined and developed the use of breakbeats, including [[scratching|cutting and scratching]].<ref>[http://www.daveyd.com/raptitle.html History of Hip Hop] - Written by Davey D</ref>  The approach used by Herc was soon widely copied, and by the late 1970s DJs were releasing [[12-inch single|12"]] records where they would rap to the beat. Popular tunes included [[Kurtis Blow]]'s "[[The Breaks (song)|The Breaks]]", and The [[Sugar Hill Gang]]'s "[[Rapper's Delight]]."<ref name="Nile"/>
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[[Emceeing]] is the [[rhythm]]ic spoken delivery of [[rhyme]]s and wordplay, delivered over a [[beats (music)|beat]] or without accompaniment.  [[Rapping]] is derived from the [[griot]]s (folk poets) of [[African music|West Africa]], and [[Jamaican Music|Jamaican]]-style [[toasting]]. Rap developed both inside and outside of hip hop culture, and began with the street parties thrown in the Bronx neighborhood of New York in the 1970s by [[Kool Herc]] and others. It originated as MCs would talk over the music to promote their DJ, promote other dance parties, take light-hearted jabs at other lyricists, or talk about problems in their areas and issues facing the community as a whole.
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[[Melle Mel]], a rapper/lyricist with The [[Furious Five]], is often credited with being the first rap lyricist to call himself an "MC".<ref>[http://www.allhiphop.com/features/?ID=1686  Article about MelleMel (Melle Mel) at AllHipHop.com]
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</ref>
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Hip hop as a culture was further defined in 1983, when Afrika Bambaataa and the Soulsonic Force released a track called "[[Planet Rock (song)|Planet Rock]]."  Instead of simply rapping over disco beats, Bambaataa created an innovative electronic sound, taking advantage of the rapidly improving drum machine and [[synthesizer]] technology.  The appearance of music videos changed entertainment: they often glorified urban neighborhoods.<ref>Rose, Tricia. "Black Noise: Rap Music and Black Culture in Contemporary America" page 192. Wesleyan Press, 1994</ref>. The [[music video]] for "Planet Rock" showcased the subculture of hip hop musicians, graffiti artists and breakdancers. Many hip hop-related films were released between 1983 and 1985, among them ''[[Wild Style]]'', ''[[Beat Street]]'', ''[[Krush Groove]]'', ''[[Breakin]]'', and the documentary ''[[Style Wars]]''.
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These films expanded the appeal of hip hop beyond the boundaries of New York.  By 1985, youth worldwide were laying down scrap [[linoleum]] or cardboard, setting down portable "boombox" stereos and spinning on their backs in Adidas tracksuits and sneakers to music by [[Run DMC]], [[LL Cool J]], the [[Fat Boys]], [[Herbie Hancock]], EPMD, Soulsonic Force, [[Jazzy Jay]], Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde, and [[Stetsasonic]], just to name a few. The hip hop artwork and "slang" of US urban communities quickly found its way to Europe and Asia, as the culture's global appeal took root. 
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The 1980s also saw many artists make social statements through hip hop. In 1982, Melle Mel and Duke Bootee recorded "The Message" (officially credited to Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five), a song that foreshadowed the socially conscious statements of [[Run-DMC]]'s "[[It's like That (Run-D.M.C. song)|It's like That]]" and [[Public Enemy (band)|Public Enemy]]'s "[[Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos]]."<ref>Rose, Tricia. "Black Noise: Rap Music and Black Culture in Contemporary America", pages 53-55. Wesleyan Press, 1994.</ref>
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During the 1980s, hip hop also embraced the creation of rhythm by using the human body, via the [[vocal percussion]] technique of [[beatboxing]]. Early pioneers such as [[Doug E. Fresh]], [[Biz Markie]], and Buffy from the [[Fat Boys]] made beats, rhythm, and musical sounds using their mouth, lips, tongue, voice, and other body parts. "Human Beatbox" artists would also [[sing]] or imitate [[turntablism]] scratching or other instrument sounds.
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== Legacy and social impact==
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Early hip hop has often been credited with helping to reduce inner-city gang violence by replacing physical violence with dance and artwork battles. In the early 1970s, Kool DJ Herc began organizing dance parties in his home in the Bronx. The parties became so popular they were moved to outdoor venues to accommodate more people. City teenagers, after years of gang violence, were looking for new ways to express themselves. <ref> Chang, Jeff. “It’s a Hip-hop World.” Foreign Policy 163, Nov/Dec 2007, 58-65.</ref> These outdoor parties, hosted in parks, became a means of expression and an outlet for teenagers, where “Instead of getting into trouble on the streets, teens now had a place to expend their pent-up energy.” <ref> Chang, Jeff. “It’s a Hip-hop World.” Foreign Policy 163, Nov/Dec 2007, 58-65.</ref>
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Tony Tone, a member of the pioneering rap group the Cold Crush Brothers, noted that “Hip-hop saved a lot of lives.”<ref>Chang, Jeff. “It’s a Hip-hop World.” Foreign Policy 163, Nov/Dec 2007, 58-65.</ref> Hip hop culture became an outlet and a way of dealing with the hardships of life as minorities within America, and an outlet to deal with violence and gang culture. MC Kid Lucky mentions that “people used to break-dance against each other instead of fighting.”<ref>[http://ny.metro.us/metro/local/article/Bringing_that_beat_back__on_the_E_train/1200.html metro<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>  Inspired by Kool DJ Herc, once-gang leader Afrika Bambaataa created a street organization called [[Universal Zulu Nation]], centered around hip hop, as a means to draw teenagers out of gang life and violence.<ref>Chang, Jeff. “It’s a Hip-hop World.” Foreign Policy 163, Nov/Dec 2007, 58-65.</ref>
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Hip hop was not centered around violence, drugs, and weapons like most people thought in the early days. Many people used hip hop in positive ways. "Young black Americans coming out of the civil rights movement have used hip hop culture in the 1980s and 1990s to show the limitations of the movement."<ref>Diawara, Manthia. “Homeboy Cosmopolitan.” In Search of Africa, 237-76. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1998</ref> Hip hop gave young black Americans a voice to let their issues be noticed. It also gave young blacks a chance for financial gain by "reducing the rest of the world to consumers of its social concerns."<ref>Diawara, Manthia. “Homeboy Cosmopolitan.” In Search of Africa, 237-76. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1998</ref>
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This shows that hip hop's social impacts on the country have not been all negative. It has positively affected many youth and encouraged them to voice their opinions on world and personal issues. "Like rock-and-roll, hip hop is vigorously opposed by conservatives because it romanticises violence, law-breaking, and gangs" <ref>Diawara, Manthia. “Homeboy Cosmopolitan.” In Search of Africa, 237-76. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1998.</ref>. Both hip hop and rock-and-roll were musical movements used by teens in order to express how they felt about certain issues. "Last night at the Waldorf-Astoria, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, who proved that hip hop was more than party music with their 1982 hit “The Message,” became the first hip hop group to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame" <ref>[http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/13/arts/music/13hall.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss Hip-Hop Is Rock ’n’ Roll, and Hall of Fame Likes It - New York Times<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> Now hip hop and rock-and-roll are used together in many ways including rewriting songs where a rapper or rock band play with the other.
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With the emergence of commercial and crime-related rap during the early 1990s, however, an emphasis on violence was incorporated, with many rappers boasting about drugs, weapons, misogyny, and violence. While hip hop music now appeals to a broader demographic, media critics argue that socially and politically conscious hip hop has long been disregarded by mainstream America in favor of [[gangsta rap]].<ref name="Media coverage of the Hip-Hop Culture"> [http://www.cas.muohio.edu/eng421/cases/butler1.html Media coverage of the Hip-Hop Culture - By Brendan Butler, Ethics In Journalism, Miami University Department of English<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>
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Though created in the United States by African Americans and Latinos, hip hop culture and music is now global in scope. Youth culture and opinion is meted out in both [[Israeli hip hop]] and [[Palestinian hip hop]], while [[French hip hop|France]], [[German hip hop|Germany]], [[British hip hop|the U.K.]], [[Brazilian hip hop|Brazil]], [[Japanese hip hop|Japan]], [[African hip hop|Africa]], and the [[Songo-salsa|Caribbean]] have long-established hip hop followings. According to the U.S. Department of State, hip hop is "now the center of a mega music and fashion industry around the world," that crosses social barriers and cuts across racial lines.<ref name="Hip-Hop Culture Crosses Social Barriers">[http://usinfo.state.gov/scv/Archive/2006/May/12-522164.html Hip-Hop Culture Crosses Social Barriers - US Department of State<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> ''[[National Geographic]]'' recognizes hip hop as "the world's favorite youth culture" in which "just about every country on the planet seems to have developed its own local rap scene."<ref name="Hip Hop Overview">[http://worldmusic.nationalgeographic.com/worldmusic/view/page.basic/genre/content.genre/hip_hop_730 Hip Hop: National Geographic World Music<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> Through its international travels, hip hop is now acknowledged as a “global musical epidemic,”<ref>[http://archives.cnn.com/2001/SHOWBIZ/Music/01/15/wb.hiphop/index.html CNN.com - WorldBeat - Hip-hop music goes global - January 15, 2001<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> and has diverged from its ethnic roots by way of globalization and localization.
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Although some non-American rappers may still relate with young black Americans, hip hop now transcends its original culture, and is appealing because it is “custom-made to combat the anomie that preys on adolescents wherever nobody knows their name.”<ref>[http://www.villagevoice.com/music/0219,christgau,34334,22.html village voice > music > Rock&Roll&: Planet Rock by Robert Christgau<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> Hip hop is attractive in its ability to give a voice to disenfranchised youth in any country, and as music with a message it is a form available to all societies worldwide.
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Even in the face of growing global popularity, or perhaps because of it, hip hop has come under fire for being too commercial, too commodified, too much about money and [[bling-bling]]. Artist [[Nas]] said it himself in his 2006 album [[Hip Hop is Dead]]. While this of course stirs up controversy, a documentary called ''The Commodification of Hip Hop'' directed by Brooke Daniel interviews students at Satellite Academy in New York City. One girl talks about the epidemic of crime that she sees in urban black and Latino communities, relating it directly to the hip hop industry saying “When they can’t afford these kind of things, these things that celebrities have like jewelry and clothes and all that, they’ll go and sell drugs, some people will steal it…”<ref> The Commodification of Hip Hop, Brooke Daniel and Kellon Innocent, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LiCo_uUD2SY </ref> Many students see this as a negative side effect of the hip hop industry, and indeed, hip hop has been criticized all over the world for spreading crime, violence, and American ideals of consumerism.
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In an article for ''Village Voice'', Greg Tate argues that the commercialization of hip hop is a negative and pervasive phenomenon, writing that "what we call hiphop is now inseparable from what we call the hiphop industry, in which the nouveau riche and the super-rich employers get richer" <ref>Diawara, Manthia. “Homeboy Cosmopolitan.” In Search of Africa, 237-76. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1998.</ref>.  Ironically, this commercialization coincides with a decline in rap sales and pressure from critics of the genre <ref>[http://www.showbuzz.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/03/05/music/main2537326.shtml Rap Criticism Grows Within Own Community, Debate Rages Over It's Effect On Society As It Struggles With Alarming Sales Decline - The ShowBuzz<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>. However, in his book ''In Search Of Africa'',  Manthia Diawara explains that hip hop is really a voice of people who are down and out in modern society. He argues that the “worldwide spread of hip-hop as a market revolution” is actually global "expression of poor people’s desire for the good life,” and that this struggle aligns with “the nationalist struggle for citizenship and belonging, but also reveals the need to go beyond such struggles and celebrate the redemption of the black individual through tradition.” <ref>Diawara, Manthia. “Homeboy Cosmopolitan.” In Search of Africa, 238. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1998. </ref>
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This connection to "tradition" however, is something that may be lacking according to one Satellite Academy staff member who says that in all of the focus on materialism, the hip hop community is “not leaving anything for the next generation, we’re not building.”<ref> The Commodification of Hip Hop, Brooke Daniel and Kellon Innocent, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LiCo_uUD2SY </ref>
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As the hip hop genre turns 30, a deeper analysis of the music’s impact is taking place. It has been viewed as a cultural sensation which changed the music industry around the world, but some believe commercialization and mass production have given it a darker side. Tate has described its recent manifestations as a marriage of “New World African ingenuity and that trick of the devil known as global-hypercapitalism”<ref> Tate, Greg. “Hip-hop Turns 30: Whatcha Celebratin’ For?” Village Voice. 4 January 2005. </ref>, arguing it has joined the “mainstream that had once excluded its originators.” <ref> Tate, Greg. “Hip-hop Turns 30: Whatcha Celebratin’ For?” Village Voice. 4 January 2005.</ref> While hip hop's values may have changed over time, the music continues to offer its followers and originators a shared identity which is instantly recognisable and much imitated around the world.
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==Global impact==
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From its early spread to [[European hip hop|Europe]] and [[Japanese hip hop|Japan]] to an almost worldwide acceptance through [[Asian hip hop|Asia]] and South American countries such as [[Brazilian hip hop|Brazil]], the musical influence has been global. Hip hop sounds and styles differ from region to region, but there is also a lot of crossbreeding. In each separate hip hop scene there is also constant struggle between “old school” hip hop and more localized, newer sounds.<ref>Christgau, Robert. "The World's Most Local Pop Music Goes International." The Village Voice. 7 May 2002. 16 Apr 2008. <http://www.villagevoice.com/music/0219,christgau,34334,22.html></ref> Regardless of where it is found, the music often targets local disaffected youth.<ref>Manteca. "Global Hip-Hop: Beats and Rhymes- The Nu World Cult."  2004.  18 Apr 2008.<http://www.afropop.org/explore/album_review/ID/2450/Global+Hip+Hop:+Beats+and+Rhymes-The+Nu+World+Cult></ref>
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Hip hop has given people a voice to express themselves, from the "Bronx to Beirut, Kazakhstan to Cali, Hokkaido to Harare, Hip Hop is the new sound of a disaffected global youth culture."<ref>[http://www.afropop.org/explore/album_review/ID/2450/Global+Hip+Hop:+Beats+and+Rhymes-The+Nu+World+Cult Global Hip Hop: Beats and Rhymes-The Nu World Cult<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> Though on the global scale there is a heavy influence from US culture, different cultures worldwide have transformed hip hop with their own traditions and beliefs. “Global Hip Hop succeeds best when it showcases...cultures that reside outside the main arteries of the African Diaspora.”<ref>[http://www.afropop.org/explore/album_review/ID/2450/Global+Hip+Hop:+Beats+and+Rhymes-The+Nu+World+Cult Global Hip Hop: Beats and Rhymes-The Nu World Cult<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> Not all countries have embraced hip hop, where, “as can be expected in countries with strong local culture, the interloping wildstyle of hip hop is not always welcomed.”<ref>[https://moodle.brandeis.edu/file.php/3404/pdfs/schwartz-planet-rock-vibe.pdf UNet Login:<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>
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As hip hop becomes globally-available, it is not a one-sided process that eradicates local cultures. Instead, global hip hop styles are often synthesized with local styles.  Hartwig Vens argues that hip hop can also be viewed as a global learning experience. <ref> Hartwig Vens. “Hip-hop speaks to the reality of Israel”. WorldPress. 20 November 2003. 24 March 2008. </ref> Hip hop from countries outside the United States is often labelled "[[world music]]" for the American consumer. Author [[Jeff Chang (journalist)|Jeff Chang]] argues that "the essence of hip hop is the cipher, born in the Bronx, where competition and community feed each other."<ref>Chang, Jeff. “It’s a Hip-hop World.” Foreign Policy 163, Nov/Dec 2007, 58-65.</ref> 
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Hip hop has impacted many different countries culturally and socially in positive ways.  "Thousands of organizers from Cape Town to Paris use hip hop in their communities to address environmental justice, policing and prisons, media justice, and education."<ref>Chang, Jeff. “It’s a Hip-hop World.” Foreign Policy 163, Nov/Dec 2007, 58-65</ref> Also, "young people in places as disparate as Chile, Indonesia, New Zealand, and Norway use hip hop to push their generation's views into the local conversation."<ref>Chang, Jeff. “It’s a Hip-hop World.” Foreign Policy 163, Nov/Dec 2007, 58-65</ref> 
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While hip hop music has been criticized as a music which creates a divide between western music and music from the rest of the world, a musical "cross pollination" has taken place, which strengthens the power of hip hop to influence different communities. <ref> Chang, Jeff. “It’s a Hip-hop World.” Foreign Policy 163, Nov/Dec 2007, 58-65.</ref>Hip hop's impact as a "world music" is also due to its translatability among different cultures in the world. Hip hop's messages allow the under-privileged and the mistreated to be heard.<ref> Hartwig Vens. “Hip-hop speaks to the reality of Israel”. WorldPress. 20 November 2003. 24 March 2008. </ref> These cultural translations cross borders.<ref> Chang, Jeff. “It’s a Hip-hop World.” Foreign Policy 163, Nov/Dec 2007, 58-65.</ref> While the music may be from a foreign country, the message is something that many people can relate to- something not "foreign" at all.<ref>Wayne Marshall, "Nu Whirl Music, Blogged in Translation?"</ref>
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Even when hip hop is transplanted to other countries, it often retains its "vital progressive agenda that challenges the status quo." <ref> Chang, Jeff. “It’s a Hip-hop World.” Foreign Policy 163, Nov/Dec 2007, 58-65.</ref> Global hip hop is the meeting ground for progressive local activism, as many organizers use hip hop in their communities to address environmental injustice, policing and prisons, media justice, and education. In Gothenburg, Sweden, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) incorporate graffiti and dance to engage disaffected immigrant and working class youths. And indigenous young people in places as disparate as Chile, Indonesia, New Zealand, and Norway use hip hop to push their generation's views into local conversation. <ref> Chang, Jeff. “It’s a Hip-hop World.” Foreign Policy 163, Nov/Dec 2007, 58-65.</ref>

Latest revision as of 03:22, 17 October 2008

Hip hop is a cultural movement which developed in New York City in the 1970s primarily among African Americans and Latinos. Its four main elements are emceeing (often called rapping), DJing, graffiti, and b-boying (breakdancing). Other elements include beatboxing, hip hop fashion, and slang. Since first emerging in The Bronx, the lifestyle of hip hop culture has spread around the world.

When hip hop music began to emerge, it was based around DJs who created rhythmic beats by looping breaks (smalls portions of songs emphasizing a percussive pattern) on two turntables. This was later accompanied by "rapping" (a rhythmic style of chanting). An original form of dancing, and particular styles of dress, arose among followers of this new music. These elements experienced considerable refinement and development over the course of the history of the culture.

The relationship between graffiti and hip hop culture arises from the appearance of new and increasingly elaborate and pervasive forms of the practice in areas where other elements of hip hop were evolving as art forms, with a heavy overlap between those who wrote and those who practiced other elements of the culture. Beatboxing is a mainly percussive vocal form in which various technical effects of hip hop DJs are imitated.


Etymology[edit]

The word "hip" was used as African American Vernacular English (AAVE) as early as 1904. The colloquial language meant "informed" or "current," and was likely derived from the earlier form hep.

Keith "Cowboy" Wiggins, a rapper with Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five has been credited with the coining of the term hip hop in 1978 while teasing a friend who had just joined the US Army, by scat singing the words "hip/hop/hip/hop" in a way that mimicked the rhythmic cadence of marching soldiers. Cowboy later worked the "hip hop" cadence into a part of his stage performance. [1] The group frequently performed with disco artists who would refer to this new type of MC / DJ produced music by calling them "those hip-hoppers". The name was originally meant as a sign of disrespect, but soon come to identify this new music and culture. Other artists quickly copied the Furious Five and began using the term in their music; for example the opening of the song "Rapper's Delight" by The Sugarhill Gang in addition the verse found on Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five's own "Supperrappin", both released in 1979. Lovebug Starski, and DJ Hollywood then began using the term when referring to this new disco rap music. Hip hop pioneer and South Bronx community leader Afrika Bambaataa also credits Lovebug Starski, a Bronx DJ who put out a single called "The Positive Life" in 1981, as the first to use the term "Hip Hop," as it relates to the culture. Bambaataa, a former Black Spades gang member also did much to further popularize the term. [2] [1] [3]


History[edit]

Jamaican born DJ Clive "Kool Herc" Campbell is credited as originating hip hop music, in the Bronx, New York, after moving to New York at the age of thirteen. Herc created the blueprint for hip hop music and culture by building upon the Jamaican tradition of toasting, or boasting impromptu poetry and sayings over music, which he witnessed as a child in Jamaica. [4]

Herc and other DJs would tap into the power lines to connect their equipment and perform, at venues such as public basketball courts and the historic building "where hip hop was born," 1520 Sedgwick Avenue, Bronx, New York. [5] Their equipment was composed of huge stacks of speakers, turntables, and one or more microphones.[6] In late 1979, Debbie Harry of Blondie took Chic co-founder and lead guitarist Nile Rodgers to such an event, as the main backing track used was the break from Chic's Good Times.[7]

Herc was also the developer of break-beat deejaying, where the breaks of funk songs—the part most suited to dance, usually percussion-based—were isolated and repeated for the purpose of all-night dance parties. This breakbeat DJing, using hard funk, rock, and records with Latin percussion, formed the basis of hip hop music. Campbell's announcements and exhortations to dancers would lead to the syncopated, rhymed spoken accompaniment we now know as rapping. He dubbed his dancers break-boys and break-girls, or simply b-boys and b-girls. According to Herc, "breaking" was also street slang for "getting excited" and "acting energetically".[8] Herc's terms b-boy, b-girl and breaking became part of the lexicon of hip hop culture, before that culture itself had developed a name.

Later DJs such as Grand Wizard Theodore, Grandmaster Flash and Jazzy Jay refined and developed the use of breakbeats, including cutting and scratching.[9] The approach used by Herc was soon widely copied, and by the late 1970s DJs were releasing 12" records where they would rap to the beat. Popular tunes included Kurtis Blow's "The Breaks", and The Sugar Hill Gang's "Rapper's Delight."[7]

Emceeing is the rhythmic spoken delivery of rhymes and wordplay, delivered over a beat or without accompaniment. Rapping is derived from the griots (folk poets) of West Africa, and Jamaican-style toasting. Rap developed both inside and outside of hip hop culture, and began with the street parties thrown in the Bronx neighborhood of New York in the 1970s by Kool Herc and others. It originated as MCs would talk over the music to promote their DJ, promote other dance parties, take light-hearted jabs at other lyricists, or talk about problems in their areas and issues facing the community as a whole.

Melle Mel, a rapper/lyricist with The Furious Five, is often credited with being the first rap lyricist to call himself an "MC".[10]

Hip hop as a culture was further defined in 1983, when Afrika Bambaataa and the Soulsonic Force released a track called "Planet Rock." Instead of simply rapping over disco beats, Bambaataa created an innovative electronic sound, taking advantage of the rapidly improving drum machine and synthesizer technology. The appearance of music videos changed entertainment: they often glorified urban neighborhoods.[11]. The music video for "Planet Rock" showcased the subculture of hip hop musicians, graffiti artists and breakdancers. Many hip hop-related films were released between 1983 and 1985, among them Wild Style, Beat Street, Krush Groove, Breakin, and the documentary Style Wars.

These films expanded the appeal of hip hop beyond the boundaries of New York. By 1985, youth worldwide were laying down scrap linoleum or cardboard, setting down portable "boombox" stereos and spinning on their backs in Adidas tracksuits and sneakers to music by Run DMC, LL Cool J, the Fat Boys, Herbie Hancock, EPMD, Soulsonic Force, Jazzy Jay, Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde, and Stetsasonic, just to name a few. The hip hop artwork and "slang" of US urban communities quickly found its way to Europe and Asia, as the culture's global appeal took root.

The 1980s also saw many artists make social statements through hip hop. In 1982, Melle Mel and Duke Bootee recorded "The Message" (officially credited to Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five), a song that foreshadowed the socially conscious statements of Run-DMC's "It's like That" and Public Enemy's "Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos."[12]

During the 1980s, hip hop also embraced the creation of rhythm by using the human body, via the vocal percussion technique of beatboxing. Early pioneers such as Doug E. Fresh, Biz Markie, and Buffy from the Fat Boys made beats, rhythm, and musical sounds using their mouth, lips, tongue, voice, and other body parts. "Human Beatbox" artists would also sing or imitate turntablism scratching or other instrument sounds.


Legacy and social impact[edit]

Early hip hop has often been credited with helping to reduce inner-city gang violence by replacing physical violence with dance and artwork battles. In the early 1970s, Kool DJ Herc began organizing dance parties in his home in the Bronx. The parties became so popular they were moved to outdoor venues to accommodate more people. City teenagers, after years of gang violence, were looking for new ways to express themselves. [13] These outdoor parties, hosted in parks, became a means of expression and an outlet for teenagers, where “Instead of getting into trouble on the streets, teens now had a place to expend their pent-up energy.” [14]

Tony Tone, a member of the pioneering rap group the Cold Crush Brothers, noted that “Hip-hop saved a lot of lives.”[15] Hip hop culture became an outlet and a way of dealing with the hardships of life as minorities within America, and an outlet to deal with violence and gang culture. MC Kid Lucky mentions that “people used to break-dance against each other instead of fighting.”[16] Inspired by Kool DJ Herc, once-gang leader Afrika Bambaataa created a street organization called Universal Zulu Nation, centered around hip hop, as a means to draw teenagers out of gang life and violence.[17]

Hip hop was not centered around violence, drugs, and weapons like most people thought in the early days. Many people used hip hop in positive ways. "Young black Americans coming out of the civil rights movement have used hip hop culture in the 1980s and 1990s to show the limitations of the movement."[18] Hip hop gave young black Americans a voice to let their issues be noticed. It also gave young blacks a chance for financial gain by "reducing the rest of the world to consumers of its social concerns."[19]

This shows that hip hop's social impacts on the country have not been all negative. It has positively affected many youth and encouraged them to voice their opinions on world and personal issues. "Like rock-and-roll, hip hop is vigorously opposed by conservatives because it romanticises violence, law-breaking, and gangs" [20]. Both hip hop and rock-and-roll were musical movements used by teens in order to express how they felt about certain issues. "Last night at the Waldorf-Astoria, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, who proved that hip hop was more than party music with their 1982 hit “The Message,” became the first hip hop group to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame" [21] Now hip hop and rock-and-roll are used together in many ways including rewriting songs where a rapper or rock band play with the other.

With the emergence of commercial and crime-related rap during the early 1990s, however, an emphasis on violence was incorporated, with many rappers boasting about drugs, weapons, misogyny, and violence. While hip hop music now appeals to a broader demographic, media critics argue that socially and politically conscious hip hop has long been disregarded by mainstream America in favor of gangsta rap.[22]

Though created in the United States by African Americans and Latinos, hip hop culture and music is now global in scope. Youth culture and opinion is meted out in both Israeli hip hop and Palestinian hip hop, while France, Germany, the U.K., Brazil, Japan, Africa, and the Caribbean have long-established hip hop followings. According to the U.S. Department of State, hip hop is "now the center of a mega music and fashion industry around the world," that crosses social barriers and cuts across racial lines.[23] National Geographic recognizes hip hop as "the world's favorite youth culture" in which "just about every country on the planet seems to have developed its own local rap scene."[24] Through its international travels, hip hop is now acknowledged as a “global musical epidemic,”[25] and has diverged from its ethnic roots by way of globalization and localization.

Although some non-American rappers may still relate with young black Americans, hip hop now transcends its original culture, and is appealing because it is “custom-made to combat the anomie that preys on adolescents wherever nobody knows their name.”[26] Hip hop is attractive in its ability to give a voice to disenfranchised youth in any country, and as music with a message it is a form available to all societies worldwide.

Even in the face of growing global popularity, or perhaps because of it, hip hop has come under fire for being too commercial, too commodified, too much about money and bling-bling. Artist Nas said it himself in his 2006 album Hip Hop is Dead. While this of course stirs up controversy, a documentary called The Commodification of Hip Hop directed by Brooke Daniel interviews students at Satellite Academy in New York City. One girl talks about the epidemic of crime that she sees in urban black and Latino communities, relating it directly to the hip hop industry saying “When they can’t afford these kind of things, these things that celebrities have like jewelry and clothes and all that, they’ll go and sell drugs, some people will steal it…”[27] Many students see this as a negative side effect of the hip hop industry, and indeed, hip hop has been criticized all over the world for spreading crime, violence, and American ideals of consumerism.

In an article for Village Voice, Greg Tate argues that the commercialization of hip hop is a negative and pervasive phenomenon, writing that "what we call hiphop is now inseparable from what we call the hiphop industry, in which the nouveau riche and the super-rich employers get richer" [28]. Ironically, this commercialization coincides with a decline in rap sales and pressure from critics of the genre [29]. However, in his book In Search Of Africa, Manthia Diawara explains that hip hop is really a voice of people who are down and out in modern society. He argues that the “worldwide spread of hip-hop as a market revolution” is actually global "expression of poor people’s desire for the good life,” and that this struggle aligns with “the nationalist struggle for citizenship and belonging, but also reveals the need to go beyond such struggles and celebrate the redemption of the black individual through tradition.” [30]

This connection to "tradition" however, is something that may be lacking according to one Satellite Academy staff member who says that in all of the focus on materialism, the hip hop community is “not leaving anything for the next generation, we’re not building.”[31]

As the hip hop genre turns 30, a deeper analysis of the music’s impact is taking place. It has been viewed as a cultural sensation which changed the music industry around the world, but some believe commercialization and mass production have given it a darker side. Tate has described its recent manifestations as a marriage of “New World African ingenuity and that trick of the devil known as global-hypercapitalism”[32], arguing it has joined the “mainstream that had once excluded its originators.” [33] While hip hop's values may have changed over time, the music continues to offer its followers and originators a shared identity which is instantly recognisable and much imitated around the world.


Global impact[edit]

From its early spread to Europe and Japan to an almost worldwide acceptance through Asia and South American countries such as Brazil, the musical influence has been global. Hip hop sounds and styles differ from region to region, but there is also a lot of crossbreeding. In each separate hip hop scene there is also constant struggle between “old school” hip hop and more localized, newer sounds.[34] Regardless of where it is found, the music often targets local disaffected youth.[35]

Hip hop has given people a voice to express themselves, from the "Bronx to Beirut, Kazakhstan to Cali, Hokkaido to Harare, Hip Hop is the new sound of a disaffected global youth culture."[36] Though on the global scale there is a heavy influence from US culture, different cultures worldwide have transformed hip hop with their own traditions and beliefs. “Global Hip Hop succeeds best when it showcases...cultures that reside outside the main arteries of the African Diaspora.”[37] Not all countries have embraced hip hop, where, “as can be expected in countries with strong local culture, the interloping wildstyle of hip hop is not always welcomed.”[38]

As hip hop becomes globally-available, it is not a one-sided process that eradicates local cultures. Instead, global hip hop styles are often synthesized with local styles. Hartwig Vens argues that hip hop can also be viewed as a global learning experience. [39] Hip hop from countries outside the United States is often labelled "world music" for the American consumer. Author Jeff Chang argues that "the essence of hip hop is the cipher, born in the Bronx, where competition and community feed each other."[40]

Hip hop has impacted many different countries culturally and socially in positive ways. "Thousands of organizers from Cape Town to Paris use hip hop in their communities to address environmental justice, policing and prisons, media justice, and education."[41] Also, "young people in places as disparate as Chile, Indonesia, New Zealand, and Norway use hip hop to push their generation's views into the local conversation."[42]

While hip hop music has been criticized as a music which creates a divide between western music and music from the rest of the world, a musical "cross pollination" has taken place, which strengthens the power of hip hop to influence different communities. [43]Hip hop's impact as a "world music" is also due to its translatability among different cultures in the world. Hip hop's messages allow the under-privileged and the mistreated to be heard.[44] These cultural translations cross borders.[45] While the music may be from a foreign country, the message is something that many people can relate to- something not "foreign" at all.[46]

Even when hip hop is transplanted to other countries, it often retains its "vital progressive agenda that challenges the status quo." [47] Global hip hop is the meeting ground for progressive local activism, as many organizers use hip hop in their communities to address environmental injustice, policing and prisons, media justice, and education. In Gothenburg, Sweden, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) incorporate graffiti and dance to engage disaffected immigrant and working class youths. And indigenous young people in places as disparate as Chile, Indonesia, New Zealand, and Norway use hip hop to push their generation's views into local conversation. [48]
  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Keith Cowboy - The Real Mc Coy
  2. ↑ Zulu Nation: History of Hip-Hop
  3. ↑ http://www.zulunation.com/hip_hop_history2.htm (cached)
  4. ↑ Chang, Jeff. Can't Stop, Won't Stop. St. Martin's Press, New York: 2005
  5. ↑ Tenants Might Buy the Birthplace of Hip-Hop, Jennifer 8. Lee, New York Times, January 15, 2008.
  6. ↑ Kenner, Rob. "Dancehall," In The Vibe History of Hip-hop, ed. Alan Light, 350-7. New York: Three Rivers Press, 1999.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 The Story of Rapper's Delight by Nile Rodgers. RapProject.tv. URL accessed on 2008-10-12.
  8. ↑ Kool Herc, in Israel (director), The Freshest Kids, QD3, 2002.
  9. ↑ History of Hip Hop - Written by Davey D
  10. ↑ Article about MelleMel (Melle Mel) at AllHipHop.com
  11. ↑ Rose, Tricia. "Black Noise: Rap Music and Black Culture in Contemporary America" page 192. Wesleyan Press, 1994
  12. ↑ Rose, Tricia. "Black Noise: Rap Music and Black Culture in Contemporary America", pages 53-55. Wesleyan Press, 1994.
  13. ↑ Chang, Jeff. “It’s a Hip-hop World.” Foreign Policy 163, Nov/Dec 2007, 58-65.
  14. ↑ Chang, Jeff. “It’s a Hip-hop World.” Foreign Policy 163, Nov/Dec 2007, 58-65.
  15. ↑ Chang, Jeff. “It’s a Hip-hop World.” Foreign Policy 163, Nov/Dec 2007, 58-65.
  16. ↑ metro
  17. ↑ Chang, Jeff. “It’s a Hip-hop World.” Foreign Policy 163, Nov/Dec 2007, 58-65.
  18. ↑ Diawara, Manthia. “Homeboy Cosmopolitan.” In Search of Africa, 237-76. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1998
  19. ↑ Diawara, Manthia. “Homeboy Cosmopolitan.” In Search of Africa, 237-76. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1998
  20. ↑ Diawara, Manthia. “Homeboy Cosmopolitan.” In Search of Africa, 237-76. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1998.
  21. ↑ Hip-Hop Is Rock ’n’ Roll, and Hall of Fame Likes It - New York Times
  22. ↑ Media coverage of the Hip-Hop Culture - By Brendan Butler, Ethics In Journalism, Miami University Department of English
  23. ↑ Hip-Hop Culture Crosses Social Barriers - US Department of State
  24. ↑ Hip Hop: National Geographic World Music
  25. ↑ CNN.com - WorldBeat - Hip-hop music goes global - January 15, 2001
  26. ↑ village voice > music > Rock&Roll&: Planet Rock by Robert Christgau
  27. ↑ The Commodification of Hip Hop, Brooke Daniel and Kellon Innocent, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LiCo_uUD2SY
  28. ↑ Diawara, Manthia. “Homeboy Cosmopolitan.” In Search of Africa, 237-76. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1998.
  29. ↑ Rap Criticism Grows Within Own Community, Debate Rages Over It's Effect On Society As It Struggles With Alarming Sales Decline - The ShowBuzz
  30. ↑ Diawara, Manthia. “Homeboy Cosmopolitan.” In Search of Africa, 238. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1998.
  31. ↑ The Commodification of Hip Hop, Brooke Daniel and Kellon Innocent, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LiCo_uUD2SY
  32. ↑ Tate, Greg. “Hip-hop Turns 30: Whatcha Celebratin’ For?” Village Voice. 4 January 2005.
  33. ↑ Tate, Greg. “Hip-hop Turns 30: Whatcha Celebratin’ For?” Village Voice. 4 January 2005.
  34. ↑ Christgau, Robert. "The World's Most Local Pop Music Goes International." The Village Voice. 7 May 2002. 16 Apr 2008. <http://www.villagevoice.com/music/0219,christgau,34334,22.html>
  35. ↑ Manteca. "Global Hip-Hop: Beats and Rhymes- The Nu World Cult." 2004. 18 Apr 2008.<http://www.afropop.org/explore/album_review/ID/2450/Global+Hip+Hop:+Beats+and+Rhymes-The+Nu+World+Cult>
  36. ↑ Global Hip Hop: Beats and Rhymes-The Nu World Cult
  37. ↑ Global Hip Hop: Beats and Rhymes-The Nu World Cult
  38. ↑ UNet Login:
  39. ↑ Hartwig Vens. “Hip-hop speaks to the reality of Israel”. WorldPress. 20 November 2003. 24 March 2008.
  40. ↑ Chang, Jeff. “It’s a Hip-hop World.” Foreign Policy 163, Nov/Dec 2007, 58-65.
  41. ↑ Chang, Jeff. “It’s a Hip-hop World.” Foreign Policy 163, Nov/Dec 2007, 58-65
  42. ↑ Chang, Jeff. “It’s a Hip-hop World.” Foreign Policy 163, Nov/Dec 2007, 58-65
  43. ↑ Chang, Jeff. “It’s a Hip-hop World.” Foreign Policy 163, Nov/Dec 2007, 58-65.
  44. ↑ Hartwig Vens. “Hip-hop speaks to the reality of Israel”. WorldPress. 20 November 2003. 24 March 2008.
  45. ↑ Chang, Jeff. “It’s a Hip-hop World.” Foreign Policy 163, Nov/Dec 2007, 58-65.
  46. ↑ Wayne Marshall, "Nu Whirl Music, Blogged in Translation?"
  47. ↑ Chang, Jeff. “It’s a Hip-hop World.” Foreign Policy 163, Nov/Dec 2007, 58-65.
  48. ↑ Chang, Jeff. “It’s a Hip-hop World.” Foreign Policy 163, Nov/Dec 2007, 58-65.
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