Hip hop culture

Hip hop is a cultural movement that began among urban African Americans and Latinos in the Bronx New York City in the early 1970s, and has since spread around the world. The four main aspects, or "elements", of hip hop culture are MCing (rapping), DJing, graffiti, and breakdancing. Some consider beatboxing the fifth element of hip hop; others might add political activism, hip hop fashion, hip hop slang, double dutching (an urban form of rope skipping) or other elements as important facets of hip hop. The term has since come to be a synonym for hip hop music (or rap music) to mainstream audiences.

Hip hop music

Main article: Hip hop music

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The various factors that influenced early hip hop are complex and numerous. Although the majority of influences can be traced to African culture, the multicultural society of New York City resulted in diverse musical influences finding their way into hip hop music.

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Elements of the style and techniques of rapping originate with the griots of West Africa; traveling singers and poets had musical styles that contained elements of what would later evolve into hip-hop music. Some griot traditions came to the United States, the UK and the Caribbean with the passage of African slaves to the New World. Other notable influences are the spoken word sections of records by soul and funk musicians such as James Brown and Isaac Hayes.

Related Topics:
Griots - Slave - New World - Soul - Funk - James Brown - Isaac Hayes

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One of the many influences on the creation of contemporary hip hop music is the Jamaican style called dub, which arose as a sub-genre of Reggae in the 1960s. Dub music saw producers such as King Tubby creating instrumental versions of popular reggae records for the purpose of clubs and Sound systems; they had discovered that dancers often responded better to the extended, isolated beats of the records, often featuring intense percussion and heavy basslines. Soon, the MCs that hosted the dances began speaking over the instrumental records, and the skills of MCs such as U-Roy, Dr. Alimontado and Dillinger saw them become popular performers in their own right. This tradition continues in contemporary Dancehall music. In 1967, Jamaican immigrants such as DJ Kool Herc brought dub to New York City and began playing it at parties in community centres, roller rinks and on the streets.

Related Topics:
Jamaica - Style - Dub - Reggae - 1960s - King Tubby - Sound system - Percussion - MC - U-Roy - Dr. Alimontado - Dillinger - Dancehall - 1967 - DJ Kool Herc - New York City

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Another significant influence is Blues music. In fact it could be argued that hip hop is a continuation of an oral historical tradition dating back to the griots and traced through blues to the current hip hop scene. One of the main influences Blues had was the Call/Response aspect of the music. This survived into the tradition of "toasting", another aspect of the oral tradition intrinsic to hip hop music. This became most pronounced in the tradition of MC "Battles", begun in the early 1980's.

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Herc was one of the most popular DJs in early 70s New York, playing at neighborhood parties (also known as block parties). After his first gig on Sedgwick Ave. in the Bronx in 1973, Herc quickly switched from using reggae records to funk, rock and disco, as he found that the New York audience did not particularly like reggae. Herc and other DJs found that dancers often preferred the percussive breaks of the records, and began extending them using an audio mixer and two records. Within a highly-competitive atmosphere, Herc's friends and competitors quickly developed other mixing techniques in order to keep audiences excited. As in Jamaica, these events were often hosted by a performer who spoke while the music played; these were originally called MCs (Masters of Ceremonies) and, later, rappers. Early rappers focused on introducing themselves, the DJ and others in the audience, although they quickly progressed to including improvisation and a simple four-count beat, along with a simple chorus. Later MCs added more complex and often humorous lyrics, and incorporated sexual themes. Although it had yet to be recorded, hip hop music steadily grew in popularity, and by the end of the 1970s was beginning to become a major artistic force which had spread throughout the United States. During the 1980s and 1990s, hip hop gradually became mainstream (a transition usually considered to have been completed in 1992) in the US and, to a lesser degree, worldwide.

Related Topics:
Block parties - 1973 - Reggae - 1980s - 1990s - 1992

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