Hip hop (culture)

Template:Hip hop portal The term hip hop (also spelled "hip-hop" or "hiphop") refers both to a musical (see hip hop music) and cultural genre or movement (hip hop culture) that was developed by African Americans predominantly in urban communities over the last quarter-century. Since first emerging in New York City in the seventies, hip-hop has grown to encompass not just rap music, but an entire lifestyle that consistently incorporates diverse elements of ethnicity, technology, art and urban life. There are basically four main elements in Hip-Hop, these involve Graffiti, Breakdancing, DJing and MCing.

Origins

During the early 70's, a Jamaican DJ called Kool Herc arrived in New York City. Herc introduced the Jamaican tradition of "toasting," or boasting impromtu poetry and sayings over Reggae, Disco and Funk records. Herc also was the originator of break-beat deejaying, where the breaks of funk songs—being the most danceable part, often featuring percussion—were isolated and repeated for the purpose of all-night dance parties (AMG). Later DJs such as Grandmaster Flash refined and developed the use of breakbeats, including cutting.

Herc's idea was soon widely copied, and by the late 70's a myriad of DJ's were releasing 12" cuts where they would rap to the beat. Popular tunes included Kurtis Blow's The Breaks, and The Sugar Hill Gang's Rapper's Delight.

Another defining moment in the history of the music occurred around 1983, when former Black Spades gang member Afrika Bambaataa and the Soul Sonic Force released a track called Planet Rock. Instead of rapping over disco beats, the crew invented a funky new electro sound, taking advantage of the rapidly improving drum machine and synthesiser technology. Many credit the sensation caused by the track as the defining moment in hip hop music. Instead of fighting with guns and knives, New York gangs had a new way of proving who was the toughest - break dancing, rapping, turntable mixing, tagging (graffiti) and body-popping battles. By 1985, kids all over the world were laying down scrap linoleum on a street corner, setting down portable stereo and spinning on their backs in tracksuits and sneakers to tracks by Run DMC, LL Cool J, the Fat Boys, Herbie Hancock, Soul Sonic Force, Jazzy Jay, Egyptian Lover, Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde and Stetsasonic to name a few.

Early Hip Hop has often been credited with helping to reduce inner-city gang violence by replacing physical violence with hip hop battles. It is perhaps ironic that the emergence of commercial and gangsta rap during the early 1990's saw this come full circle, with rappers boasting about the size of their guns and the crimes they could commit with them. The debate as to whether rap/hip hop actually caused young people to commit crimes is often likened to that of those opposing other aggressive music like rock or heavy metal. Many of the artists that had stayed with hip hop's message (Digable Planets, KRS One, A Tribe Called Quest, and The Pharcyde, to name a few) found themselves unable to compete with the sudden increase in popularity in gangsta rap (which had appealed to a broader demographic, including a large amount of young suburban, white males).

As Hip Hop diversifies, much of the commercialization of it remains the most detrimental to the urban and Black populations from which it originates. Many radio stations follow a format that tends to fit the priority of the record producers earning money than anything else. The themes follow loosely the psychological impulses that motivate young listeners to become compuslive and impulsive consumers with little or no regard for any of the long term life planning. Hip hop in this regard is used more as a marketing tool than a social form of expression.

The majority of listeners in the inner cities, where most hip-hop artists began their careers, are predominantly Black and come from a predominantly poor economic status or broken families. The paradox that hip-hop artists fail to face is that their music and lyrics have a moderately strong influence on the younger listeners. Many artists respond by expecting the parents or community to do a better job of managing the children's listening and viewing habits. This response ignores the fact that the artists themselves gained notoriety and prestige from the same circumstances, and that their influence symbiotically reinforces their mainstream appeal which makes them a economic success. It would be out of touch therefore for a high paid hip-hop artist to insist that teachers (who are overtaxed) and parents (who are often single parents over worked) to do a better job. In fact, this kind of response underscores the paradox that hip-hop artists lose touch with what their lives were really like prior to their success. It also reveals how low a priority many artists have in utilizing their influence to a positive degree by focusing less on the negative stereotypes in their lyrics that reinforce the cycle of violence and hopelessness. Some artists respond that their lyrics promote a form of entrepreneurship, but it is a business built on the backs of a young generation whose options are further perceived to be limited to the improbable opportunities (hopelessness) as enteratiners (stereotypes). Like the media as a whole which many artists label as indifferent to the struggle of black people in the city, the majority of these same hip-hop artists also take an indifferent stand towards changing the situation or contributing in a pivotal way. There are many notable examples where hip-hop artists have taken the responsibility seriously and promoted substantive and tangible positive changes. The majority, which are saturated on many hip-hop radio and video stations, still reinfoce far too often the negative black stereotypes which are embraced by their core base of listeners in the inner city, who are young, inexperienced, and more trusting. The artists who show a more sophisticated writing style and quality also tend to show their ability to handle the difficult task of rapping (thus writing) about social issues in such a way as to keep the listening base connected and interested.

More recently, many alternative/underground hip hop artists (and a few popular artists) have attempted to go back on the "positive tip," reclaiming the inspirational and non-violent beginnings of the movement. Ironically, this "alternative hip hop" style has messages and stylings which appear to be much more representative of the original movement than mainstream hip hop. This styling includes promoting messages of unity, minority advancement, and "conscious styles." Verbal battling still remains an integral part, but less emphasis is placed on the violence, womanizing, and apathy that became common during gangsta rap's formative years. Examples of current artists dedicated to this movement are Mos Def, Talib Kweli, Blackalicious (and the rest of Quannum Projects), G.F.E., Dilated Peoples, and Jurassic 5.

External links

• Hip-Hop Drums - Useful information for Hip-Hop Drummers

See also

• Hip hop dance
• Hip hop production, the creation of hip hop music
• Hip hop fashion
• Hip hop slang
• Hip hop theatre