The Origin and History of Hip Hop Music

As stated in the dictionary, “Hip hop is a style of popular music of US black and Hispanic origin, featuring rap with an electronic backing.” Now, although that may be true hip-hop is more than a musical genre. It is also a way of life and a culture in its on. It’s a culture that derives within the streets of New York city’s in the 70’s from the mixing and mingling of two different musical styles that eventually became a global phenomenon.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow once stated, “Music is the universal language of mankind.” Which basically means anybody and everybody can speak this language and it doesn’t take much to learn it. Hip-hop is a language that speaks to the masses. Although it started here, in the united states, traces of hip hop can be found in Europe. For example, during the nineties Hip hop became the sound of Paris. Groups such as Assassin and La Fonky Family were just a few of the popular French Hip-Hop groups that were in Europe at the time. This great, new sound all begin in the 70’s thanks to a man named DJ Kool Herc.

Born Clive Campbell on April 16 in 1955 and of Jamaican Ancestry, DJ Kool Herc is known to be the father of Hip-Hop. He was the eldest of six children, living in Kingston, Jamaica before he emigrated to the Bronx in 1967 at the age of 12. There he would experience his first encounter with “Hip-Hop”. At an early age he was introduces to both American and Jamaican musical styles which is where his sound drew its inspiration. His sound incorporated soul, rock, funk, reggae and dancehall elements and at his sisters birthday is where he was able to showcase his skill and create this new sound that is Hip-Hop.

After his first gig deejaying his sister’s birthday he then went on to host block parties in West Bronx in his home building at 1520 Sedgwick Avenue. He would borrow his fathers sound system and using two copies of the same record he would extend the breaking beat to invoke excitement in the party goers. Hype-men would recite rhymes, or as we call it rap, on the microphone over the beat as the parties jumped off. This new and creative sound helped trigger this vast movement called Hip-Hop.

Herc’s breaking method eventually led to what we call “breakdancing”. Break dancing was heavily influenced by different dance styles such as salsa, Cuban mambo, Jazz dance, as well as martial arts like kung-fu and Capoeira. Dancing involved drops to the ground and swift footwork. It also involved gestures associated with mock-battle forms and movement on the ground including spins and freezes.

Breaking could be seen as a non-violent alternative to gang violence at this point in time. Different people from all walks of life came together to witness two individuals or groups go head to head battling against each other, showcasing their athleticism, attitude, originality, and dominance. The aim was to earn respect not to belittle anyone. Dancing to these individuals was just a form of expression and freedom.

Due to breaking being more about battle, something call social dances emerged from these parties and these dancers. Moves like the Cabbage patch, Running man and snake were a few of the popular dances created from this region. These dances also led to the creation of our new school dances such as the Nae-nae, whip, dougie and cat daddy. So as you see Hip-Hop dance culture isn’t about popularity or causing embarrassment, it is about having fun and creating new relationships.

Along with a new dance style, came a new fashion trend amongst hip-hop individuals at this time. Men such as Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five would wear leather jackets and hats with animal prints and furs giving hip-hop fashion culture an eccentric look. RUN DMC on the hand chose a more sporty approach in regards to their style of clothing. They’d wear Adidas tracksuits, shell toe sneakers, Kangol hats, and oversized gold jewelry which was the standard for B-boys. 70’s female hip-hop artist would typically wear similar clothing to that of B-boys at this time as well.

During the 1980’s and a little of the 90’s the name “the golden age of hip-hop” emerged. During this time Hip-Hop was characterized by its diversity, quality, innovation and influence. Around this time hip-hop gained a new sound expressed pro-blackness or challenged the status quo. Fuck the police, a song created by Hip-Hop, artist NWA, is an example of how hip-hop music began to challenge the status quo. “Fuck the police! Coming' straight from the underground….A young n***a got it bad ‘cause I'm brown” a quote derives from the song, is a specific example of how the golden age of hip-hop’s music began to challenge the status quo by emphasizing the unjust against people of color during this time. Black pride was something important to the hip-hop movement around this time. The Black panthers a, political organization founded by Bobby Seale and Huey Newton in October 1966, was popping off which also influenced the sound of Hip-Hop at this time.

The golden age of hip-hop held some of the most innovative hip-hop music ever made. According to Rolling stone magazine, “when it seemed that every new single reinvented the genre” which basically meant that with every new song that was put out, the hip-hop sound and ultimate impact seemed to change and becoming something greater than what it was. Nothing was confined in regards to hip-hop music during this time. New artist were coming about and as I’ve mentioned before a new sound was being created. Major hitter’s such as, Big Daddy Kane, KRS-One, Rakim, and Chuck D, were showing their phenomenal and innovative lyrical , rapping skills which was some of the reasons why hip-hop music was so fresh and exciting back then.

At this time Hip-Hop began to spread globally. In Germany, breakdancing was the first aspect of Hip-Hop Culture to reach the part of the world. While Germany was experiencing a new style of dance, France and the Philippines where witnessing recorded Hip-Hop for the first time. So as you can see Hip-Hop is not confined to the States online. Many people love and enjoy the awesomeness that is Hip-Hop.

The 80’s sound of Hip-Hop focused primarily on funk and disco beats that held an upbeat and catchy base that people could dance to, whereas during this time, hip-hop was characterized by skeletal beats, samples cribbed from hard rock, P-funk, contemporary jazz, R&B or soul tracks, and tough diss raps.

As we all know the 90’s in where time socially conscience and lyrically gifted rappers like Tupac emerged and gangster rap became popular. However, despite how many hits and influence hip-hop music had at this time, it did undergo some challenges because of the simple fact that the government did not respect, understand or want this so called gangster rap to reach the masses. Because of this pop radio stations would only play non-threatening rap, while black stations would only play it at nigh time or on the weekends.

Within this gangster rap, political protest could be found, especially in regards to major hitters such as Tupac. Tupac Amaru Shakur born Lesane Parish Crooks to Afeni Shakur on June 16 in the year of 1971 was a very prominent figure in hip-hop in the 90’s leading up to his death in 1996. He was one of those socially conscience hip-hop artist he could not only rap about the thug life and having fun, but also the dysfunctional aspects of society as seen through the eyes of a black man. Shakur is one of hip-hop’s most iconic figures and its most powerful enigma selling over 75 million records making him one of the most best-selling artist of all time. Despite the media trying to portray him as a violent person or a uneducated thug, Shakur did not falter but rather took the word thug and made it a positive thing by turning the meaning into a man who triumphs over systemic and societal obstacles. This alone changed the meaning on gangster rap and made it more than just describing the so-called life of “criminals”.

With the increase in technological innovations, in the early 2000’s hip-hop as before gained its own sound adding on to its increasing popularity. Now it was a lot easier for producers to make high quality beats and because of this many artist at this time were experimenting with other sounds to enhance their music. For example, OutKast, chose not to stick to one genre and kind of catered to different genres within their own unique Hip-hop sound.

As the years went by, Hip-Hop began to make its way into “white” media. This prompt critics to say this music was for criminals and not respectable, law abiding citizens. As we all know Hip-hop was a medium and tool used to express the struggle as experienced by the black cultural, but at this time many whites would feel offended and refused to accept what was being said in regards to the treatment of blacks. This dates back to the Golden era of hip-hop which basically did the same, which we can clearly see history repeating itself.

In the late years of the 2000’s Hip-hop started to become for materialistic. Artist still praised the “gangster” lifestyles but made it more about drugs, women, and money because of this many of the old heads have opt to say that Hip-hop lost its way.