A Brief History of Hip Hop Music

A look at the history of hip hop music and how it has evolved over the years.

Origins of Hip Hop

Hip hop music originated in the 1970s in the Bronx, New York City. African American and Latino American youths created a new form of music by combining elements of rock, R&B, and jazz with their own cultural experiences. The first hip hop songs were created by DJs who played popular songs on their turntables and added their own commentary, or “rapping,” over the music.

1970s New York City

In the 1970s, DJ Kool Herc and Afrika Bambaataa started playing rap music at block parties in the Bronx, New York City. Hip hop music was originally created to provide people with a way to express themselves without having to resort to violence.

Rap music was initially only about storytelling, but as it evolved, it began to include elements of rhythm and braggadocio. By the 1980s, rap music had become a mainstream genre, with artists like Run-DMC, Public Enemy, and N.W.A., becoming household names.

In the 1990s, hip hop music continued to evolve, with artists like Tupac Shakur and The Notorious B.I.G., becoming legends in the genre. Hip hop music has now become one of the most popular genres in the world, with artists like Jay-Z, Kendrick Lamar, and Drake, leading the way.

DJ Kool Herc

Hip hop music first emerged in the early 1970s, when DJs in the Bronx, New York, began playing short excerpts of popular songs over the instrumental tracks of other songs. This practice, known as sampling, created a unique new sound that would come to define hip hop music. One of the first and most famous hip hop DJs was DJ Kool Herc, who is credited with helping to create this new genre of music.

Kool Herc was born in Kingston, Jamaica, in 1955. When he was just a teenager, he immigrated to the United States and settled in the Bronx. It was there that he began DJing at local parties and clubs. He quickly gained a reputation for his innovative style of mixing and turntablism.

In 1973, Kool Herc threw a party at a local community center that would go down in history as the birth of hip hop. He played two copies of the same record on two turntables, switching back and forth between them to extend the section with the strongest bassline. This technique, which came to be known as “the break,” allowed Kool Herc to create a continuous loop of beats that would keep dancers moving for hours on end.

The party was such a success that Kool Herc began hosting regular “hip-hop” parties throughout the Bronx. These parties brought together different elements of African American culture, including music, dance, and fashion. As hip hop spread beyond the Bronx throughout the 1970s and 1980s, it became an international phenomenon, with artists like Run-DMC, Public Enemy, and NWA bringing the sound to new audiences around the world.

The Sugar Hill Gang

The Sugarhill Gang is a hip hop group that was formed in Englewood, New Jersey in 1978. They are best known for their hit song “Rapper’s Delight”, which was released in 1979 and was the first hip hop single to become a Top 40 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The group’s name comes from Sugar Hill, Manhattan, which was a neighborhood known for its high concentration of African-American residents and its affluent lifestyle.

The group is composed of three members: Michael “Wonder Mike” Wright, Henry “Big Bank Hank” Jackson, and Guy “Master Gee” O’Brien. Wonder Mike and Master Gee were both members of a previous hip hop group called the Wonderful Five, while Big Bank Hank was not a rapper but instead a club DJ. The three members of the Sugarhill Gang had no prior experience in rapping or music production, but they were able to record “Rapper’s Delight” in just one take after learning the lyrics from a friend.

The song became an instant phenomenon, and the Sugarhill Gang was launched into the national spotlight. They went on to release several more songs over the next few years, but they never regained the level of success that they had with “Rapper’s Delight”. The group eventually disbanded in 1985, but they reunited in 1999 and continue to perform occasional concerts and tour throughout the United States.

The Eighties

Hip hop music first emerged in the United States in the early 1980s. It was a style of music that was based on a mix of African-American music, including soul, funk, and disco. The first hip hop songs were recorded in New York City.

The Birth of Rap

In the beginning, there was only DJing. Disk jockeys would play records at parties and clubs, and people would dance. But soon, people began to talk over the music, telling stories, making jokes, and boasting about their skills and abilities. This new style of talking over music became known as rapping.

Rapping developed in the 1970s in African American communities in the Bronx in New York City. Rap was strongly influenced by Jamaican toasting, a style of talking or chanting over reggae music that developed in Kingston, Jamaica, in the 1950s. Toasting is often considered the precursor to rap.

DJ Kool Herc is widely credited as being the first hip hop DJ. He is known for throwing parties where he would extend the breaks of popular songs by playing them on two turntables at the same time. This allowed him to create longer breaks for people to dance to. He is also credited with creating the concept of sampling, or taking a small section of a song and repeating it throughout a track.

Herc’s influence can be heard in some of the earliest rap tracks, such as The Sugarhill Gang’s “Rapper’s Delight” (1979) and Kurtis Blow’s “The Breaks” (1980). These songs helped to increase mainstream interest in rap music.

Run-D.M.C.

Run-D.M.C. is considered one of the most influential groups in hip hop history. They were the first hip hop group to be nominated for a Grammy award, and the first to have their music video played on MTV. They are credited with helping to bring hip hop music to a wider audience, and their 1984 album, “Run-D.M.C.”, is considered one of the greatest hip hop albums of all time.

Public Enemy

Public Enemy, led byChuck D, is widely credited as being one of the most influential and important hip hop groups of all time. They were also one of the first rap groups to gain a large following outside of the African-American community.

Public Enemy’s debut album, Yo! Bum Rush the Show, was released in 1987 to critical acclaim. The album’s lead single, “Bring the Noise,” became an instant classic and helped to solidify Public Enemy’s place in hip hop history.

In 1988, Public Enemy released their second album, It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back. The album was an even bigger success than their debut, and cemented Public Enemy’s reputation as one of the most important groups in hip hop. It also featured the classic tracks “Don’t Believe the Hype” and “Fight the Power.”

Public Enemy released several more albums over the next few years, but they never quite reached the same level of commercial or critical success as their first two albums. Nevertheless, their impact on hip hop cannot be understated; they remain one of the most influential rap groups of all time.

The Nineties

Hip hop music originated in the 1970s when block parties became popular in New York City. DJs would play records and the MCs would rap over the beats. Hip hop music became popular in the 1980s with the release of albums like Run-D.M.C.’s “Raising Hell” and The Beastie Boys’ “Licensed to Ill”. In the 1990s, hip hop music continued to evolve with the rise of gangsta rap and East Coast-West Coast rivalry.

Gangsta Rap

In the early nineties, a new subgenre of rap called gangsta rap began to emerge. This type of music often contained lyrics that glorified violence, drug use, and crime. One of the most popular gangsta rap groups was N.W.A., whose song “Straight Outta Compton” became an instant classic. Another extremely popular gangsta rap artist was Tupac Shakur, who rose to prominence in the mid-nineties with his politically charged lyrics and his unique style.

West Coast vs. East Coast

The East Coast-West Coast hip hop rivalry was a feud in the late 1980s and early 1990s that extended beyond the music industry, spilling into violent crime. The rivalry began when Sean “Puffy” Combs was fired from Uptown Records in 1991 by Andre Harrell. At the time, Bad Boy Entertainment was an imprint of Uptown, and Combs left with the company’s flagship artist, The Notorious B.I.G.. Biggie’s first album, Ready to Die, was released on September 13, 1994, on Bad Boy. On October 30, 1994 Tupac Shakur’s album Me Against the World was released while he was imprisoned on a sexual assault charge. Me Against the World would go on to be certified platinum by the RIAA while Shakur was still in prison.

Tensions between these two camps increased after Tupac claimed in an interview with Vibe that Biggie knew about an August 1994 robbery in which Shakur was robbed and shot five times. He also accused Puffy Combs and Bad Boy of having involvement in his shooting. In response to these allegations Biggie said “Pac ain’t no mentor of mine,” and recorded a diss song called “Who Shot Ya?” On November 30, 1994, Tupac’s bail was posted by Marion “Suge” Knight Jr., co-founder and CEO of Death Row Records; he had been convicted of assault with a deadly weapon and placed on probation earlier that year. Tupac subsequently signed with Death Row Records on a reported $3 million contract which doubled Jive Record’s previous offer of $1.5 million for his future recordings

As label mates on Death Row Records, Snoop Dogg and Tupac enjoyed a close working relationship until Snoop signed with No Limit Records in 1998 amid disagreements with Suge Knight over unequal royalty payments between rapper Dr. Dre and himself; Dre had left Death Row earlier that year under similar circumstances. The situation escalated when Snoop Dogg made derogatory comments about both Suge Knight and East Coast rappers at The Source Awards in August 1995; his comments were seen as insulting to both New York hip hop artists and fans

The rivalry came to national attention with the media coverage surrounding the murders of rap artists Tupac Shakur (killed September 7th 1996)and Christopher Wallace (killed March 9th 1997), also known as Biggie Smalls or The Notorious B.I.G.. Both murders remain unsolved today despite numerous theories surrounding each killing

Tupac and Biggie

Tupac and Biggie were two of the most influential rappers of the 1990s. Tupac was from the West Coast and Biggie was from the East Coast. They were both incredibly talented and had a huge impact on the hip hop music scene. Unfortunately, their rivalry led to a lot of violence and eventually both of them were killed. Their deaths are still a mystery today and many people believe that there are still unresolved issues between their two families.

The New Millennium

In the year 2000, the world was introduced to a new sound in Hip Hop music. This sound was a blend of the old school Hip Hop music with a new school twist. The new sound was a combination of Hip Hop and R&B. This new sound was created by artists such as Jay-Z, Busta Rhymes, and Missy Elliott.

Hip Hop Today

Hip hop music has come a long way since its humble beginnings in the South Bronx in the 1970s. Today, hip hop is one of the most popular genres of music in the world, with artists like Kendrick Lamar, Jay-Z, and Drake topping the charts and selling out stadiums.

But what is hip hop today? Hip hop today is a genre that is constantly evolving, with new subgenres and subcultures emerging all the time. From trap music to drill to conscious rap, there are dozens of different styles of hip hop being made today. And while some purists may scoff at some of these newer styles, there’s no denying that they’re all part of the ever-changing landscape of hip hop.