What is Hip Hop Music? A Definition

What is hip hop music? A definition of the term and an exploration of its history, origins, and evolution.

Origins of Hip Hop

Hip hop music, also called rap music, is a genre of popular music that originated in the United States in the 1970s. It consists of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted.

1970s South Bronx

The South Bronx is considered the birthplace of hip hop. In the 1970s, disco was big in the Bronx, and block parties were a way for kids to stay out of trouble and express themselves. DJs would play records (usually soul or funk) and people would dance. Sometimes there would be a MC who would talk over the music, and this is where rapping comes from. Rapping originally was just talking over the beat, but it has evolved into its own art form.

DJ Kool Herc

Hip hop music, also known as rap music, is a genre of music that originated in the United States in the 1970s. The term “hip hop” is often used to refer to both the music and the culture that surrounds it.

Hip hop music is characterized by its use of rhyming lyrics, often delivered in a spoken word or “rap” style, as well as by its use of beats or rhythms from sources such as African and Caribbean music. Hip hop music often makes use of samples from other songs, usually from older records.

DJ Kool Herc is widely considered to be the father of hip hop music. Herc, who was born in Jamaica, began playing records at parties in the Bronx in the early 1970s. He is credited with developing the “breakbeat” style of DJing, which involves isolating and repeating the instrumental break from a song.

Herc’s style of DJing was quickly adopted by other DJs, and soon a new style of music began to emerge. This new style came to be known as “hip hop” after one of Herc’s popular catchphrases, “hip hop on the hearbeat.”

Over the next few years, hip hop spread beyond New York City and began to gain popularity nationwide. In 1979, the first hip hop song, “Rapper’s Delight” by The Sugarhill Gang, was released and quickly became a hit. Hip hop continued to grow in popularity throughout the 1980s, with artists such as Run-DMC, Public Enemy, and NWA gaining notoriety for their hard-hitting lyrics and innovative style.

Today, hip hop is one of the most popular genres of music in the world, with artists such as Jay-Z, Eminem, and Kendrick Lamar topping charts worldwide.

Key Elements of Hip Hop

There are four key elements that make up hip hop music: rapping, DJing, graffiti writing, and break dancing. Rap is a type of vocal rhyming that originated in the African American community. DJing is the art of mixing different songs together to create a new song. Graffiti writing is the art of drawing or painting on public surfaces. Break dancing is a type of dance that includes acrobatic moves.

MCing

The term MCing (also spelled emceeing, mcing, or rapping) is often used interchangeably with rapping, though there is a subtle difference between the two terms. Rappers are artists who rap or perform vocal version of hip hop music, often over a backing track or beat. In contrast, an MC is a host or presenter who introduces other rappers and provides a running commentary during hip hop shows. In this way, an MC serves as both a DJ and a hype man for the other performers.

MCing began as part of the disco/club culture of the 1970s and 1980s. Club DJs would interact with the crowd to get them dancing and to keep them entertained between tracks. This style of talking over music became known as rhyming or toasting, and it was quickly adopted by hip hop artists in the Bronx in the late 1970s. Rappers such as Afrika Bambaataa and Melle Mel would use their rhyming skills to introduce tracks and give shout-outs to other members of the crowd.

As hip hop developed as a form of music in its own right, MCing became more distinct from simply talking over tracks played by DJs. It came to be seen as an art form in its own right, with MCs battling each other in competitions to see who could rhyme for the longest time or come up with the best freestyle rhymes on the spot. Battling is still an important part of hip hop culture today, though it has largely moved online instead of taking place on street corners or in clubs.

DJing

DJing is one of the four key elements of hip hop music. A hip hop DJ is responsible for playing recorded music at a hip hop event or venue, and they play a variety of music, including rap, R&B, disco, and more. They use a variety of techniques to control the music, including mixing, fading, scratching, and more.

DJing is an important part of hip hop culture, and it has a long history. Hip hop DJs were some of the first to use turntables as musical instruments, and they played an important role in the development of hip hop music. Today, DJing is still an important part of hip hop culture, and many famous hip hop DJs have gone on to have successful careers in the music industry.

Graffiti

Graffiti is one of the four main elements of hip hop music, along with MCing/rapping, DJing/scratching, and break dancing. While it is commonly associated with inner-city elements and gang culture, graffiti has been used for centuries as a form of self-expression and street art.

The first recorded instance of hip hop graffiti was in the early 1970s, when New York City residents began writing their names on subway trains. This quickly evolved into elaborate “tags,” or signatures, which served as a way for writers to mark their territory. By the 1980s, graffiti had spread to other cities across the United States, as well as to Europe and Japan.

While graffiti is often seen as a negative influence, it can also be used for positive purposes. Many graffiti artists use their skills to create murals and public art that beautify neighborhoods and send positive messages to the community.

Breakdancing

Breakdancing is a style of street dance that originated among African American and Latino youths in New York City during the early 1970s. The dance consists of four basic elements: toprock, downrock, freezes, and power moves. Breakdancing is typically set to songs with a strong beat, such as hip hop, funk, or electro.

Toprock refers to the initial uprocking movement that breaks dancers out of their stationary starting position. Downrock is thebreakdancer’s response to toprock; it is a set of moves performed while crouching low to the ground. Freezes are acrobatic stunts executed while in a downrock position; they serve as transitional moments between sequences of moves and often wow onlookers with their daring nature. Power moves are breakdancing’s specialty; they are highly athletic maneuvers that incorporate flips, twists, and other seemingly impossible feats of strength and coordination.

Golden Age of Hip Hop

Hip hop music, also called rap music, is a music genre developed in the United States by inner-city African Americans in the late 1970s. DJ Kool Herc, a Jamaican immigrant, is credited with first using the term “hip hop” to describe this new style of music.

1980s

During the 1980s, hip hop music was still in its infancy. There were a handful of artists who had begun to make a name for themselves, but the genre was still very much underground. This began to change in the mid-1980s, when rap music started to become more mainstream. Artists like Run-D.M.C. and Public Enemy released albums that were both commercial and critical successes, and Hip Hop began to enter the pop culture consciousness.

During this time, Hip Hop also became more politicized. Artists like N.W.A., Ice T, and Public Enemy began to tackle controversial subject matter in their music, which often resulted in censorship battles with the government and law enforcement. These battles only served to increase the visibility of Hip Hop and solidify its reputation as a powerful force for social change.

Afrika Bambaataa

Afrika Bambaataa (/ˌæfrɪkə bæmˈbɑːtɑː/; born Lance Taylor; April 17, 1957) is an American disc jockey, rapper, songwriter and producer from the Bronx. He is noted for having established the hip hop music genre, and is further credited with helping to diffuse it throughout the world in the 1980s. Through his co-operative platform Zulu Nation, he spread the ethos of hip hop and graffiti art beyond New York City to artists and communities worldwide. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2005 for his work with the dead prez.

Contemporary Hip Hop

Hip hop music, also known as rap music, is a genre of popular music that originated in the United States in the 1970s. It consists of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted. It developed as part of hip hop culture, a subculture defined by four key stylistic elements: MCing/rapping, DJing/scratching with turntables, break dancing, and graffiti writing.

1990s – present

In the 1990s, hip hop music began to diversify with other regional styles emerging on the national scene. East Coast hip hop grew more experimental with the appeal of alternative rock groups such as Public Enemy and A Tribe Called Quest. Their anti-establishment lyrics were opposed to those of more gangsta rap artists, such as Ice T, who mentioned guns and drugs in their music. West Coast gangsta rap became dominated by the G-funk style developed by Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre. In 1994, Dre released The Chronic, an album that helped propel West Coast rap and gangsta rap into mainstream popularity. In 1996, Puff Daddy’s Bad Boy Records label released Ready to Die by The Notorious B.I.G., an album that also helped put East Coast rap on the map.

Kendrick Lamar

Kendrick Lamar is a popular American hip hop recording artist who first gained major attention after the release of his 2010 mixtape Overly Dedicated. He subsequently signed with Interscope Records and released his 2011 debut studio album, Section.80, exclusively through the iTunes Store, to positive reviews. By March 2012, the album had sold more than 100,000 digital copies. His major label debut album good kid, m.A.A.d city was released on October 22, 2012 to widespread critical acclaim and commercial success; it debuted at number two on the US Billboard 200 and was later certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).