What is Hip Hop Music?

Hip hop music is a genre of popular music that originated in the United States in the 1970s. It is characterized by a strong rhythmic element, as well as by rap, a type of vocal delivery that incorporates rhyming lyrics.

Origins of 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. Hip hop music 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, break dancing, and graffiti writing.

DJ Kool Herc

DJ Kool Herc is a Jamaican-American DJ who is credited with helping to originate hip hop music in the late 1960s in the Bronx, New York City. Herc, along with other DJs and MCs, created a style of music that blended elements of Jamaican dub and American soul and R&B. This new style of music became known as “hip hop.”

Afrika Bambaataa

Afrika Bambaataa is a Hip Hop DJ from the south Bronx, New York. He is credited with creating the Hip Hop sub-genre of electro-funk. His song “Planet Rock” was an international hit in 1982 and is considered one of the most influential Hip Hop songs of all time.

The Four Elements of Hip Hop

Hip Hop is a genre of music that was created by African Americans in the 1970s. It is a combination of four elements: DJing, rapping, graffiti, and break dancing. Hip Hop has since become a global phenomenon, with artists from all over the world creating music in this style.

MCing

In hip hop music, MCing (also known as rapping) is the act of speaking or chanting rhymed lyrics in a rhythmic way over an instrumental track. MCs often add flavor to their lyrics by using wordplay, similes, metaphors and allusions. They may also use onstage call and response with the audience or other MCs.

DJing

DJing is one of the four elements of hip hop music. It is the art of playing pre-recorded music, usually on vinyl records, in a way that creates a continuous flow or “mix”. The other three elements of hip hop are MCing (rapping), breaking (dancing), and graffiti writing.

DJing played a significant role in the development of hip hop music. In the early days of hip hop, before rap records were commercially available, DJs would create their own “breaks” by editing together sections of other songs. These “breaks” were typically percussion-heavy tracks that would get the crowd moving on the dance floor. As rap records became more available, DJs began to mix them into their sets along with these breaks.

DJs also played an important role in developing the techniques of turntablism, or scratch DJing. This involves manipulating the record on the turntable with one hand while mixing it with the other hand. These techniques were later used by rappers to add new sounds and textures to their tracks.

B-Boying/B-Girling

In hip hop culture, B-boying or breakdancing is one of the four elements that make up the hip hop lifestyle. Although breakdancing may be the most visually captivating of the four elements, it is often considered to be part of the hip hop culture because it represents one aspect of “the Pipeline”-the oft used, but rarely defined term for the progression of inner city black and Latino youth from recreational dancing to dancesport competitions to professional careers in hip hop.

Graffiti Art

Graffiti art is one of the four elements of hip hop music, along with MCing, DJing, and breakdancing. Graffiti is a type of visual art that dates back to ancient times, but it became particularly popular in the late 1960s and early 1970s as a form of street art in New York City. Graffiti artists would use spray paint to create colorful and intricate designs on buildings and other surfaces in public spaces.

While graffiti has sometimes been associated with vandalism or illegal activity, many graffiti artists consider their work to be a form of self-expression or social commentary. Graffiti has also been embraced by the mainstream art world, with some artists achieving commercial success.

The Golden Age of Hip Hop

Hip hop music, also called hip-hop or rap music, is a music genre developed in the United States by inner-city African Americans 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.

The Birth of Rap

In the 1970s, a new type of music emerged from the African American community in South Bronx, New York. It became known as hip hop, and it would go on to change the course of popular music forever.

The firsthip hop record is often credited to DJ Kool Herc, who threw a party in 1973 that featured two turntables and a homemade sound system. This new style of music was based on sampling existing records and adding your own elements on top, whether that be rapping,DJing, or breakdancing.

Over the next few years, hip hop spread like wildfire throughout New York Cityand beyond. By the early 1980s, it had become a global phenomenon, with artists like Kurtis Blow, Run DMC, and LL Cool J becoming household names.

During this Golden Age of Hip Hop, the music was fresh and exciting, with artists constantly pushing the boundaries of what was possible. It was a time of innovation and creativity that is still revered to this day.

The East Coast/West Coast Rivalry

The early 1990s saw the rise of two distinct camps within hip hop music – one based on either side of the country. The key factor in this divide was geography, as the music scene in Los Angeles was very different to that in New York. The east coast/west coast rivalry came to a head in the infamous ‘rap battles’ between groups such as N.W.A and Public Enemy, which were often fought out through the media as much as on stage.

This rivalry came to a tragic end with the murder of west coast rapper Tupac Shakur in 1996, which many believe was a retaliation for the murder of his east coast contemporary, Notorious B.I.G., just six months earlier. This event marked the end of an era in hip hop music, and signalled a shift in the focus of the genre from competition to cooperation.

Contemporary Hip Hop

Although often used interchangeably, Hip Hop and Rap are two different genres of music. Hip Hop is a genre that includes the musical elements of rap, as well as other musical styles. The term “Hip Hop” is sometimes used to refer to the culture that surrounds the music, which includes fashion, dance, and graffiti.

Hip Hop Today

Contemporary Hip Hop is the most popular music genre in the world. It is a constantly evolving genre that incorporates elements of rap, R&B, funk, pop, and soul. The music is often driven by a heavy drumbeat and frequently has a party or club-like atmosphere.

Hip hop first emerged in the 1970s in New York City, but it quickly spread to other major urban areas such as Los Angeles, Chicago, and Philadelphia. The early days of hip hop were defined by groups like The Sugarhill Gang and Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five, who helped to establish the genre with their influential tracks “Rapper’s Delight” and “The Message.” In the 1980s, hip hop continued to evolve with the help of artists like Run-DMC, Public Enemy, and N.W.A., who introduced elements of punk rock into the music. The 1990s saw the rise of gangsta rap, with artists like Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, and Tupac Shakur pushing the boundaries of the genre with their controversial lyrics and violent personas.

In the 2000s and 2010s, hip hop has become increasingly mainstreamed thanks to artists like Jay-Z, Kanye West, Drake, and Lil Wayne. Today’s hip hop is as varied as ever, with artists experimenting with different sounds and styles to create unique and innovative music.