Hip hop has expanded exponentially from its humble origins in Bronx borough, growing into a worldwide phenomenon that spans diverse cultures with sounds, styles and fashions all its own.
In this arts integrated lesson, the music teacher plays 1980s hip hop music while children sketch what they observe through a free-association exercise. Following this activity, children have three chances to move and freeze.
Techniques
Hip hop emerged during the 1970s at block parties where DJs would isolate and extend percussion breaks from popular funk and soul songs to create what has come to be known as the beat, an instrumental backdrop over which rappers sang rhythmic lyrics with techniques such as alliteration and rhyme. Although often criticised as creating the illusion of post-racial society, its development also fuelled protest against social injustice.
Rappers, commonly referred to as MCs, evolved in response to the needs of hip hop culture. As it spread to other art forms like graffiti and street arts, hip hop became an outlet for self-expression among impoverished neighborhoods that mainstream America attempted to ignore or run down; pushing back through dance music, words, and movement.
Writing’s significance in hip hop was amplified with the release of two 1980 movies, Wild Style and Style Wars, which illustrated that creativity flourished just as strongly through writing as through dancing, music, graffiti, or other art forms. Following their lead, rappers added beats to their vocals – known as scat singing – creating rhythmic speech known as rhyming speech as well as creating rules for creating words like “-izz-” at the end of words such as shit to turn it into “shizz-nit”, for instance.
Hip hop’s philosophy centers on community involvement and knowledge is power – not simply as academic material or facts but as something used to make a change. This activism-inspired philosophy can be seen through hip hop’s position on gender, race and sexuality issues.
Early hip hop was predominantly male-dominated, but as its popularity has expanded it has attracted more female artists into its ranks. Somali-Canadian rapper K’naan, for instance, has become a global star who is beloved in Europe and beyond. Additionally, a variety of female artists are emerging to counter stereotyped portrayals of women in rap music and to reclaim hip hop’s legacy of political engagement; artist X-O has drawn considerable media coverage for her feminist message which she employs towards creating more equitable opportunities among young Black women.
Materials
Hip hop art symbolizes both rebellion and pride; whether old school rap battle hip hop or the more contemporary style of Chance the Rapper’s album cover art – hip hop art stands as a powerful statement about identity, freedom, and personal triumph. Hip hop started out as a cultural movement among inner city African American and Latino youth in the 1970s but has since become an immensely influential form of popular culture, comprising elements like rap music, urban-inspired dance (notably break dancing) and graffiti art as key components.
Hip hop lyrics tend to be rhythmic, employing techniques such as assonance and alliteration. These are performed over an instrumental track called a beat created either by DJs or musicians, often sampled from funk and soul records; today however, many contemporary hip hop artists create their own beats using software or computer programs.
Hip hop culture has given birth to a myriad of artists from MCs and DJs to graffiti artists, dancers, fashion designers and more. Graffiti art began as stylized bubble or block lettering applied with two colors to outline each letter – this practice, known as wildstyle graffiti art was practiced by jumping fences, climbing over gates or even sneaking into nighttime yards where subway cars rested to produce works on walls, buildings or trains.
Numerous schools, libraries and museums house an abundance of hip hop material for investigation. For instance, Boston Museum of Fine Arts boasts the papers of Grandmaster Flash and Beastie Boys; archives belonging to MC Afrika Bambaataa of Universal Zulu Nation; Richie “SEEN” Mirando who founded International Graffiti Times as examples.
The music teacher may wish to present slides of Keith Haring’s artwork, audio clips of 1980s hip hop music and videos of New York City Breakers break dancing style as lessons plans for both music and art teachers are included in Supplemental Appendix 1 (available online). Art classes should provide students with white drawing paper, black marker pens, Astrobrights color paper packs (packs of Astrobrights color paper can be purchased in packs), sharpies and scissors.
Styles
Hip hop culture’s style can be seen through dance, music and clothing styles; in graffiti written across walls, t-shirts and walls; two movies depict this style with hungry creativity coursing through communities like rivers. Recently theater companies are producing hip hop-influenced plays and musicals as an expression of its energy and world view.
Rapping and DJing provide the backdrop for drama, comedy and tragedy in these works. Scripts may feature original material or draw from more traditional scripts – Will Power’s adaptation of Seven Against Thebes features an ensemble cast consisting of both performers who specialize in rapping and DJing – for example.
MC, or master of ceremonies, initially introduced DJs with dynamic language designed to energize crowds at DJ dance events. Later they developed toasting style speech patterns featuring rhythmic wordplay and rhymed speech that eventually gave rise to rapping. DJ Kool Herc was responsible for pioneering what is known as a beat pillar that provides rappers a solid foundation on which they could perform their magic.
Boom bap beats are usually defined by an intense kick drum sound repeated several times before giving way to an increasingly fast and crisp snare drum sound, usually followed by synthesizers or sampled recordings of instruments.
Hip hop lyrics employ writing techniques similar to those employed by jazz poetry and African American religion, including chants such as signifyingin’ and the dozens as well as call-and-response patterns of radio disc jockeying.
Hip hop enthusiasts place special value in those MCs who can deliver complex rhyme schemes with four-beat rhythm, or meters, that provide solid four-beat timing and rhythmic patterns. Hip hop fans reserve special respect for those MCs who can improvise new rhymes on the spot.
Hip hop as an expressive culture has often challenged mainstream society, often finding its creativity offensive. Hip hop can often be associated with aspirant youth from working-class backgrounds who express their culture too openly; aspirant black and brown working class youth have especially come under criticism due to this creative expression.
Examples
Hip hop culture has quickly become popular in numerous areas. This encompasses music, breakdancing and graffiti art as well as clothing and slang associated with it, all part of American and global pop culture. Furthermore, its influence can be found elsewhere – rock music or electronic dance music for instance have both borrowed heavily from hip hop’s popularity. Furthermore, its influence can also be found elsewhere such as language change with words such as yo becoming widely associated with it; similarly shit and dawg are now widely associated with hip hop culture compared with before hip hop’s rise to fame.
Hip hop music first made its debut during block parties in New York City during the 1970s, where DJs isolated percussion breaks from funk and disco songs. Soon thereafter, performers would speak over the music as they performed, offering exhortations for dancing, greeting audience members with greetings or sharing anecdotes; these speakers eventually became known as MCs (Musical Creator). Over time they also started telling rhymed stories.
By the 1990s, hip hop had become an essential element of mainstream music culture. A subgenre of hip hop known as gangsta rap caused great debate because its lyrics depicted drug use, violence and promiscuity – often leading to it being banned when broadcast over radio or music videos or even having entire verses cut out completely to produce humorous parodies of original tracks.
Contrast with Gangsta Rap, other artists adopted more relaxed and lighthearted styles when it came to hip hop music. For example, Ice Cube’s 1992 song “It Was a Good Day” features an upbeat jazz instrumental backdrop with an informal message about Los Angeles that expresses his unabashed pride for his native region – reflecting hip hop’s sense of regional pride.
Hip hop culture has also inspired visual artists, such as Jean-Michel Basquiat. Basquiat found inspiration in hip hop’s music, culture and associated street style for his masterpiece “Basquiat: All That Matters.” Other artists have also explored its intersections with other forms of contemporary art such as photography and performance art. Furthermore, hip hop has also had an effect on literary books for children such as Doug E. Fresh’s Think Again by Debbie Allen as well as Jasmine Bellar’s Hip-Hop Kidz series by Jasmine Bellar.