Hip hop quickly expanded from its Bronx roots into an international industry in the early ’80s, thanks to artists like Rakim, Run DMC, and Public Enemy who established themselves as popular figures with personas ranging from smooth-talking smoothness to tough street toughness.
Ice-T and Sister Souljah used rap to address controversial social issues through music. Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five’s The Message was another influential track.
Who Invented Rap?
Rapping is an interjectional form of spoken interjection over music that combines elements of poetry and Black Arts Movement (BAM) poetry of Amiri Baraka, Maya Angelou, Gil Scott-Heron, and the Last Poets as well as call and response speaking traditions like toasting. Furthermore it draws influence from Jamaican dancehall music’s rhythmic speech patterns and early 1950s Black-appeal radio disc jockeys’ jive announce styles.
Sugarhill Gang’s 1979 single “Rapper’s Delight,” released on an independent African American label known as Sugar Hill, is widely considered to be the first modern rap song ever created and made popular worldwide. This track featured isolated existing disco bass-guitar bass lines which had already existed while adding overdubs with MC rhymes over them.
Kool Herc is widely recognized as being the founder of hip hop, popularizing his technique at a party in the Bronx in 1973. Other pioneering deejays in hip-hop include Afrika Bambaataa and Grandmaster Flash who form what’s often referred to as the “holy trinity” of the genre. Gangsta rap and depictions of urban chaos have made hip-hop controversial; both presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton criticised it during their administrations which has led some critics to call it anti-American; yet its widespread appeal among young people across America combined with creators makes these criticisms unfair.
What is Hip-Hop?
Hip hop culture includes dance, music, art and written word. It embraces an independent and self-reliant lifestyle which honors independence and self-reliance – reflecting not only African American experiences but also those from Latin America and Caribbean countries. Hip hop also makes political statements regarding issues like poverty, drugs, racism and gang violence that it addresses directly.
Hip-hop originated in New York City’s Bronx borough during a period of economic crisis and cultural stagnation for urban America in the early 1970s, stemming from a need for creative outlets as well as asserting control over one’s environment at a time of struggle for survival when ghetto neighborhoods were plagued with drug dealers and crime. It quickly spread throughout America.
Hip hop was initially created as an antidote to Europeanized disco that was popular at the time. DJ Kool Herc (Clive Campbell), its pioneer deejay, used two turntables to meld percussive fragments from older records with popular dance songs in order to produce an uninterrupted flow of music that stimulated spontaneous dance movements. He isolated and extended break beats within records where all sounds except drums dropped out as an additional tool to inspire spontaneous movements during dancing sessions.
Hip hop music consists of two main components, rhyming (rapping) and deejaying. Rhyme delivery often references specific objects or brands like Cristal liquor or Mercedes-Benz cars; its development influenced other genres. Rhyming has evolved into its own independent form that has had an effect on other genres as a vocal form of performance that draws upon various traditions such as West African Griot tradition, jazz/blues rhythms, 1960s African-American poetry and an insult game called playing the Dozens (dozens).
Hip hop artists have also been heavily influenced by the style of scat singing popularized by early African American radio MCs, and Jamaican patois which uses short, quick-fire meter and short syllables. Afrika Bambaataa studied history extensively, giving him insight into the power of words to both influence listeners and bring together people regardless of differences.
How Has Hip-Hop Influenced the Language of the People?
Hip hop culture encompasses art forms like music, dance and graffiti writing as well as language with its own vocabulary and slang. Rappers create their own lexicon of words and phrases for use on records as well as performances; these serve to appeal to listeners while simultaneously serving to distinguish one artist from another in their genre. Different regions develop regional slang lexicons; Wu-Tang Clan even have created their own entire lexicon among their fans!
As a genre, rap is designed to appeal to adolescents and young adults, and has become a vital component of modern popular culture among this audience. Rap artists’ words have become part of everyday vocabulary as their vocabulary became part of popular culture – often used as part of daily conversations.
Hip hop artists frequently utilize minority languages when performing, especially indigenous communities who struggled to preserve their cultural heritage and language. In such instances, this practice has increased visibility of native tongues with non-speakers while inspiring younger generations to remain engaged with these languages – as shown by a linguistic study conducted on a Bolivian hip hop group that performed in Aymara rapping.
Hip hop stands out as an artistic genre with its emphasis on individual artist’s unique voice and style, often inspiring other art forms such as poetry, music, dance, photography and graffiti. Furthermore, many hip hop artists possess strong social consciousness which they have used to address issues related to racism, poverty, violence, drugs and other social problems through activism.
Hip hop has quickly become a global phenomenon and continues to develop across cultures worldwide. It has found its way into traditional folk culture as well as other styles of music that incorporate hip hop influences. Hip hop has also played an essential role in revitalizing indigenous languages around the globe while serving as a powerful force within youth culture more generally.
How Has Hip-Hop Influenced Music?
Rap has had an enormous influence on music in numerous ways. Its beat and rhythm have been adopted by various genres including rock, dance, R&B, metal music and hip hop music has even become a form of protest in certain communities. Its lyrics have also been utilized by poets and rappers. Hip hop music can even be considered an art form in its own right!
Rap music initially emerged as an outlet to the violence, drugs, and gangs prevalent in inner cities. Artists like Public Enemy, Rakim, Run DMC helped push the limits of hip hop by mixing political themes with hip hop lyrics – an approach known as conscious rap which became immensely popular through the 80s and 90s and still today with artists such as Mos Def, LL Cool J and Jay-Z using social or political messages in their music.
Rhymes found in rap music have also become an outlet for many rappers to express themselves and their emotions through lyrics. Many MCs (rappers) have created personas which range from cool and smooth to tough; boasting about their talent and style as they praise DJs while honoring hip hop culture as well as respecting its culture and its traditions. Hip hop has even changed people’s language by contributing slang that now appears in Oxford English Dictionary.
Rap music has also had an enormous impact on how instruments are played and produced. Early rap was often accompanied by traditional instruments; over time however, its sound has evolved to incorporate synthesizers, electric guitars and percussion. Producers have used drum machines, looping techniques and sampling to craft its unique sound; this technique became particularly popular with artists such as Jungle Brothers, Public Enemy and Boogie Down Productions.
The golden age of hip hop occurred from the mid to late 1980s and featured artists such as Public Enemy, The Beastie Boys, Gang Starr and LL Cool J at their most influential. This period also witnessed political activism as well as experimentation with sound. Furthermore, artists managed to reach an audience outside the black community with songs which appealed specifically to white youth.