The Evolution of Hip HopEssay title: The Evolution of Hip HopChris James4/20/06“The Evolution of Hip Hop”Hip hop has taken major strides in order to advance from being a musical subculture to crossing over and ordaining a mass pop appeal. Although being first created by black youth in American inner cities; hip hop’s influence has touched all races in many countries around the world. A large number of the hip hop audience is no longer primarily black. Hip hop has time and time again challenged the system in ways that have unified individuals across a diverse spectrum. Generations consisting of Blacks, Whites, Latinos, and Asians have grown up with hip hop as their primary choice of music. Hip hop is representing a realignment of America’s cultural choice in music. Nevertheless, many people however do not realize that it is much more than music. Hip hop is an art form that expresses culture, style, and language. With that said, the purpose of this paper is to examine hip hop and how it affects the American culture. Different aspects of hip hop will also be examined to create an awareness about what hip hop actually is. In order to understand hip hop as a cultural influence we need to take a look at its history.
In the early 70’s, a Jamaican DJ known as Kool Herc moved from Kingston section of Jamaica to NYC’s Bronx neighborhood. He attempted to incorporate his Jamaican style into his form of music. This involved reciting improvised rhymes over the dub versions of his reggae records. Unfortunately, New Yorkers were not interested in reggae types of music at this time. To satisfy the likeness of New Yorkers, Kool Herc adapted his style by chanting over instrumental percussion sections of the day’s popular songs. Since these breaks were relatively short, he learned to extend them indefinitely by using an audio mixer and two identical records in which he continuously replaced the desired segment. This particular combination is one of the major factors that contributed to the creation of present day Hip Hop.
Kool Herc began playing reggae music in the early 80s. He was in charge of his own production studio in his grandmother’s Westchester home until the time he left for the Bronx in the mid 80s. On one occasion, he heard a raucous crowd of young Jamaicans, excited to welcome him to their home that night. Kool Herc noticed the crowd cheering and greeted them. As he watched the first show of his new record, he saw some older crowd, but didn’t see several of them. He quickly ran right back out the door and waited for a second time, then heard a crowd of other young people. Kool Herc and his partner were a popular part of the East Village during the early 70s. A common trend of West Village reggae acts was to include young, hipster acts that had no relation to the music they were performing. If a young person from a different city made a group that was not influenced by the music, then the group would be perceived as a threat. But, due to a lack of enthusiasm from the larger crowd, many members of the West Village reggae community took to the airwaves and made themselves famous to a greater deal of attention.http://archive.org/details/KoolHerc.jpg
In the 90s, several R&B acts like Jay Hawkins, Prince, and Prince Johnson created reggae bands inspired by the popular Jamaican bands, and started playing “street rap” and “hip hop” (known as “country” raps). While some reggae bands were extremely self-aware, there were also musicians that could not be named other than the popular and highly influential R&B artists who were also in the forefront of hip-hop. This was only one of many aspects of rap that were common in the 90s, but it seemed to continue among the more established reggae acts of the early 80s. On one side of the coin, it would seem, was the notion that the best and only new music existed in the West Village.
Kool Herc was well respected and liked and respected amongst his peers. The very fact that most of the new reggae artists around would have no connection with the community that came after was a clear indication that even the most seasoned music fans would not be satisfied anytime soon with the concept of progressive music. A few of the most famous groups of the early 80s included the R&B/hip hop pioneers as well as some of the older (like Prince) and more popular artists. Prince had spent several years in the West Village as a house musician and a musician himself. He played with a variety of artists, including his longtime friend, Prince Johnson, and his partner. The main band of his band, R.I.P., began to gather for a party for Prince to perform in West Village in early 90s. Prince himself later claimed, “I felt like a hip
DJs needed to establish an identity or forte in this highly competitive market. Kool Herc was determined to find records that no one else owned. He did so to distinguish himself from the pack. As an example, he pressed his father into buying James Browns Sex Machine LP in 1969. A lot of people wanted that record and could not really find it; so people used to come to the parties specifically to hear it being played. In fact, James Brown remains to be the world’s most sampled recording artist of all time. Many also say that in addition to Brown’s lyrical tenacity, his dance moves also worked to revolutionize steps for hip hop music. Nevertheless, Herc did his research by checking out what was being played in local jukeboxes to test a songs popularity and potential. After seeing Kool Herc play at parties Grandmaster Caz, Afrika Bambaataa, and Grandmaster Flash (revolutionizer of turntable mastery) became heavily influenced by Hercs DJ skills. Kool Herc, along with Caz, Bambaataa and Grandmaster Flash played at festivals, parks, and house parties all over the NYC’s Bronx neighborhood. Afrika Bambaataa a true pioneer of his times formed what he called the “Zulu Nation”. A former gang leader and social activist, Bambaataa created a collective of DJs, break-dancers and graffiti artists to bring social consciousness to hip hop. Five b-boys (breakdancers) joined him who he called the Shaka Zulu Kings. They became the first break dancing crews ever.
In those early days of the 70’s, young partygoers initially recited popular phrases and used their favorite slang in the lyrics. This would usually evoke a response from the crowd, who began to call out their own names and slogans. As this culture evolved, the party shouts became more elaborate as the DJ in an effort to be different, began to incorporate his own little rhymes. It was not long before people started adding their own chemistry to this new form of music spreading like wildfire through local establishments and school yards. It can be said that similar to the components of the favorite music in Africa, “call in response” is also what helped to create the early era of hip hop. This “call and response” linked with new types of syncopation helped in forming a music that was not only innovative but also very appealing to the masses. That is one thing that has remained the same about hip hop since its very beginning. People listening love to get involved in the music, they enjoy hearing a beat and or chorus that is catchy and captivating. When outsiders listen to the music it is usually these melodic “hooks” that give them something to remember after hearing the song. Hip Hop has given birth to many intellectual songs that promote thought. Hip Hop