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Hip-Hop Culture and Rap Music Encyclopedia of Race and Racism, 2nd Edition, Volume 2 – 4th/ 11/30/2012 09:22 Page 313 Hip-Hop Culture and Rap Music Lipner, Julius. 2010. Hindus: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices, the United States, it closely aligned itself with black 2nd ed. London: Routledge. nationalism, black consciousness, and Pan-Africanism. Majumdar, R. C., ed. 1951–1969. The History and Culture of the This is perhaps most obviously observed in the founding Indian People. 11 vols. Mumbai: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan. of Afrika Bambaataa’s organization, the Universal Zulu Mittal, Sushil, and Gene Thursby, eds. 2004. The Hindu World. New York: Routledge. Nation, on the principles of Garveyism and the philoso- Ramakrishna Institute of Culture. 1958–1972. The Cultural phy of self-reliance and unification among black popula- Heritage of India.5vols.Calcutta:RamakrishnaInstituteof tions throughout the world. However, hip-hop is no Culture. longer (and perhaps never was) confined to the African American community, and over the years prominent white artists, such as the Beastie Boys and Eminem, have Klaus K. Klostermaier (2013) University of Manitoba emerged to challenge the monopoly of black performers and help the music move closer to mainstream popular culture. There is a developing field of literature concerned HIP-HOP CULTURE AND exclusively with hip-hop and rap music that some have RAP MUSIC christened hip-hop studies (e.g., Forman and Neal 2004). Tricia Rose’s seminal book Black Noise (1994) Hip-hop is a cultural movement that materialized in the provides a sociohistorical analysis of the contexts in socially marginalized black and Latino neighborhoods of which hip-hop emerged. Black Noise is regarded as the New York City in the late 1970s (Chang 2005). The touchstone text of this emerging canon and became music first appeared when DJs (disc jockeys) started the centerpiece of a small wave of research published in making ‘‘breakbeats’’ by looping small portions of songs the 1990s. Along with Rose, the most prominent hip- emphasizing a percussion pattern on two turntables while hop authors, based on book sales and influence, are an MC (master of ceremonies) rhymed in time with the Murray Foreman and Mark Anthony Neal (2004), who new sound. Hip-hop is more than just a musical form, give attention to the political side of rap, approaching however, and includes four central elements: MCing hip-hop lyrics as a form of oppositional politics. Overall, (often referred to as rapping), DJing or turntablism, authors working within this genre have shown a strong graffiti art, and break dancing. Hip-hop expressions have tendency to act as cultural critics by either criticizing hip- expanded to include other creative arenas, such as spo- hop as nihilistic and destructive (e.g., McWhorter 2003) ken-word poetry, theater, fashion, and activism. Rap has or celebrating it as prophetic, empowering, and full of emerged as the most visible (and audible) component, educational potential (e.g., Ginwright 2004). and in popular usage rap is often mistakenly used as a synonym for hip-hop. Initially, hip-hop grew underground, with distribu- THE EMERGENCE OF HIP-HOP AND RAP MUSIC tion conducted via bootlegging and marketing by word The roots of rapping can be found in earlier forms of of mouth. But it quickly progressed over a couple of African American music, including the practice of signi- decades to become one of the most popular musical fying, jazz poetry, the call and response of religious cultures on the planet, with its seemingly ubiquitous sermons, and the conversational styles of some blues presence often cited as evidence for processes of cultural songs. Some researchers have even traced the influence globalization and global homogeneity. Someone who back farther to traditional African vocal forms, with participates in or has a devoted interest in at least one parallels often drawn to the griots of West Africa, who of the four central elements mentioned above, along deliver cultural histories in poetry form. with a keen appreciation of the musical and cultural The distinctive hip-hop sound stands apart from heritage of hip-hop, is known as a ‘‘hip-hop head’’ or these earlier forms of music and was developed by the simply a ‘‘head.’’ creative innovations of a small number of musical pio- In both popular and academic discourse, hip-hop neers. The most important of these ‘‘founding fathers’’ has overwhelmingly been represented and understood as are widely recognized as DJ Kool Herc, Afrika Bambaa- black music. This is unsurprising, given its African cul- taa, and Grandmaster Flash. It is generally accepted that tural roots and the tendency among many artists to the first hip-hop event took place on August 13, 1973, at articulate and promote Afrocentric beliefs, values, atti- 1520 Sedgwick Avenue in the Bronx, in New York City, tudes, and experiences. Hip-hop also enjoys close links to when Chris Campbell, a tall and muscular teenager nick- African American inner-city cultures and often dissem- named Hercules, played records at his sister’s back-to- inates representations of urban African American real- school party under the moniker DJ Kool Herc. During DJ ities. From the outset, as hip-hop began to emerge in Kool Herc’s set, his friend, Coke La Rock, began shouting ENCYCLOPEDIA OF RACE AND RACISM, 2ND EDITION 313 Encyclopedia of Race and Racism, 2nd Edition, Volume 2 – 4th/ 11/30/2012 09:22 Page 314 Hip-Hop Culture and Rap Music playing on a turntable. This advance is generally credited to Grandmaster Flash’s prote´ge´ Grand Wizzard Theo- dore, who attributes his discovery to childhood instances when his mother complained about the loud music being played in his bedroom. Instead of instantly turning the volume down, Grand Wizzard would stop the record with his hand and notice an interesting and appealing scraping sound. He worked to develop this scratching manipulation, and other DJs soon appropriated it. THE DEVELOPMENT OF HIP-HOP Since its emergence, hip-hop has expanded and diversi- fied to incorporate numerous offshoots and interpreta- tions, with hip-hop heads, writers, and journalists all working to codify and catalogue the various styles. By the early 1990s, commentators started talking and writ- ing about an old school, a new school, and a golden age. Intuitively, the first musical epoch is often referred to as the ‘‘old school’’ (or ‘‘old skool’’), when rap music first became popularized in the United States and began to be heard around the world. The Sugarhill Gang’s ‘‘Rapper’s Delight,’’ released in October 1979, with its catchy open- ing line, ‘‘I said a hip hop, a hippie, a hippie to the hip hop,’’ signaled the arrival of hip-hop into mainstream popular culture. The sound at this time was heavily influenced by funk and disco, and the dominant themes were partying and having a good time. Compared to the music that was to come, this era is distinguished by unsophisticated rapping techniques, simple rhythms, and a small number of syllables per bar. The Smithsonian National Museum of American History launches its first hip-hop exhibit initiative, 2006. DJ Kool The appearance of Run-DMC and similar groups Herc speaks at a news conference to launch ‘‘Hip-Hop Won’t signaled a departure from the old school. This so-called Stop: The Beat, The Rhymes, The Life,’’ the first ever hip-hop new school (or ‘‘new skool’’) had a markedly different initiative at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American style from earlier hip-hop music: it was more aggressive History in New York. The project traces the history and culture of and assertive, less dependent on funk samples, and had a hip-hop music from its origins in the 1970s. AP IMAGES. strong political element, often offering insightful socio- political commentaries in lyrics. The songs during this period regularly contained taunts and boasts and tended out the names of audience members during the instru- to be shorter and more commercial-sounding than pre- mental breakdowns of the soul and funk songs being vious rap records. Prominent artists during this phase played. After this successful and popular performance, include Rakim and Public Enemy, both of whom high- Kool Herc’s notoriety grew, and by the summer of 1974 light how the image of the performer shifted to a tougher he was regularly playing to growing crowds in Cedar Park persona. Public Enemy’s ‘‘Fight the Power’’ (1989) is the and local nightclubs. It was during one of these early most discernible and standout example of the new polit- performances that Kool Herc created the breakbeat, ical fervor found within 1980s hip-hop. This song rep- extending the percussion breakdown of a track by alter- resented a call to action among the African American natively spinning two copies of the same record. This population. Although many musicians pursued this novelty proved instantly popular with audiences and was theme, one noteworthy exception was KRS-One, who to become the building block for future hip-hop music. set up the Stop the Violence Movement and through Afurtherinnovationthatwasessentialtothedevel- his lyrics worked to promote a message of community opment of the hip-hop sound was the technique of organization and pacifism. ‘‘scratching.’’ This noise is made when a DJ moves a The golden age of hip-hop was more diverse than record back and forth with his or her fingers while it is these previous eras and is distinguished by its 314 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF RACE AND RACISM, 2ND EDITION Encyclopedia of Race and Racism, 2nd Edition, Volume 2 – 4th/ 11/30/2012 09:22 Page 315 Hip-Hop Culture and Rap Music innovations and the quality of its production, with lyrics, these deaths became iconic and gave hip-hop a many of hip-hop’s most famous artists at their creative tragic dimension.
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