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WHAT IS ?

The Four Elements of Hip Hop Hip hop is music — and a culture, encompassing speech, styles of dress, art, poetry and dancing, as well as "." Purists have narrowed the major components of the culture into four loosely defined categories: deejaying, emceeing, breaking and art.

Deejaying Jamaican immigrant Kool Herc, inspired by the “dubbing” and “toasting” from his native home, is credited with introducing deejaying to . Early New York DJs improvised, using a pair of turntables as a makeshift instrument when funding for school music programs were cut. Later Afrika Bambataa evolved the art of deejaying.

MCing, or Emceeing MCs have become a centralized figure in hip hop. Commercially, MCs are known as rappers. During hip hop’s early days, MCs played a supporting role, accompanying the deejay and carrying crates of records. They used a microphone to talk over and publicize their own neighborhoods while the deejay spun records. As competition for this position increased, MCs engaged in one-upmanship, boasting of their greatness in the face of inner city economic despair.

Breaking Also known as b-boying, the dances that accompany the music have many influences. Kids in diverse New York neighborhoods were exposed to Eastern martial arts, tap dancing, gymnastics, salsa, Afro-Cuban and Native American dances. In the late ‘90’s b-boys and b- girls integrated moves from capoeira, a 16th century fighting dance developed by Brazilian slaves preparing for resistance.

Graffiti Urban graffiti, using spray cans to create stylized murals and “tags” to create art in public spaces, gave kids a means of self-expression and a chance to spread political messages.

THE EVOLUTION OF HIP HOP

In the late , marginalized black and Latino youth in birthed and culture. With limited access to resources for entertainment or distraction from gang life, they redefined the world in their own terms, creating a new form of music on turntables, their makeshift instrument of .

Hip hop was born as public art, with deejays plugging sound equipment directly into street power sources, b-boys and b-girls showcasing new forms of dance on pieces of cardboard, and graffiti artists illuminating neighborhoods with murals crafted out of nothing but their imaginations and spray cans, often adapted from discarded aerosol deodorant or insecticide caps.

At its roots, hip hop was born from an inherent need to resist the manifestations of racism and socioeconomic inequality deeply attached to the lives of New York's young people, to give voice and expression to societal ills and create new possibilities. Hip hop was and is inherently political, its music and culture driven by young people looking for social empowerment, if not within mainstream society, certainly amongst themselves.

More than 30 years after its birth in the Bronx, hip hop has gained credibility not just with American youth, but among youth . With the introduction of media like MTV and online music sites, hip hop has spread across the globe. From Japan to Germany to Uganda, young people worldwide are embracing -- and uniting -- through hip hop.

At the same time, the today struggles to balance its commercialization -- too often dependent on the sexism and consumerism to which popular culture so readily responds and often demands -- with its roots of resistance and empowerment.

Hip hop glossary

Alternative hip-hop Also known as “underground rap,” a subgenre of rap that encompasses art forms such as sampling, , spoken word, freestyling, , and more. Alternative hip-hop often includes artists on independent record labels and features socially conscious and politically oriented .

B-boying A dance style stemming from the early 1970s hip-hop scene, evolving from such diverse sources as , martial arts, capoeira and tap dancing. Break boys and girls, who later became known as b-boys and b- girls, first started dancing during DJ breaks at Bronx hip-hop parties. B-boying soon became a skilled and competitive art form. The term “breakdancing” was later created by in the 1980s.

Battling A competition, often between DJs or rappers, judged often on originality and skill

Beats The basis of hip-hop—the instrumental music itself

Beatboxing Creating sounds using one’s mouth that replicate rhythmic patterns and percussion. Noted beatboxers include Doug E. Fresh, (a.k.a. The Human Beatbox) of and Rhazel of .

Crunk A style of Southern hip-hop featuring heavy bass and aggressively chanted lyrics

DJ In hip-hop, DJing originally encompassed the art of mixing and music to create new music

Dirty South A term used to describe the Deep South region of the , including the states Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Texas. Rappers from the Dirty South began to dominate hip-hop in the early .

Dub Hip-hop’s roots emerged from dub, a form of ska and music out of 1960s Jamaica characterized by an MC or rapping over a mostly instrumental “dub” version of an existing song.

Flow A lyricist’s rhythm or cadence, his or her ability to combine words with the music

Freestyle The art of vocal improvising

Gangsta rap Originally popularized by West Coast rappers in the 1980s, often containing “hardcore” rap lyrics related to gangs, gang members and their lifestyle

MC A hip-hop performer or rhymer. Also stands for “mic controller” or “master or ceremonies.”

Old school Early hip-hop style, usually spanning the 1970s to the mid-to-late 1980s

Sampling The process of using sound segments from one musical piece to form sounds in another musical piece

Scratching Moving a record manually under a needle to create new musical sounds

Turntablism Playing the record turntable as if it were an instrument. Techniques might include scratching or mixing in order to create rhythms and manipulate sounds.

Timetables

1970s

Spoken word collective release their debut recording. Mixing politically conscious poetry with music, it later is lauded as an early progenitor of hip-hop.

Clive Campbell, a.k.a. DJ Kool Herc, DJs his first party in the , an impoverished neighborhood riddled with gang violence and isolated from the rest of following the construction of Robert Moses’s Cross Bronx Expressway. Known as the father of hip-hop, Herc was the first to experiment with breakbeats, manipulating the instrumental breaks of old , R&B and soul tracks to form the basis of hip- hop. Graffiti tagging begins in New York City.

Influenced by Kool Herc, hip-hop pioneers , and start DJing at house and street parties across the Bronx. Bambaataa forms the , a socially conscious collective of DJs, graffiti artists and breakdancers that included the b-boy crew the Shaka Zulu Kings. He defines the “four elements” of the nascent hip-hop scene as DJing, breakdancing, graffiti art and MCing.

Grandmaster Flash starts mixing, a new DJing method that connects bits of two different songs during the breaks.

The first MC team, which stemmed from party shouts during DJ sets, is formed by and Clark Kent, a.k.a. Tyrone Smith.

DJ Grand Wizard Theodore accidentally invents “scratching,” or nudging a record under the needle during breaks.

Hip-hop spreads beyond the Bronx and into all five boroughs of New York City. Meanwhile, continues to dominate the radio airwaves and the club scene.

More rappers begin performing as MCing starts to eclipse DJing.

Bronx b-boys JoJo and Jimmy D form the .

Artist Lee Quinones paints graffiti murals on subway trains and on handball courts.

Record label owner assembles the Sugar Hill Gang, who record the first commercial rap recording, “Rapper’s Delight.” Written by Grandmaster Caz and featuring a sample from the disco act Chic, it exposes many Americans to hip-hop for the first time.

Kurtis Blow, managed by , becomes the first rapper to sign with a major label. He releases “Christmas Rappin” on . Hip-hop further enters the mainstream with Mr. Magic’s Rap Attack, a new Saturday night radio show on radio station WHBI.

Wendy Clark, a.k.a. Lady B, one of hip-hop’s first well-known female artists, releases “To the Beat Y’All.”

Kurtis Blow releases his best-selling The Breaks and is the first rapper to appear on national TV, performing on .

Hip-hop meets art pop as the New York scene extends downtown and rappers and b- boys mingle with the white club scene. After meeting hip-hop scenester Fab 5 Freddy, the new wave act Blondie records “Rapture,” featuring singer Debbie Harry rapping and continuing hip-hop’s journey into the mainstream.

Captain Rapp and Disco Daddy release “Gigolo Rap,” the first West Coast rap record.

The Rock Steady Crew and Dynamic Rockers battle—at Lincoln Center.

20/20 airs the first TV news feature story on “the rap phenomenon.”

Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five release their turntable masterpiece The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the Wheels of Steel, which contains the popular and socially conscious track “The Message.”

Directed by artist Charlie Ahearn and created by Fab 5 Freddy, marks the first Hollywood exploration of hip-hop style and culture. The film showcases the work of legendary hip-hop and graffiti artists such as Lady Pink, Daze, Grandmaster Flash and the Rock Steady Crew.

The first international hip-hop concert tour, featuring Afrika Bambaataa, Fab 5 Freddy and the Double Dutch Girls, goes to Europe, marking the start of hip-hop’s worldwide reach. “Rockit,” the first jazz and hip-hop track, is released by and Grandmixer D. ST.

Ice-T releases some of the first West Coast gangsta raps, “Cold Winter Madness” and “Body Rock/Killers.”

Queens group Run-D.M.C. release their first single, “Sucker MCs/It’s Like That,” which gets major airplay on MTV and Top 40 radio. The song signals a new trend in hip-hop: harder rhymes over spare beats with a rock influence.

Style Wars, the first PBS documentary on subway graffiti and hip-hop culture, airs.

KDAY becomes the nation’s first rap-only radio station.

Russell Simmons and establish Def Jam records, operating the label out of Rubin’s NYU dorm room.

U.T.F.O.’s “Roxanne, Roxanne” triggers a slew of answer recordings, including “The Real Roxanne” and 14-year-old Roxanne Shante’s classic “Roxanne’s Revenge.”

Beatboxer Doug E. Fresh releases The Show with and the Get Fresh Crew.

An aspiring rapper named Kris Parker, later to be known as KRS-One, forms Down Productions with social worker and DJ Scott Sterling, a.k.a. .

Run-D.M.C.’s hip-hop rendition of the classic “” cements hip-hop’s reach into mainstream media and MTV. Nominated for Best R&B Vocal Performance, Run-D.M.C. becomes the first rap group to be tapped for a Grammy. Eric B. and release Eric B. is President. Rakim’s skillful wordplay and articulate rhymes usher in a new era for hip-hop.

Long Island group releases its debut album, Yo! Bum Rush the Show. DJ Cameron Paul’s of Salt-N-Pepa’s “Push It” reaches 19 on the pop charts and receives a Grammy nomination.

Hip-hop receives national attention when violence ensues following a Run-D.M.C. concert in L.A. The group is forced to defend itself at a public press conference as conservative pundits and politicians accuse hip-hop of being morally corrupt.

Yo! MTV Raps goes on the air, further ushering hip-hop to a national audience.

L.A. group N.W.A. releases its first album, . Telling stories about life on the mean streets of South Central, it popularizes West Coast . The controversial track “Fuck tha Police” earns the group an F.B.I. warning.

MC Lyte releases her debut, Lyte as a Rock. She is one of the first female rappers to sign with a major .

DJ Scott La Rock of is shot and killed. His partner KRS-One vows to continue creating more socially conscious music.

Power, Ice-T’s second album, is the first rap record to be slapped with a Parental Advisory warning label.

Afrika Bambaataa forms the Posse, part of a new movement towards positive, Afrocentric lyrics and “alternative” rap. Artists include , a young New Jersey MC and the .

Public Enemy’s second album, It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back, is released to critical acclaim and consumer success.

Public Enemy releases its third album, . A media frenzy ensues over member Professor Griff’s anti-Semitic remarks, thrusting hip-hop into the political spotlight.

Native Tongues Posse members and release acclaimed for their intelligent lyrics. Featuring the hit single “U Can’t Touch This,” MC Hammer’s Please Hammer, Don’t Hurt ‘Em is scorned by critics but sells more than ten million copies and becomes an MTV staple. Despite backlash among hip-hop purists, MC Hammer goes on to reap massive commercial success.

Rap receives its own Grammy category, but the presentation is not aired on television. Many popular artists, including award winners DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh , instead attend an MTV boycott of the Grammys party.

White rap trio the release Paul’s Boutique, their long- awaited second album.

New York City’s Transit Authority retires all subway cars with graffiti.

2 Live Crew’s As Nasty as They Wanna Be, controversial for its explicit lyrics, is banned for sale in the state of Florida. The group is arrested on charges of lewdness after a concert in . Sparking debates over free speech and hip-hop, the group is later found not guilty.

N.W.A.’s releases his debut solo album, AmeriKKKa’s Most Wanted.

Hip-hop meets Hollywood when , the Fresh Prince, stars in his own sitcom, The Fresh Prince of Bel Air.

“The Humpty Dance,” by group , becomes a platinum hit.

When a video recording of four white Los Angeles police officers beating a black man named Rodney King is nationally broadcast, hip-hop artists speak out against police brutality.

Alternative rap ascends in popularity with groups such as De La Soul, A Tribe Called Quest, , , and Arrested Development.

Starring Ice Cube and portraying the lives of young black men in South Central L.A., Boyz N the Hood hits movie theaters nationwide.

Rapper is successfully sued by Gilbert O’Sullivan for sampling O’Sullivan’s “Alone Again (Naturally)” in his single “Alone Again.” This watershed lawsuit sets a legal precedence for sampling in hip-hop.

Protests and riots ensue in Los Angeles after the police officers who beat Rodney King are acquitted. Ice-T and Public Enemy’s are asked to comment to the media as hip-hop artists become, for better or worse, spokespeople for African American communities.

Protests from law enforcement officers force Time Warner to pull Ice-T’s new group Body Count’s song “Cop Killa” from its album.

West Coast gangsta rap starts to rule hip-hop with Dr. Dre’s solo album , featuring the wildly popular single “Nuthin’ But a ‘G’ Thang.”

Dr. Dre and Suge Knight form , with a recording featuring the up-and-coming rapper Snoop Doggy Dogg.

Staten Island’s the Wu Tang Clan release their popular debut, Enter the Wu- Tang: 36 Chambers, reinvigorating the East Coast rap scene with their single “C.R.E.A.M.”

Salt-N-Pepa’s Very Necessary is the best-selling album of all time by a female artist.

Snoop Doggy Dogg’s long-anticipated becomes the first debut album to enter the Billboard charts at number one, as Snoop is charged with second-degree murder.

Sean “Puffy” Combs starts Bad Boy Entertainment, a record label run out of his apartment.

Atlanta’s releases its first album, marking a move away from coast- centric hip-hop.

Notorious B.I.G.’s album Ready to Die features the single “Big Poppa” and garners publicity for Bad Boy Entertainment.

Suge Knight insults Puffy on stage at Awards, publicly sparking East versus West Coast tension between Bad Boy and Death Row Records. After going public with his HIV status, N.W.A.’s Eazy-E dies of AIDS at the age of 31.

Rapper Tupac signs on with Death Row after Suge Knight pays Tupac’s bail.

Queen Latifah receives a Grammy for her hit single “U.N.I.T.Y.”

“The Score,” the ’ second release, combines hip-hop with R&B and reggae influences and becomes a bestseller.

Foxy Brown and Lil Kim release debut albums with lyrics promoting female sexuality.

After leaving a Mike Tyson fight in , a car containing Suge Knight and is shot at. Tupac dies from his wounds days later, on September 13.

The so-called East-versus-West Coast feud is stepped up on March 9, when Notorious B.I.G. is shot and killed in a drive-by shooting after leaving a party for the Soul Train Music Awards in L.A.

Days after his death, the Notorious B.I.G.’s album is released and becomes the best-selling hip-hop album of all time.

Rapper Missy “Misdemeanor” Elliott releases her acclaimed debut, Supa Dupa Fly.

No Limit label owner releases Ghetto D, sparking opportunities for gangsta rappers.

Jay-Z’s popularity skyrockets with the release of his third album, Vol. 2: Hard Knock Life.

Puerto Rican rapper Big Punisher releases his debut, Capital Punishment, and is the first Hispanic MC with a platinum album.

Eminem’s The Slim Shady is released on Dr. Dre’s Aftermath label and fast becomes a Billboard chart-topper.

Forbes magazine’s “Top Moneymakers in Entertainment” list includes Russell Simmons, Master P and Puff Daddy. Puffy’s new label and restaurant chain further cement his status as a hip-hop celeb.

White rock outfits such as and combine rap with aggro rock to mainstream radio success.

Ex-Fugees member releases her first solo album, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, winning five .

Black Star, featuring and , release its debut album, marking a resurgence of conscious lyrics and alternative rap.

Southern-based record labels such as and artists including , , and the Hypnotized Mindz Camp signal the rise in the Dirty South’s reign in hip-hop.

Puff Daddy and his girlfriend Jennifer Lopez tussle with patrons at a New Year’s club party. When shooting ensues, they flee the scene and are later arrested for aggravated assault.

Eminem’s The Marshall Mathers LP becomes an international hit and sparks controversy for its misogynistic and homophobic lyrics.

Dr. Dre files a lawsuit against tool Napster for copyright infringement.

The West Coast hip-hop scene welcomes the debut album from alternative rappers while the South heralds St. Louis rapper ’s . After being acquitted on charges of assault, Puff Daddy reveals that he is changing his name to P. Diddy to signify the turning over of a new leaf.

Jay-Z and attack one another on songs on their respective new albums.

Twenty-two-year-old dies in a plane crash while making a in the Bahamas.

Run-D.M.C.’s is shot and killed at the age of 37, murdered outside a New York recording studio.

Eminem reaches epic stardom in his quasi-autobiographical film 8 Mile, which garners an Oscar nomination for its theme song, “Lose Yourself.”

Albums from , and Talib Kweli renew interest in more conscious hip-hop.

New York City hardcore rapper releases his debut album Get Rich or Die Tryin’ on Eminem’s Shady/Aftermath record label.

The hip-hop generation’s consumer reach is fully realized as stars such as Nelly, 50 Cent, Jay-Z and market for companies such as Nike, and AOL.

Jay-Z releases his swan song, The Black Album, and officially retires from making music to manage his other business ventures.

The Dirty South continues to dominate hip-hop as —a distinctly Southern hip- hop style featuring heavy bass and aggressive chanting—takes off.

Jamaican dancehall star ’s Dutty Rock is a bestseller, mixing hip-hop and reggae to breakthrough success.

Outkast’s fifth release, Speakerboxxx/The Love Below, is a two- album set that features separate recordings by the Andre 3000 and and the year’s ubiquitous and crowd-spanning hit, “Hey Ya.”

Mainstream hip-hop becomes synonymous with big bucks as the Russell Simmons empire grows with his label Phat Farm. Nelly becomes part-owner of the Charlotte Bobcats. Jay-Z—the new president of Def Jam—buys a share in the New Jersey Nets. Wu-Tang clan member Ol’Dirty Bastard passes away at the age of 35.

Wildly popular 50 Cent makes his cinematic debut in a semi-autobiographical movie, also titled Get Rich or Die Tryin’. The movie is commercially synced with the release of a book, a documentary on 50’s life and a video game, 50 Cent: Bulletproof.

Queen Latifah hosts the 47th Annual Grammy Awards.

Reggaeton, a form of Latin American that mixes hip-hop, reggae and dancehall with Latin rhythms and Spanish raps, takes off worldwide.

Lil Kim is sentenced to a year in jail for perjury, charged with lying to investigators regarding a February 2001 shooting in New York City.

Kanye West’s Late Registration features the massive radio hit “Gold Digger.” The rapper’s impassioned and improvised speech, broadcast on national television during a fundraiser, slamming the Bush Administration’s slow response to Hurricane Katrina victims also further catapults him into the public eye.

Produced by West, Common’s BE is acclaimed for its soulful beats and skillful, conscious lyrics.

Three 6 Mafia’s “It’s Hard Out Here for a Pimp” from the movie Hustle & Flow wins an Oscar for Best Original Song and is the first to be performed on the Academy Awards show.

Releases from alternative rap favorites The Roots and Jurassic 5 exemplify hip-hop’s shift away from mainstream gangsta rap, as diverse hip-hop styles continue to flourish throughout the world.

Hip hop music is a typically consisting of a rhythmic vocal style called rap which is accompanied with backing beats. Hip hop music is part of hip hop culture, which began in the Bronx, in New York City in the 1970s, predominantly among African Americans and Latin Americans.[1][2] The term rap music is often used synonymously with hip hop music.

Rapping, also referred to as MCing or emceeing, is a vocal style in which the performer speaks rhythmically and in rhyme, generally to a beat. Beats are traditionally generated from portions of other songs by a DJ, or sampled from portions of other songs by a producer,[3] though , drum machines, and live bands are also used, especially in newer music. Rappers may perform poetry which they have written ahead of time, or improvise rhymes on the spot with or without a beat. Though rap is usually an integral component of hip hop music, DJs sometimes perform and record alone, and many instrumental acts are also defined as hip hop. Contents [hide] • 1 Origin and characteristics o 1.1 Origin of the term

o 1.2 Characteristics of hip hop music • 2 1970s

o 2.1 Roots of hip hop

o 2.2 Influence of disco

o 2.3 Transition to recording • 3 1980s

o 3.1 Nationalization and internationalization

o 3.2

o 3.3 Golden Age

o 3.4 Gangsta rap and • 4 1990s

o 4.1 World

o 4.2 West Coast

o 4.3 East Coast

o 4.4 Diversification of styles • 5 2000s

o 5.1 World and national music

o 5.2 Decline in sales • 6 References

• 7 Sources

• 8 External links [edit] Origin and characteristics

[edit] Origin of the term

Coinage of the term hip hop is often credited to Keith Cowboy, a rapper with Grandmaster Flash and The Furious Five.[4] Though , Keith Cowboy, and DJ Hollywood used the term when the music was still known as disco rap, it is believed that Cowboy created the term while teasing a friend who had just joined the U.S. Army, by the words "hip/hop/hip/hop" in a way that mimicked the rhythmic cadence of marching soldiers. [4] Cowboy later worked the "hip hop" cadence into a part of his stage performance, which was quickly copied by other artists; for example the opening of the song "Rapper's Delight" by .[4] Former gang member Afrika Bambaataa is credited with first using the term to describe the subculture that hip hop music belongs to, although it is also suggested that the term was originally derisively used against the new type of music.[5] The first use of the term in print was in [6] by , later author of a 1984 history of hip hop.[7]

[edit] Characteristics of hip hop music

Hip hop music may be based around either live or produced music, with a clearly defined drum beat (almost always in 4/4 time signature), presented either with or without vocal accompaniment.[8] Production may add looped musical segments on top, from either sampled or originally sequenced music. [edit] 1970s

[edit] Roots of hip hop

Main article: Origins of hip hop

The roots of hip hop are found in African American and West African music. The of West Africa are a group of traveling singers and poets, whose vocal style is similar to that of rappers and who are part of an oral tradition dating back hundreds of years. The African- American traditions of signifyin', the dozens, talking and jazz poetry belong firmly within this tradition, as do musical 'comedy' acts such as and Blowfly, considered by some to be forefathers of rap. Within New York City, -like performances of poetry and music by artists such as The Last Poets, Gil Scott Heron and Jalal Mansur Nuriddin had a significant impact on the post-civil rights era culture of the 1960s and 1970s.

Hip hop arose during the 1970s when block parties became common in New York City, especially the Bronx. Block parties were usually accompanied by music, especially funk and . The early DJs at block parties began isolating the percussion breaks to hit songs, realizing that these were the most dance-able and entertaining parts; this technique was then common in Jamaica [9] [10] and had spread via the substantial Jamaican immigrant community in New York City, especially the "godfather" of hip hop, the Jamaican-born DJ Kool Herc.

Dub music had arisen in Jamaica due to the influence of American sailors and radio stations playing R&B. Large sound systems were set up to accommodate poor Jamaicans, who couldn't afford to buy records, and dub developed at the sound systems (refers to both the system and the parties that evolved around them). Herc was one of the most popular DJs in early 70s New York, and he quickly switched from using reggae records to funk, soul, rock and, later, disco, since the New York audience did not particularly like reggae. Because the percussive breaks were generally short, Herc and other DJs began extending them using an audio mixer and two records. Turntablist techniques, such as beat mixing/matching, scratching (seemingly invented by Grand Wizard Theodore) and beat juggling eventually developed along with the breaks, creating a base that could be rapped over. (The same techniques contributed to the popularization of ). Such looping, sampling and remixing of another's music, sometimes without the original artist's knowledge or consent, can be seen as an evolution of Jamaican ,[9][10] and would become a hallmark of the hip hop style.

Jamaican immigrants also provided another influence on the vocal style of rapping, as many Jamaican immigrants, for example Herc, started delivering simple raps at their parties, inspired by the Jamaican tradition of toasting.[9][11]

DJs and "MCs" would often add call and response chants, often comprising of a chorus, to allow the performer to gather his thoughts (such as "one, two, three, y'all, to the beat, y'all").

Later, the MCs grew more varied in their vocal and rhythmic approach, incorporating brief rhymes, often with a sexual or scatological theme, in an effort at differentiating themselves and entertaining the audience. Hip hop music was an outlet and a "voice" for disenfranchised youth[12], as the culture reflected the social, economic and political realities of their lives[13]. These early raps incorporated similar rhyming lyrics from African American culture, such as the dozens. While Kool Herc & the Herculoids were the first hip hoppers to gain major fame in New York, more MC teams quickly sprouted up. Frequently, these were collaborations between former gang members, such as Afrikaa Bambaataa's Universal Zulu Nation (now a large, international organization). , a rapper/lyricist with The Furious Five is often credited with being the first rap lyricist to call himself an "MC."[14] During the early 1970s, breakdancing arose during block parties, as b-boys and b-girls got in front of the audience to dance in a distinctive, frenetic style. The style was documented for release to a world wide audience for the first time in documentaries and movies such as , Wild Style, and .

Although there were many early MCs that recorded solo projects of note, such as DJ Hollywood, Kurtis Blow and , real notoriety didn't appear until later with the rise of soloists with really big stage presence and drama, such as LL Cool J. Most early hip hop was dominated by groups where collaboration among the members was integral to the show. [15]

[edit] Influence of disco

Hip-hop was both rooted in disco, and a backlash against it. According to Kurtis Blow, the early days of hip-hop were characterized by divisions between fans and detractors of disco music. In , D.C., go-go also emerged as a reaction against disco, and eventually mixed with hip hop during the early 1980s, while African-American did the same, developing as in and music in .

Pete DJ Jones, Eddie Cheeba, DJ Hollywood and Love Bug Starski were disco-flavored early hip hop DJs. Other hip hop musicians focused on rapid-fire rhymes and more complex rhythmic schemes. Afrika Bambaataa, Paul Winley, Grandmaster Flash and Bobby Robinson were members of this latter group.

[edit] Transition to recording The first hip hop recording is widely regarded as the New Jersey-based Sugar Hill Gang's Rapper's Delight in 1979[16] (though some point out that King Tim III (Personality Jock) by The Fatback Band was released a few weeks before[17] - there are also other claimants for the title of first hip hop record). By the 1980s, all the major elements and techniques of the genre were in place. Though not yet mainstream, hip hop was by now well known among African Americans, even outside of New York City; it could be found in cities as diverse as Los Angeles, Washington, DC, , , Kansas City, , TX, Miami, Seattle, St. Louis, New Orleans, , and .

Despite the genre's spreading popularity, was, for many years, the only city whose contributions to hip hop were valued as greatly as New York City's by fans and critics. Hip hop music was popular there at least as far back as the late 1970s (the first Philadelphia hip hop record was "Rhythm Talk", by Jocko Henderson in 1979), and dubbed Philadelphia the "Graffiti Capital of the World" in 1971. A Philadelphia-area radio DJ, Lady B, was the first female solo hip hop artist to record music ("To the Beat Y'All", 1979[18]). Later , another Philadelphia-based artist, helped invent what became known as gangsta rap. [edit] 1980s

The 1980s saw intense diversification of hip hop, and the genre developed into a more complex form. Some early examples of an experimental approach to the form are:

• "The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the Wheels of Steel" (1981) by Grandmaster Flash. Still arguably the definitive cut & paste hip hop track comprising of many familiar grooves and some lesser known sources (such as The Hellers for the spoken word 'story' section). Certainly worth mentioning here is the work of Double Dee and Steinski and especially "Lesson 3", a piece still paid homage to by DJ's such as & DJ Shadow who recently performed it live.

• "" (1983) by & K-Rob, produced by the artist Jean-Michel Basquiat. A '' which reflects much of the dub influence upon hip-hop with its use of reverb and echo as texture and playful sound effects.

• "It's Yours" (1984) by . A classic produced by Rick Rubin and edited meticulously through tape splicing by Kurtis Mantronik. The record is not only famed for it's quick fire editing but also for his 'scientific' approach to rhyme construction. It has been sampled by Nas (for "The World Is Yours"), Public Enemy (on "Louder Than A Bomb") and Edan (for "Fumbling Over Words That Rhyme").

The latter two of these tracks made heavy usage of the new generation of drum machines such as the Oberheim DMX and Roland 808 models. To this day the 808 kickdrum is routinely used by producers throughout hip hop. Over time sampling technology became more advanced but early producers such as were limited to constructing their beats from relatively small excerpts of beats in synchronisation with drum machines. Later samplers such as the E-mu SP-1200 (used by on his work for the Ultramagnetic MCs) allowed not only more memory but more flexibility for creative production, allowing filtering and layering of different hits and allowing these to be resequenced into a single piece (such as on the Ultramagnetic MCs' "Give The Drummer Some".)

With the emergence of a new generation of samplers such as the AKAI S900 in the late 80's producers were at last free of tape loops (Much of Public Enemy's first two albums were created with the help of large tape loops). The practice of looping break into breakbeats now became commonplace with the sampler now doing the job which so far had been done manually by the DJ; In 1989, DJ Mark James under the moniker "45 King", released "The 900 Number", a track created by synchronizing samplers and vinyl.[15]

The content evolved as well. The tales of 1970s MCs were replaced by highly metaphoric lyrics rapping over complex, multi-layered beats. The work of MC's such as Melle Mel, Rakim, Chuck D & KRS-One did much to help hip hop be taken seriously as a mature art form rather than as a novelty. "The Message" (1982) by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five is sometimes cited as the birth of 'serious' hip hop, though 'novelty rap' songs were a regular occurance in the 1980's and later.

Some rappers even became mainstream pop performers, including Kurtis Blow, whose appearance in a Sprite commercial[19] made him the first hip hop musician to be considered mainstream enough to represent a major product. Another popular performer among mainstream audiences was LL Cool J, who was a success from the release of his first LP, Radio.[20]

During the early 1980s there was a rise in electro music within the hip hop movement as exemplified by artists such as Cybotron, Hashim, Planet Patrol and Newcleus. Most notable is Afrika Bambaataa and the influential 1983 single Planet Rock.

[edit] Nationalization and internationalization

Main article: World hip hop

Hip hop was almost entirely unknown outside of the United States prior to the early 1980s. During that decade, it began its spread to every inhabited continent and became a part of the music scene in dozens of countries. In the early part of the decade, breakdancing became the first aspect of hip hop culture to reach Germany, Japan and South Africa, where the crew Black Noise established the practice before beginning to rap later in the decade. Meanwhile, recorded hip hop was released in (Dee Nasty's 1984 Paname City Rappin') and the Philippines (Dyords Javier's "Na Onseng Delight" and Vincent Dafalong's "Nunal"). In Puerto Rico, became the first Spanish rapper, and his recorded work was the beginning of what became known as .

Japanese Hip Hop is said to have begun when Hiroshi Fujiwara returned to Japan and started playing Hip-Hop records in the early 1980s.[21] Japanese hip hop generally tends to be most directly influenced by old school hip hop, taking from the era's catchy beats, dance culture, and overall fun and carefree nature and incorporating it into their music. As a result, hip hop stands as one of the most commercially viable mainstream music genres in Japan, and the line between it and is frequently blurred.

Hip-hop has globalized into many cultures worldwide. now find hip-hop in every corner of the globe, and like the South Bronx, each locale embodies a kind of globalism. Hip hop has emerged globally as an arts movement with the imperative to create something fresh by using technology, speech, and the body in new ways. The music and the art continue to embrace, even celebrate, its transnational dimensions while staying true to the local cultures to which it is rooted. Hip-hop's inspiration differs depending on each culture. Still, the one thing virtually all hip hop artists worldwide have in common is that they acknowledge their debt to those African American people in New York who launched the global movement.[22] While hip-hop is sometimes taken for granted by Americans, it is not so elsewhere, especially in the developing world, where it has come to represent the empowerment of the disenfranchised and a slice of the American dream. American hip-hop music has reached the cultural corridors of the globe and has been absorbed and reinvented around the world.[23]

[edit] New School hip hop

Main articles: Old school hip hop and New school hip hop

The new school hip hop was a second wave of hip hop music starting from 1983–84 with the early records of Run-D.M.C. and LL Cool J. Like the hip hop preceding it, it came predominately from New York City. The new school was initially characterized in form by led minimalism, often tinged with elements of rock. It was notable for taunts and boasts about rapping, and socio-political commentary, both delivered in an aggressive, self-assertive style. In image as in song its artists projected a tough, cool, street b-boy attitude. These elements contrasted sharply with the P-funk and disco influenced outfits, novelty hits, live bands, synthesizers and party rhymes of artists prevalent in 1984, and rendered them old school. New school artists made shorter songs that could more easily gain radio play, and more cohesive LPs than their old school counterparts. By 1986 their releases began to establish hip hop as a fixture of the mainstream. Rap and hip hop became commercially successful, as exemplified by The Beastie Boys' 1986 album , which was the first rap album to hit #1 on the Billboard charts.[24]

[edit] Golden Age

Main article: Golden age hip hop

Hip hop's "golden age" is a name given to a period in hip hop - usually from the late 1980s to early 90s - said to be characterized by its diversity, quality, innovation and influence. There were strong themes of Afrocentricity and political militancy, while the music was experimental and the sampling was eclectic. There was often a strong jazz influence. The artists most often associated with the phase include Public Enemy (whose 1988 album It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back is widely regarded as hip hop's greatest moment), KRS-One and his Boogie Down Productions, Eric B. & Rakim, De La Soul, A Tribe Called Quest, and the Jungle Brothers.

[edit] Gangsta rap and West Coast hip hop

Main articles: Gangsta rap and West Coast hip hop

Gangsta rap is a genre of hip hop that reflects the violent lifestyles of some inner-city youths. It was pioneered by the mid 80s work of musicians such as Schooly D and Ice T. In 1988, N.W.A. released Straight Outta Compton, which formalised the style, as well as cementing Los Angeles as its main centre. Thus, N.W.A. helped to establish West Coast hip hop as a genre just as major and important as East Coast hip hop. [edit] 1990s

In 1992, Dr. Dre released The Chronic. As well as helping to establish West Coast gangsta rap as more commercially viable than East Coast hip hop, this album founded a style called G Funk, which soon came to dominate West Coast hip hop. The style was further developed and popularized by Snoop Doggy Dogg's 1993 album Doggystyle.

The Notorious B.I.G. rose to fame around the same time. Being from New York, Biggie brought the East Coast back into the mainstream at a time when the West Coast mainly dominated rap. Other major artists in the so-called East Coast hip hop renaissance included the Wu-Tang Clan and Nas. (See the article on the East Coast-West Coast hip hop rivalry.)

Tupac Shakur started his rapping career in 1991, and would become one of the biggest- selling rappers of the 90s with more than 75 million albums sold worldwide 50 million albums sold in the USA alone.[citation needed]

Record labels based out of , St. Louis, and New Orleans also gained fame for their local scenes. The midwest rap scene is also notable, with the fast vocal styles from artists such as Bone Thugs-n-Harmony and . By the end of the decade, hip hop was an integral part of , and many American pop songs had hip hop components.

[edit] World

In the 1990s and the following decade, elements of hip hop continued to be assimilated into other genres of popular music. Nu soul, for example, combined hip hop and soul music and produced some major stars.[who?] In the Dominican Republic, a recording by Santi Y Sus Duendes and Lisa M became the first single of merenrap, a fusion of hip hop and merengue.

New York City experienced a heavy Jamaican hip hop influence during the 90s. This influence was brought on by cultural shifts particularly because of the heightened immigration of Jamaicans to New York City and the American-born Jamaican youth who were coming of age during the 90s. Hip hop artists such as De La Soul and have produced albums influenced by Jamaican roots.[3]

In Europe, Africa, and Asia, hip hop began to move from the underground to mainstream audiences. In Europe, hip hop was the domain of both ethnic nationals and immigrants. Germany, for example, produced the well-known Die Fantastischen Vier as well as several Turkish performers like the controversial Cartel, Kool Savaş, and Eko Fresh. Similarly, France has produced a number of native-born stars, such as IAM and Suprême NTM, but the most famous French rapper is probably the Senegalese-born MC Solaar. The ' most famous rappers are The Osdorp Posse, an all-white crew from , and The Postmen from Cape Verde and Suriname. Italy found its own rappers, including and , grow nationally renowned, while the Polish scene began in earnest early in the decade with the rise of PM Cool Lee. In Romania, B.U.G. Mafia came out of Bucharest's Pantelimon neighborhood, and their brand of gangsta rap underlines the parallels between life in Romania's Communist-era apartment blocks and in the housing projects of America's ghettos. 's hip hop grew greatly in popularity at the end of the decade, with several stars emerging from both sides of the Palestinian (Tamer Nafer) and Jewish (Subliminal) divide. Mook E., preached peace and tolerance, others expressed nationalist and violent sentiments.

In Asia, mainstream stars rose to prominence in the Philippines, led by , Rap Asia, MC Lara and Lady Diane. In Japan, where underground rappers had previously found a limited audience, and popular teen idols brought a style called J-rap to the top of the charts in the middle of the '90s.

Latinos had played an integral role in the early development of hip hop, and the style had spread to parts of Latin America, such as , early in its history. In Mexico, popular hip hop began with the success of Calo in the early '90s. Later in the decade, with Latin rap groups like on the American charts, Mexican groups, such as Control Machete, rose to prominence in their native land. An annual concert held at Alamar in helped popularize Cuban hip hop, beginning in 1995. Hip hop grew steadily more popular in Cuba, because of official governmental support for musicians.

[edit] West Coast

Main article: West Coast hip hop

After N.W.A broke up, Dr. Dre (a former member) released The Chronic in 1992, which peaked at #1 on the R&B/hip hop chart,[25] #3 on the pop chart and spawned a #2 pop single with "Nuthin' but a "G" Thang." The Chronic took West Coast rap in a new direction,[26] influenced strongly by P funk artists, melding sleazy funk beats with slowly drawled lyrics. This came to be known as G-funk and dominated mainstream hip hop for several years through a roster of artists on Death Row Records including Snoop Doggy Dogg, whose Doggystyle included the songs "What's My Name" and "Gin and Juice," both top ten hits.[27]

Detached from this scene were more thoughtful artists such as The Pharcyde as well as more underground artists such as the Solesides collective (DJ Shadow and Blackalicious amongst others) Jurassic 5, , The Alkaholiks, and earlier represented a return to hip-hops roots of sampling and well planned rhymeschemes. Other rappers included of Too Short and MC Hammer from Oakland.

[edit] East Coast

Main article: East Coast hip hop

In the early 1990s east coast hip hop was dominated by the Native Tongues posse which loosely comprised of De La Soul with producer , A Tribe Called Quest, The Jungle Brothers, as well as their loose affiliates 3rd Bass, , and the less successful Black Sheep & KMD. Although originally a "daisy age" conception stressing the positive aspects of life, darker material (such as De La Soul's thought provoking "Millie Pulled a Pistol on Santa") soon crept in.

Artists such as (particularly for Slaughtahouse) & , Public Enemy, followed a more overtly militant poise, both in sound and manner. Meanwhile Biz Markie, the 'clown prince of hip hop' was causing himself, and all other hip- hop producers a problem with his appropriation of the Gilbert O'Sullivan song 'Alone again, naturally'.

In the mid 1990s, artists such as the Wu-Tang Clan, Nas and The Notorious B.I.G. increased New York's visibility at a time when hip hop was mostly dominated by West Coast artists. The mid to late 1990s saw a generation of rappers such as and who would prove very lucrative.

The productions of RZA, particularly for Wu-Tang Clan, became very influential, with artists such as being highly influenced by their combination of somewhat detached instrumental loops, highly compressed and processed drums and gangsta lyrical content. Wu- Tang affiliate albums such as the Chef's Only Built 4 Cuban Linx and GZA's Liquid Swords are now viewed as classics along with Wu-Tang 'core' material.

Producers such as DJ Premier (primarily for Gangstarr but also for other affiliated artists such as Jeru the Damaja), (With CL Smooth and supplying beats for many others), , Large Professor, and supplying beats for numerous MC's regardless of location.

Albums such as Nas's , Jay-Z's Reasonable Doubt and OC's Word...Life are made up of beats from this pool of producers.

Later in the decade the business acumen of the tested itself against Jay-Z and his Roc-A-Fella Records and on the west coast Death Row Records.

The rivalry between the East Coast and the West Coast rappers eventually turned into a personal rivalry,[28] aided in part by the music media[citation needed].

Although the 'big business' end of the market domininated matters commercially the late 90s to early 2000 era saw a number of relatively successful east coast indie labels such as (with whom Mos Def gained great success) and later, Def Jux, the history of the two labels is intertwined, the latter having been started by EL-P of in reaction to the former, it offered an outlet for more underground artists such as Mike Ladd, , Mr Lif, RJD2, and . Other acts such as the hispanic Arsonists and much hyped slam poet turned MC met with differing degrees of success.

[edit] Diversification of styles

Further information: List of hip hop genres

In the late 90s, the styles of hip hop diversified. The South got on the hip hop map with the rise of Southern rap [29] , starting with Arrested Development's 3 Years, 5 Months & 2 Days in the Life Of... in 1992, 's Soul Food in 1995 and OutKast's ATLiens in 1996. Both groups were based out of Atlanta. Later, Master P (Ghetto D) built up a roster of artists (the No Limit posse) based out of New Orleans. Master P incorporated G funk and influences, and distinctive regional sounds from St. Louis, Chicago, Washington D.C., Detroit and others began to gain popularity. Also in the 1990s, rapcore (a fusion of hip hop and heavy metal [30] ) became popular among mainstream audiences. Rage Against the Machine, Linkin Park and Limp Bizkit were among the most well known rapcore bands. Though white rappers like the Beastie Boys, , and 3rd Bass had had some popular success or critical acceptance from the hip hop community, Eminem's success, beginning in 1999 with the platinum The Slim Shady LP [31] surprised many. However, Eminem was criticized for glorification of violence, misogyny[32] and drug abuse as well as homophobia and albums laced with constant profanity. [edit] 2000s

[edit] World and national music

In the year 2000, The Marshall Mathers LP by Eminem sold over ten million copies in the United States, and Nelly's debut LP, Country Grammar, sold over six million copies. The United States also saw the success of in the form of moderately popular performers like The Roots, , and Mos Def, who achieved unheard-of success for their field.

Hip hop in the 2000s gave birth to subgenres such as and crunk. Hip hop influences also found their way increasingly into mainstream pop during this period.

Some countries, like Tanzania, maintained popular acts of their own in the early 2000s, though many others produced few homegrown stars, instead following American trends. Scandinavian, especially Danish and Swedish, performers became well known outside of their country, while hip hop continued its spread into new regions, including Russia, Japan, Philippines, Canada, China, Korea and India.

In Germany and France, gangsta rap has become popular among youths who like the violent and aggressive lyrics.[33] Some German rappers openly or comically flirt with Nazism, Bushido (born Anis Mohamed Youssef Ferchichi) raps "Salutiert, steht stramm, Ich bin der Leader wie A" (Salute, stand to attention, I am the leader like 'A') and Fler had a hit with the record Neue Deutsche Welle (New German Wave) complete with the title written in Third Reich style Gothic print and advertised with an Adolf Hitler quote.[34] These references also spawned great controversy in Germany.[35][36]

The album "Babel (33 guests in 33 languages)" is one of the most comprehensive products in world hip-hop in the recent years. Over 30 rappers appear on the material using his own mother tongue.[37]

[edit] Decline in sales

Starting in 2005, sales of hip-hop music in the United States began to severely wane, leading Time magazine to question if mainstream hip-hop was "dying." Billboard Magazine found that, since 2000, rap sales dropped 44%,and declined to 10% of all music sales, which, while still a commanding figure when compared to other genres, is a significant drop from the 13% of all music sales where rap music regularly placed.[38][39] NPR culture critic Elizabeth Blair noted that, "some industry experts say young people are fed up with the violence, degrading imagery and lyrics. Others say the music is just as popular as it ever was, but that fans have found other means to consume the music."[40] It can also be argued that many young people now download music illegally, especially through P2P networks, instead of purchasing albums and singles from legitimate stores. Some put the blame on the lack of lyrical content that hip hop once had, for example Tell 'Em's 2007 debut album souljaboytellem.com was met with negative reviews.[41] Lack of sampling, a key element of hip hop, has also been noted for the decrease in quality of modern albums. For example, there are only four samples used in 2008's Paper Trail by T.I., while there are 35 samples in 1998's Moment of Truth by Gang Starr. The decrease in sampling is in part due to it being too expensive for producers.[42] In Byron Hurt's documentary Hip Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes, he claims that hip hop had changed from "clever rhymes and dance beats" to "advocating personal, social and criminal corruption."[43] [edit] References

1. ^ Chang, Jeff; DJ Kool Herc (2005). Can't Stop Won't Stop: A History of the Hip-Hop Generation. Macmillan. ISBN 031230143X. 2. ^ Castillo-Garstow, Melissa (2008-03-01). "Latinos in hip hop to reggaeton". Latin Beat Magazine. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0FXV/is_2_15/ai_n13557237. Retrieved on 2008-07-28.

3. ^ SamplesDB - Internet's Largest Music Samples Database

4. ^ a b c Keith Cowboy - The Real Mc Coy

5. ^ http://www.zulunation.com/hip_hop_history2.htm (cached)

6. ^ Hagar, Steven. "Afrika Bambaataa’s Hip-Hop," Village Voice

7. ^ Hager, Steven. Hip Hop: The Illustrated History of Break Dancing, Rap Music, and Graffiti. St Martins Press, 1984 (out of print).

8. ^ Baker Fish, Bob (October 9, 2007). "OhNo - Dr No’s Oxperiment (Stones Throw/ Creative Vibes)" (in English). Cyclic Defrost Magazine (Sydney South, Australia: Cyclic Defrost Magazine) 12/2008 (21). http://www.cyclicdefrost.com/blog/?p=1489. Retrieved on 2009-01- 28.

9. ^ a b c http://stason.org/TULARC/music-genres/reggae-dub/3-What-is-Dub-music-anyway- Reggae.html

10. ^ a b http://robertphilen.blogspot.com/2007/11/mythic-music-stockhausen-davis-and.html

11. ^ http://www.ncimusic.com/tutorial/history/hiphop/oldschool.html

12. ^ Crossley, Scott. '’Metaphorical Conceptions in Hip-Hop Music”, African American Review, St Louis University Press, 2005. pp.501-502

13. ^ Alridge D, Steward J. “Introduction: Hip Hop in History: Past, Present, and Future”, Journal of African American History 2005. pp.190

14. ^ article about Mele Mel (Melle Mel) at AllHipHop.com

15. ^ a b * David Toop (1984/1991/2000). Rap Attack II: African Rap To Global Hip Hop, p.94, ?, 96. New York. New York: Serpent's Tail. ISBN 1852422432.

16. ^ hip hop :: The Encyclopedia of New York State :: Syracuse University Press

17. ^ [1]

18. ^ http://hiphoponwax.blogspot.com/2006/10/lady-b-to-beat-yall.html 19. ^ http://www.newyorkgospel.com/articles/4/1/Kurtis-Blow-Ministries-and-Holy-Hip-Hop- Music-form-Strategic-Alliance/Page1.html

20. ^ http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/bio/index.jsp?pid=78164

21. ^ Theme Magazine - International Man of Mystery

22. ^ https://moodle.brandeis.edu/file.php/3404/pdfs/kelley-foreword-vinyl-aint-final.pdf

23. ^ USATODAY.com - The globalization of hip-hop starts and ends with 'Where You're At'

24. ^ http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=A34rp283c054a

25. ^ http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:gbfuxq95ldae~T3

26. ^ http://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/album/111976/review/18944957/thechronic

27. ^ http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/bio/index.jsp?pid=33952

28. ^ http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/notorious_murders/celebrity/shakur_BIG/2a.html

29. ^ Burks, Maggie (2008-09-03). "Southern Hip-Hop". Jackson Free Press. http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/index.php/site/comments/southern_hip_hop_090308/. Retrieved on 2008-09-11.

30. ^ Ambrose, Joe (2001). "Moshing - An Introduction". The Violent World of Moshpit Culture. Omnibus Press. p. 5. ISBN 0711987440.

31. ^ http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:djfwxqyjldfe~T3

32. ^ (Goldberg 2005, p. 140)

33. ^ NY Times: Germany's Rap Music Veers Toward the Violent

34. ^ The Independent: Rap music and the far right: Germany goes gangsta, 17 August 2005

35. ^ Der Spiegel: Scandal Rap, 23 May 2005

36. ^ laut.De Fler: Stolz, Deutsch und rechtsradikal, 13 May 2005

37. ^ [2]

38. ^ http://www.futuremusic.com/news/april2007/musictrends-hiphop.html After 21% Decline In Sales, Rap Industry Takes A Hard Look At Itself - Futuremusic presents

39. ^ http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1653639,00.html Hip-Hop's Down Beat - TIME magazine

40. ^ http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=7834732 Is Hip-Hop Dying Or Has It Moved Underground? NPR.org

41. ^ http://www.djbooth.net/index/albums/review/soulja-boy-tell-em-souljaboytellemcom- 1002072/

42. ^ http://matthewnewton.us/node/775

43. ^ Crouch, Stanley (2008-12-08). "For the future of hip-hop, all that glitters is not gold teeth". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Hearst Corporation. http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/391157_crouchonline09.html. Retrieved on 2008-12- 11. [edit] Sources

• David Toop (1984/1991). Rap Attack II: African Rap To Global Hip Hop. New York. New York: Serpent's Tail. ISBN 1852422432. • McLeod, Kembrew. Interview with Chuck D and Hank Shocklee. 2002. Stay Free Magazine. • Corvino, Daniel and Livernoche, Shawn (2000). A Brief History of Rhyme and Bass: Growing Up With Hip Hop. Tinicum, PA: Xlibris Corporation/The Lightning Source, Inc. ISBN 1-4010-2851-9 • Chang, Jeff. "Can't Stop Won't Stop".

• Rose, Tricia (1994). "Black Noise". Middletown, Connecticut: Wesleyan University Press. ISBN 0-8195-6275-0 • Potter, Russell (1995) Spectacular Vernaculars: Hip-Hop and the Politics of Postmodernism. Albany: SUNY Press. ISBN 0791426262 • Light, Alan (ed). (1999). The VIBE History of Hip-Hop. New York: Three Rivers Press. ISBN 0-609-80503-7 • George, Nelson (2000, rev. 2005). Hip-Hop America. New York: Penguin Books. ISBN 0-14-028022-7 • Fricke, Jim and Ahearn, Charlie (eds). (2002). Yes Yes Y'All: The Experience Music Project Oral History of Hip Hop's First Decade. New York: Da Capo Press. ISBN 0- 306-81184-7 • Kitwana, Bakar (2004). The State of Hip-Hop Generation: how hip-hop's culture movement is evolving into political power. Retrieved December 4, 2006. From Link Database [edit] External links

Hip hop portal • When did Reggae become Rap? by D.George • National Geographic Hip Hop Overview

• "In the Heart of Freedom, In Chains": 2007 City Journal article on Hip Hop and Black America • Olivo, W. (March 2001). "Phat Lines: Spelling Conventions in Rap Music". Written Language & Literacy 4 (1): 67–85. doi:10.1075/wll.4.1.05oli. http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/jbp/wll/2001/00000004/00000001/art00004. • McLeod, Kembrew. Interview with Chuck D and Hank Shocklee. 2002. Stay Free Magazine, issue 20. Retrieved from http://www.stayfreemagazine.org/archives/20/public_enemy.html on July 9, 2006.

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Hip hop is a music genre and cultural movement which developed in New York City in the early 1970s primarily among African Americans and Latino Americans.[1][2] Hip Hop's four main elements are MCing (often called rapping), DJing, graffiti writing, and breakdancing [3] . Other elements include beatboxing, , and slang. Since first emerging in the Bronx, the lifestyle of hip hop culture has spread around the world.[4]

When hip hop music began to emerge, it was based around disc jockeys who created rhythmic beats by looping breaks (small portions of songs emphasizing a percussive pattern) on two turntables. This was later accompanied by "rapping" (a rhythmic style of chanting). An original form of dancing, and particular styles of dress, arose among followers of this new music. These elements experienced considerable refinement and development over the course of the history of the culture.

The relationship between graffiti and hip hop culture arises from the appearance of new and increasingly elaborate and pervasive forms of the practice in areas where other elements of hip hop were evolving as art forms, with a heavy overlap between those who wrote graffiti and those who practiced other elements of the culture. Beatboxing is a vocal technique mainly used to imitate percussive elements of the music and various technical effects of hip hop DJs. Contents

[hide]

• 1 Etymology • 2 History

o 2.1 American society

o 2.2 Global innovations

• 3 Cultural pillars

o 3.1 DJing

o 3.2 Rapping

o 3.3 Graffiti

o 3.4 Breaking

o 3.5 Beatboxing

• 4 Social impact

o 4.1 Effects

o 4.2 Language

o 4.3 Censorship

o 4.4 Product placement

o 4.5 Media

o 4.6 Diversification

• 5 Legacy

• 6 See also

• 7 Notes

• 8 References • 9 External links [edit] Etymology

The word "hip" was used as African American Vernacular English (AAVE) as early as 1898. The colloquial language meant "informed" or "current," and was likely derived from the earlier form hep[5]. The term "hip hop" also followed logically the previous African-American music culture of "".[citation needed]

Keith "Cowboy" Wiggins, a rapper with Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five has been credited with the coining of the term hip hop in 1978 while teasing a friend who had just joined the US Army, by scat singing the words "hip/hop/hip/hop" in a way that mimicked the rhythmic cadence of marching soldiers. Cowboy later worked the "hip hop" cadence into a part of his stage performance.[6] The group frequently performed with disco artists who would refer to this new type of MC/DJ produced music by calling them "those hip-hoppers". The name was originally meant as a sign of disrespect, but soon come to identify this new music and culture. Other artists quickly copied the Furious Five and began using the term in their music; for example the opening of the song "Rapper's Delight" by The Sugarhill Gang in addition the verse found on Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five's own "Superrappin'", both released in 1979. Lovebug Starski, a Bronx DJ who put out a single called "The Positive Life" in 1981, and DJ Hollywood then began using the term when referring to this new disco rap music. Hip hop pioneer and South Bronx community leader Afrika Bambaataa also credits Lovebug Starski as the first to use the term "Hip Hop," as it relates to the culture. Bambaataa, a former Black Spades gang member also did much to further popularize the term.[6][7][8] [edit] History

Main article: Roots of hip hop

Jamaican born DJ Clive "Kool Herc" Campbell is credited as being highly influential in the pioneering stage of hip hop music [9] , in the Bronx, New York, after moving to New York at the age of thirteen. Herc created the blueprint for hip hop music and culture by building upon the Jamaican tradition of toasting, or boasting impromptu poetry and sayings over music, which he witnessed as a youth in Jamaica.[10]

Herc and other DJs would tap into the power lines to connect their equipment and perform, at venues such as public basketball courts and the historic building "where hip hop was born," , Bronx, New York.[11][dated info] Their equipment was composed of numerous speakers, turntables, and one or more microphones.[12] In late 1979, Debbie Harry of Blondie took Chic co-founder and lead guitarist Nile Rodgers to such an event, as the main backing track used was the break from Chic's Good Times.[13]

Herc was also the developer of break-beat deejaying, where the breaks of funk songs—the part most suited to dance, usually percussion-based—were isolated and repeated for the purpose of all-night dance parties. This breakbeat DJing, using hard funk, rock, and records with Latin percussion, formed the basis of hip hop music. Campbell's announcements and exhortations to dancers would lead to the syncopated, rhymed spoken accompaniment we now know as rapping. He dubbed his dancers break-boys and break-girls, or simply b-boys and b-girls. According to Herc, "breaking" was also street slang for "getting excited" and "acting energetically".[14] Herc's terms b-boy, b-girl and breaking became part of the lexicon of hip hop culture, before that culture itself had developed a name.

Later DJs such as Grand Wizard Theodore, Grandmaster Flash and refined and developed the use of breakbeats, including cutting and scratching.[15] The approach used by Herc was soon widely copied, and by the late 1970s DJs were releasing 12" records where they would rap to the beat. Popular tunes included Kurtis Blow's "The Breaks", and The Sugar Hill Gang's "Rapper's Delight".[13]

Emceeing is the rhythmic spoken delivery of rhymes and wordplay, delivered over a beat or without accompaniment. Rapping is derived from the griots (folk poets) of West Africa, and Jamaican-style toasting. Rap developed both inside and outside of hip hop culture, and began with the street parties thrown in the Bronx neighborhood of New York in the 1970s by Kool Herc and others. It originated as MCs would talk over the music to promote their DJ, promote other dance parties, take light-hearted jabs at other lyricists, or talk about problems in their areas and issues facing the community as a whole.

Melle Mel, a rapper/lyricist with The Furious Five, is often credited with being the first rap lyricist to call himself an "MC".[16]

By the the late 1970s, the culture had gained media attention, with Billboard magazine printing an article titled "B Beats Bombarding Bronx", commenting on the local phenomenon and mentioning influential figures such as Kool Herc [17] .

Hip hop as a culture was further defined in 1983, when Afrika Bambaataa and the released the seminal electro-funk track "Planet Rock." Instead of simply rapping over disco beats, Bambaataa created an innovative electronic sound, taking advantage of the rapidly improving drum machine, technology as well as sampling from Kraftwerk [18] . The appearance of music videos changed entertainment: they often glorified urban neighborhoods.[19] The music video for "Planet Rock" showcased the subculture of hip hop musicians, graffiti artists and breakdancers. Many hip hop-related films were released between 1983 and 1985, among them Wild Style, Beat Street, , Breakin, and Style Wars.

These films expanded the appeal of hip hop beyond the boundaries of New York. By 1985, youth worldwide were embracing the hip hop culture. The hip hop artwork and "slang" of US urban communities quickly found its way to Europe and Asia, as the culture's global appeal took root.

The 1980s also saw many artists make social statements through hip hop. In 1982, Melle Mel and Duke Bootee recorded "The Message" (officially credited to Grandmaster Flash and The Furious Five)[20], a song that foreshadowed the socially conscious statements of Run-DMC's "It's like That" and Public Enemy's "Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos".[21]

During the 1980s, hip hop also embraced the creation of rhythm by using the human body, via the technique of beatboxing. Pioneers such as Doug E. Fresh [22] , Biz Markie, and Buffy from the Fat Boys made beats, rhythm, and musical sounds using their mouth, lips, tongue, voice, and other body parts. "Human Beatbox" artists would also sing or imitate turntablism scratching or other instrument sounds. [edit] American society

Early hip hop has often been credited with helping to reduce inner-city gang violence by replacing physical violence with dance and artwork battles. In the early 1970s, Kool DJ Herc began organizing dance parties in his home in the Bronx. The parties became so popular they were moved to outdoor venues to accommodate more people. City teenagers, after years of gang violence, were looking for new ways to express themselves.[23] These outdoor parties, hosted in parks, became a means of expression and an outlet for teenagers, where "Instead of getting into trouble on the streets, teens now had a place to expend their pent-up energy."[24]

Tony Tone, a member of the pioneering rap group , noted that "Hip- hop saved a lot of lives."[24] Hip hop culture became an outlet and a way of dealing with the hardships of life as minorities within America, and an outlet to deal with violence and gang culture. MC Kid Lucky mentions that “people used to break-dance against each other instead of fighting.”[25][broken citation] Inspired by Kool DJ Herc, once-gang leader of the Black Spades, Afrika Bambaataa created a street organization called Universal Zulu Nation, centered around hip hop, as a means to draw teenagers out of gang life and violence.[24]

Contrary to popular belief, the hip hop movement was not centered around violence, drugs, and weapons in the early days. Many people used hip hop in positive ways. The lyrical content of many early rap groups concentrated on social issues, most notably in the seminal track "The Message".[26] "Young black Americans coming out of the civil rights movement have used hip hop culture in the 1980s and 1990s to show the limitations of the movement."[27] Hip hop gave young African Americans a voice to let their issues be noticed. It also gave young blacks a chance for financial gain by "reducing the rest of the world to consumers of its social concerns."[27]

Hip hop's social impacts on the country have not been all negative. It has positively affected many youth and encouraged them to voice their opinions on world and personal issues. "Like rock-and-roll, hip hop is vigorously opposed by conservatives because it romanticises violence, law-breaking, and gangs".[27] Both hip hop and rock-and-roll were musical movements used by teens in order to express how they felt about certain issues.[26] Now hip hop and rock-and-roll are combined in many ways including rewriting songs where a rapper or rock band play with the other.

With the emergence of commercial and crime-related rap during the early 1990s, however, an emphasis on violence was incorporated, with many rappers boasting about drugs, weapons, misogyny, and violence. While hip hop music now appeals to a broader demographic, media critics argue that socially and politically conscious hip hop has long been disregarded by mainstream America in favor of gangsta rap.[28]

Though created in the United States by African Americans and Latinos, hip hop culture and music is now global in scope. Youth culture and opinion is meted out in both Israeli hip hop and , while France, Germany, the U.K., Brazil, Japan, Africa, Australia and the Caribbean have long-established hip hop followings. According to the U.S. Department of State, hip hop is "now the center of a mega music and fashion industry around the world," that crosses social barriers and cuts across racial lines.[29] National Geographic recognizes hip hop as "the world's favorite youth culture" in which "just about every country on the planet seems to have developed its own local rap scene."[30] Through its international travels, hip hop is now considered a “global musical epidemic,”[31] and has diverged from its ethnic roots by way of globalization and localization.

Although some non-American rappers may still relate with young black Americans, hip hop now transcends its original culture, and is appealing because it is “custom-made to combat the anomie that preys on adolescents wherever nobody knows their name.”[32] Hip hop is attractive in its ability to give a voice to disenfranchised youth in any country, and as music with a message it is a form available to all societies worldwide.

Even in the face of growing global popularity, or perhaps because of it, hip hop has come under fire for being too commercial, too commodified. Artist Nas said it himself in his 2006 album . While this of course stirs up controversy, a documentary called The Commodification of Hip Hop directed by Brooke Daniel interviews students at Satellite Academy in New York City.

This article or section may contain unpublished synthesis of published material that conveys ideas not attributable to the original sources. See the talk page for details. (March 2009)

One girl talks about the epidemic of crime that she sees in urban black and Latino communities, relating it directly to the hip hop industry saying “When they can’t afford these kind of things, these things that celebrities have like jewelry and clothes and all that, they’ll go and sell drugs, some people will steal it…”[33] Many students see this as a negative side effect of the hip hop industry, and indeed, hip hop has been criticized all over the world for spreading crime, violence, and American ideals of consumerism although much of the hip- hop dancing community still chooses to refer back to more "oldschool" types of hip-hop music that does not preach violence and drugs.

In an article for Village Voice, Greg Tate argues that the commercialization of hip hop is a negative and pervasive phenomenon, writing that "what we call hiphop is now inseparable from what we call the hiphop industry, in which the nouveau riche and the super-rich employers get richer".[27] Ironically, this commercialization coincides with a decline in rap sales and pressure from critics of the genre.[34] However, in his book In Search Of Africa, Manthia Diawara explains that hip hop is really a voice of people who are down and out in modern society. He argues that the "worldwide spread of hip-hop as a market revolution" is actually global "expression of poor people’s desire for the good life," and that this struggle aligns with "the nationalist struggle for citizenship and belonging, but also reveals the need to go beyond such struggles and celebrate the redemption of the black individual through tradition."[35]

This connection to "tradition" however, is something that may be lacking according to one Satellite Academy staff member who says that in all of the focus on materialism, the hip hop community is “not leaving for the next generation, we’re not building.”[36]

As the hip hop genre turns 30, a deeper analysis of the music’s impact is taking place. It has been viewed as a cultural sensation which changed the music industry around the world, but some believe commercialization and mass production have given it a darker side. Tate has described its recent manifestations as a marriage of “New World African ingenuity and that trick of the devil known as global-hypercapitalism”[37], arguing it has joined the “mainstream that had once excluded its originators.” [37] While hip hop's values may have changed over time, the music continues to offer its followers and originators a shared identity which is instantly recognizable and much imitated around the world.

[edit] Global innovations

From its early spread to Europe and Japan to an almost worldwide acceptance through Asia and South American countries such as Brazil, the musical influence has been global. Hip hop sounds and styles differ from region to region, but there is also a lot of crossbreeding. In each separate hip hop scene there is also constant struggle between "old school" hip hop and more localized, newer sounds.[38] Regardless of where it is found, the music often targets local disaffected youth.[39]

Hip hop has given people a voice to express themselves, from the "Bronx to Beirut, Kazakhstan to Cali, Hokkaido to Harare, Hip Hop is the new sound of a disaffected global youth culture."[39] Though on the global scale there is a heavy influence from US culture, different cultures worldwide have transformed hip hop with their own traditions and beliefs. "Global Hip Hop succeeds best when it showcases ... cultures that reside outside the main arteries of the African Diaspora."[39] Not all countries have embraced hip hop, where "as can be expected in countries with strong local culture, the interloping wildstyle of hip hop is not always welcomed".[40]

As hip hop becomes globally-available, it is not a one-sided process that eradicates local cultures. Instead, global hip hop styles are often synthesized with local styles. Hartwig Vens argues that hip hop can also be viewed as a global learning experience.[41] Hip hop from countries outside the United States is often labeled "world music" for the American consumer. Author Jeff Chang argues that "the essence of hip hop is the cipher, born in the Bronx, where competition and community feed each other."[42]

Hip hop has impacted many different countries culturally and socially in positive ways. "Thousands of organizers from Cape Town to use hip hop in their communities to address environmental justice, policing and prisons, media justice, and education."[43]

While hip hop music has been criticized as a music which creates a divide between western music and music from the rest of the world, a musical "cross pollination" has taken place, which strengthens the power of hip hop to influence different communities.[44] Hip hop's impact as a "world music" is also due to its translatability among different cultures in the world. Hip hop's messages allow the under-privileged and the mistreated to be heard.[41] These cultural translations cross borders.[43] While the music may be from a foreign country, the message is something that many people can relate to- something not "foreign" at all.[45]

Even when hip hop is transplanted to other countries, it often retains its "vital progressive agenda that challenges the status quo."[43] Global hip hop is the meeting ground for progressive local activism, as many organizers use hip hop in their communities to address environmental injustice, policing and prisons, media justice, and education. In Gothenburg, Sweden, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) incorporate graffiti and dance to engage disaffected immigrant and working class youths. Indigenous youths in countries as disparate as Bolivia,[46] Chile, , New Zealand, and Norway use hip hop to advance new forms of identity.[citation needed] [edit] Cultural pillars

[edit] DJing

DJ Hypnotize and Baby Cee, two Disc jockeys

Turntablism refers to the extended boundaries and techniques of normal DJing innovated by hip hop. The first hip hop DJ was Kool DJ Herc, who created hip hop through the isolation of "breaks" (the parts of albums that focused solely on the beat). In addition to developing Herc's techniques, DJs Grandmaster Flash, Grand Wizard Theodore, and Grandmaster Caz made further innovations with the introduction of scratching.

Traditionally, a DJ will use two turntables simultaneously. These are connected to a DJ mixer, an amplifier, speakers, and various other pieces of electronic music equipment. The DJ will then perform various tricks between the two albums currently in rotation using the above listed methods. The result is a unique sound created by the seemingly combined sound of two separate songs into one song. A DJ should not be confused with a producer of a music track (though there is considerable overlap between the two roles).

In the early years of hip hop, the DJs were the stars, but their limelight has been taken by MCs since 1978, thanks largely to Melle Mel of Grandmaster Flash's crew, the Furious Five. However, a number of DJs have gained stardom nonetheless in recent years. Famous DJs include Grandmaster Flash, Afrika Bambaataa, Mr. Magic, DJ Jazzy Jeff, DJ from EPMD, DJ Premier from Gang Starr, DJ Scott La Rock from Boogie Down Productions, DJ Pete Rock of Pete Rock & CL Smooth, DJ Muggs from Cypress Hill, Jam Master Jay from Run-DMC, Eric B., DJ Screw, , , DJ Clue, and DJ Q-Bert. The underground movement of turntablism has also emerged to focus on the skills of the DJ.

Mixtape DJs have also emerged creating with different artist and getting exclusive songs and putting them on one disc, djs such as DJ White Owl, DJ Skee, DJ Drama, and DJ Whoo Kid

[edit] Rapping Rapper performs in Las Vegas for a BET party.

Rapping, also known as Emceeing, MCing, Rhyme spitting, Spitting, or just Rhyming, is the rhythmic delivery of rhymes, one of the central elements of hip hop music and culture. Although the word rap has sometimes been claimed to be a backronym of the phrase "Rhythmic American Poetry", "Rhythm and Poetry", "Rhythmically Applied Poetry", or "Rhythmically Associated Poetry", use of the word to describe quick and slangy speech or repartee long predates the musical form.[47] One early example includes the spoken word group The Last Poets.[48][citation needed] Rapping can be delivered over a beat or without accompaniment.

[edit] Graffiti

An aerosol paint can, common tool for modern graffiti

In America around the late 1960s, graffiti was used as a form of expression by political activists, and also by gangs such as the Savage Skulls, La Familia, and Savage Nomads to mark territory. Towards the end of the 1960s, the signatures—tags—of Philadelphia graffiti writers Top Cat,[49] Cool Earl and Cornbread started to appear.[50] Around 1970-71, the centre of graffiti innovation moved to New York City where writers following in the wake of TAKI 183 and Tracy 168 would add their street number to their nickname, "bomb" a train with their work, and let the subway take it—and their fame, if it was impressive, or simply pervasive, enough—"all city". Bubble lettering held sway initially among writers from the Bronx, though the elaborate style Tracy 168 dubbed "wildstyle" would come to define the art.[49][51] The early trendsetters were joined in the 70s by artists like Dondi, Futura 2000, Daze, Blade, Lee, Zephyr, Rammellzee, Crash, Kel, NOC 167 and Lady Pink.[49]

The relationship between graffiti and hip hop culture arises both from early graffiti artists practicing other aspects of hip hop, and its being practiced in areas where other elements of hip hop were evolving as art forms. Graffiti is recognized as a visual expression of rap music, just as breakdancing is viewed as a physical expression. The book Subway Art (New York: Henry Holt & Co, 1984) and the TV program Style Wars (first shown on the PBS channel in 1984) were among the first ways the mainstream public were introduced to hip hop graffiti.

[edit] Breaking

Breaking, an early form of hip hop dance, often involves battles, showing off skills without any physical contact with the adversaries.

Breaking, also breakdancing or B-boying, is a dynamic style of dance which developed as part of the hip hop culture. Breaking began to take form in the South Bronx alongside the other elements of hip hop. The "B" in B-boy stands for break, as in break-boy (or girl). The term "B-boy" originated from the dancers at DJ Kool Herc's parties, who saved their best dance moves for the break section of the song, getting in front of the audience to dance in a distinctive, frenetic style. According to the documentary film The Freshest Kids: A History of the B-Boy, DJ Kool Herc describes the "B" in B-boy as short for breaking which at the time was slang for "going off", also one of the original names for the dance. However, early on the dance was known as the "boiong" (the sound a spring makes). Breaking was briefly documented for release to a world wide audience for the first time in Style Wars, and was later given a little more focus in the fictional film Beat Street. Early acts include the Rock Steady Crew and New York City Breakers.

B-boying is one of the major elements of hip hop culture, commonly associated with, but distinct from, "", "", "hitting", "ticking", "", and other funk styles that evolved independently during the late 1960s in California. It was common during the 1980s to see a group of people with a radio on a playground, basketball court, or sidewalk performing a B-boy show for a large audience.[citation needed]

[edit] Beatboxing

Beatboxing, popularized by Doug E. Fresh, is the vocal percussion of hip hop culture. It is primarily concerned with the art of creating beats, rhythms, and melodies using the human mouth. The term beatboxing is derived from the mimicry of the first generation of drum machines, then known as beatboxes. As it is a way of creating hip-hop music, it can be categorized under the production element of hip-hop, though it does sometimes include a type of rapping intersected with the human-created beat.

The art form enjoyed a strong presence in the '80s with artists like the Darren "Buffy, the Human Beat Box" Robinson of the Fat Boys and Biz Markie showing their beatboxing skills. Beatboxing declined in popularity along with break dancing in the late '80s, and almost slipped even deeper than the underground. Beatboxing has been enjoying a resurgence since the late '90s, marked by the release of "Make the Music 2000." by of The Roots (known for even singing while beatboxing).

As it grew and developed into a multi-billion dollar industry, the scope of hip hop culture grew beyond the boundaries of its traditional four elements.[citation needed] KRS-ONE, a rapper from the golden age of hip hop, names nine elements of hip hop culture: the traditional four and beatboxing, plus hip hop fashion, hip hop slang, street knowledge, and street entrepreneurship. He also suggests that hip hop is a cultural movement and that the word itself had to reflect this.[citation needed] He spells it Hiphop (one word, capital "h") and this is reflected in his Temple of Hiphop. [edit] Social impact

[edit] Effects

Street B-boying in San Francisco, California

Hip hop has made considerable social impacts since its inception in the 1970s. Orlando Patterson, a sociology professor at Harvard University helps describe the phenomenon of how hip hop spread rapidly around the world and diffusion of Global. Professor Patterson argues that mass communication is controlled by the wealthy, government, and businesses in Third World nations and countries around the world.[52] Professor Patterson believes that mass communication created a global cultural hip hop scene. As a result, the youth absorb and are influenced by the American hip hop scene and start their own form of hip hop. Professor Patterson believes that revitalization of hip hop music will occur around the world as traditional values are mixed with American hip hop musical forms,[52] and ultimately a global exchange process will develop that brings youth around the world to listen to a common musical form known as hip hop. It has also been argued that rap music formed as a "cultural response to historic oppression and racism, a system for communication among black communities throughout the United States"[53]. This is due to the fact that the culture reflected the social, economic and political realities of the disenfranchised youth. [54].

[edit] Language Hip hop has a distinctive slang [55] . Due to hip hop's commercial success in the late nineties and early 21st century, many of these words have been assimilated into many different dialects across America and the world and even to non-hip hop fans (the word dis for example is remarkably prolific). There are also words like homie which predate hip hop but are often associated with it.

Sometimes, terms like what the dilly, yo are popularized by a single song (in this case, "Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Could See" by Busta Rhymes) and are only used briefly. Of special importance is the rule-based slang of Snoop Dogg and E-40, who add -izz to the middle of words so that shit becomes shizznit (the addition of the n occurs occasionally as well). This practice, with origins in Frankie Smith's nonsensical language from his 1980 single "", has spread to even non-hip hop fans, who may be unaware of its derivation. As a genre of music popular all over the world, World hip hop, in which African- American English is not the dialect used, is as prevalent as ever.

[edit] Censorship

A graffiti artist uses his artwork to make a satirical social statement on censorship: "Don't blame yourself... blame hip-hop."

Hip hop has probably encountered more problems with censorship than any other form of popular music in recent years, due to the frequency of expletives used in lyrics.[citation needed] It also receives flak for being anti-establishment, and many of its songs depict wars and coup d'états that in the end overthrow the government. For example, Public Enemy's "Gotta Give the Peeps What They Need" was edited without their permission, removing the words "free Mumia".[56]

After the attack on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, Oakland, California group The Coup was under fire for the cover art on their Party Music, which featured the group's two members holding a detonator as the Twin Towers exploded behind them. Ironically, this art was created months before the actual event. The group, having politically radical and Marxist lyrical content, said the cover meant to symbolize the destruction of capitalism. Their record label pulled the album until a new cover could be designed.

The use of profanity as well as graphic depictions of violence and sex creates challenges in the broadcast of such material both on television stations such as MTV, in music video form, and on radio. As a result, many hip hop recordings are broadcast in censored form, with offending language "bleeped" or blanked out of the soundtrack (though usually leaving the backing music intact), or even replaced with "clean" lyrics. The result – which sometimes renders the remaining lyrics unintelligible or contradictory to the original recording – has become almost as widely identified with the genre as any other aspect of the music, and has been parodied in films such as Austin Powers in Goldmember, in which Mike Myers' character Dr. Evil – performing in a parody of a hip hop music video ("Hard Knock Life" by Jay-Z) – performs an entire verse that is blanked out. In 1995 Roger Ebert wrote:[57]

Rap has a bad reputation in white circles, where many people believe it “ consists of obscene and violent anti-white and anti-female guttural. Some of it does. Most does not. Most white listeners don't care; they hear black voices in a litany of discontent, and tune out. Yet rap plays the same role today as did in 1960, giving voice to the hopes and angers of a generation, and a lot of rap is powerful writing. ”

In a way to circumvent broadcasting regulations BET has created a late-night segment called "Uncut" to air uncensored videos. Not only has this translated into greater sales for mainstream artists, it has also provided an outlet for undiscovered artists to grab the spotlight with graphic but low production quality videos, often made cheaply by non-professionals. Perhaps the most notorious video aired, which for many came to exemplify BET's program Uncut, was "Tip Drill" by Nelly. While no more explicit than other videos, its exploitative depiction of women, particularly of a man swiping a credit card between a stripper's buttocks, was seized upon by many social activists for condemnation. The segment was discontinued in mid 2006.

[edit] Product placement

Foodstuffs emblazoned with hip hop images

Critics such as Businessweek's David Kiley argue that the discussion of many products within hip hop music and culture may actually be the result of undisclosed product placement deals.[58] Such critics allege that shilling or product placement takes place in commercial rap music, and that lyrical references to products are actually paid endorsements.[58] In 2005, a proposed plan by McDonalds, which would have paid rappers to advertise McDonalds food in their music, was leaked to the press.[58] After Russell Simmons made a deal with Courvoisier to promote the brand among hip hop fans, Busta Rhymes recorded the song "Pass The Courvoisier".[58] Simmons insists that no money changed hands in the deal.[58]

The symbiotic relationship has also stretched to include car manufacturers, clothing designers and sneaker companies, and many other companies have used the hip-hop community to make their name or to give the credibility. One such beneficiary was Jacob the Jeweler, a diamond merchant from New York, Jacob Arabo's clientèle included , Lil Kim and Nas. He created jewelry pieces from precious metals that were heavily loaded with diamond and gemstones. As his name was mentioned in the song lyrics of his hip hop customers, his profile quickly rose. Arabo expanded his brand to include gem-encrusted watches that retail for hundreds of thousands of dollars, gaining so much attention that Cartier filed a trademark-infringement lawsuit against him for putting diamonds on the of their watches and reselling them without permission.[59] Arabo's profile increased steadily until his June, 2006 arrest by the FBI on money laundering charges.[60]

While some brands welcome the support of the hip-hop community, one brand that did not was Cristal champagne maker Louis Roederer. A 2006 article from The Economist magazine featured remarks from managing director Frederic Rouzaud about whether the brand's identification with rap stars could affect their company negatively. His answer was dismissive in tone: "That's a good question, but what can we do? We can't forbid people from buying it. I'm sure Dom Pérignon or Krug would be delighted to have their business." In retaliation, many hip hop icons such as Jay-Z and Sean Combs who previous included references to "Cris", ceased all mentions and purchases of the champagne.

[edit] Media

Hip-hop culture is intrinsically related to television; there have been a number of television shows devoted to or about hip-hop. For a long time, BET was the only television channel likely to play much hip hop, but in recent years the mainstream channels VH1 and MTV have added a significant amount of hip hop to their play list. With the emergence of the Internet a number of online sites have also begun to offer Hip Hop related video content.

Hip hop films have been related since hip-hop's conception and have become even more related in the 21st century. During the early 1990s, African-Americans experienced a film renassiance, sparked by the popularity of hood films, in-depth looks at urban life, focusing on violence, family, friends and hip-hop. There have also been a number of hip hop films, movies which focused on hip-hop as a subject.

Hip hop magazines have a large place in hip hop lifestyle, including Hip Hop Connection, XXL, Scratch, The Source and Vibe.[61] Many individual cities have produced their own local hip hop newsletters, while hip hop magazines with national distribution are found in a few other countries. The 21st century also ushered in the rise of online media, and hip hop fan sites now offer comprehensive hip hop coverage on a daily basis.

[edit] Diversification This section may need to be rewritten entirely to comply with Wikipedia's quality standards. You can help. The discussion page may contain suggestions. (March 2009)

Main articles: List of hip hop genres and World hip hop

B-Boy in Ljubljana, Slovenia.

Hip hop has spawned dozens of sub-genres which incorporate a domineering style of music production or rapping, and it exhibits elements of trifunctionalism.[citation needed]

Hip-Hop has now expanded and gone on a global scale, millions of are sold in foreign countries, some are not English speaking countries, yet people go out of their way and purchase these albums even thought they don’t understand the message the song carries, and manage to memorize the lyrics and sing along not knowing what they are saying. In foreign countries Hip-Hop has influenced natives to pursue rap careers and do what is being done in the United States such as following the trends, in their country. This is a product of globalization and it explains how popular culture can be interwoven with the everyday life of individuals that follow it, and how it can affect them in many ways.

Like jazz, hip-hop is one of the few musical genres that scholars see as entirely American. [citation needed] Here, it is important to note the varying social influences that affect hip-hop's message in different nations. Frequently a musical response to political and/or social injustices, the face of hip-hop varies greatly from nation to nation.

For example, in South Africa the largest form of hip hop is called , which has had a growth similar to American hip hop. Kwaito is a direct reflection of a post apartheid South Africa and is a voice for the voiceless; a term that U.S. hip hop is often referred to. Kwaito has become much more than just music, it has evolved into a lifestyle, encompassing all aspects of life including language and fashion.[62] The music of Kwaito is both politically and party driven. The politically fuelled music gives a voice to oppressed people that have no other way to voice their concerns and find music to be very accessible, not only to themselves but also to the audiences they are trying to reach. On the other hand the club driven music can also be seen as political in the sense that the artists couldn't care less about the post apartheid life they live and are more concerned about having a good time and not how their access to this life came about. Kwaito is a music that came from a once hated and oppressed people, but it is now sweeping the nation. The main consumers of Kwaito are adolescents and half of the South African population is under 21. Some of the large Kwaito artists have sold over 100,000 albums, and in an industry where 25,000 albums sold is considered a gold record, those are impressive numbers.[63] In the end Kwaito gives aspirations to the oppressed people of a post apartheid South Africa, where they now have a control over a very influence source of media, music.[64]

In Jamaica the sounds of hip hop are derived from American and Jamaican influences. Jamaican hip hop is defined both through dancehall and Reggae music. Jamaican Kool Herc brought the sound systems, technology, and techniques of Reggae music to New York during the 1970s. Jamaican hip hop artists often rap in both Brooklyn and Jamaican accents. Jamaican hip hop subject matter is often influenced by outside and internal forces. Outside forces such as the bling-bling era of today's modern hip hop and internal influences coming from the use of anti colonialism and marijuana or "Ganja" references which Rastafarians believe bring them closer to God.[65][66][67]

Author Wayne Marshall argues that "Hip hop, as with any number of African-American cultural forms before it, offers a range of compelling and contradictory significations to Jamaican artist and audiences. From "modern blackness" to foreign mind", transnational cosmopolitanism to militant pan-Africanism, radical remixology to outright mimicry, hip-hop in Jamaica embodies the myriad ways that Jamaicans embrace, reject, and incorporate foreign yet familiar forms."[68]

In the developing world hip hop has made a considerable impact in the social context. Despite the lack of resources, hip hop has made considerable inroads.[40] Because funds are limited, hip hop artists are forced to use very basic tools, and even graffiti, an important aspect of the hip hop culture, is constrained because it is not available to the average person. Many hip hop artists that make it out of the developing world come to places like the United States in search of an identity and place that fits them specifically. Maya Arulpragasm is a Sri Lankan born hip hop artist in this situation. She claims, "I'm just trying to build some sort of bridge, I'm trying to create a third place, somewhere in between the developed world and the developing world."[69] [edit] Legacy

Having its roots from reggae, disco, funk, hip hop has since exponentially expanded into a widely accepted form of representation world wide. It expansion includes events like Afrika Bambaataa releasing "Planet Rock" in 1982 which tried to establish a more global harmony in hip hop. In the 1990s MC Solaar became an international hit that was not from America, the first of his kind. From the 80s onward, television became the major source of widespread outsourcing of hip hop to the global world. From Yo! MTV Raps (a television show that was shown in many countries) to Public Enemy's world tour, hip hop spread further to Latin America and became highly mainstream. Ranging from countries like France, Spain, England, the US and many many other countries world wide, voices want to be heard, and hip hop allows them to do so. As such, hip hop has been cut mixed and changed to the areas that adapt to it.[39][70][unreliable source?]

Early hip hop has often been credited with helping to reduce inner-city gang violence by replacing physical violence with hip hop battles of dance and artwork. However, with the emergence of commercial and crime-related rap during the early 1990s, an emphasis on violence was incorporated, with many rappers boasting about drugs, weapons, misogyny, and violence. While hip hop music now appeals to a broader demographic, media critics argue that socially and politically conscious hip hop has long been disregarded by mainstream America in favor of its media-baiting sibling, gangsta rap.[71]

Many artists are now considered to be alternative/ when they attempt to reflect what they believe to be the original elements of the culture. Artists/groups such as , Talib Kweli, Mos Def, Dilated Peoples, dead prez, Blackalicious, Jurassic 5, and newly added Ghana Force may emphasize messages of verbal skill, unity, or activism instead of messages of violence, material wealth, and misogyny.

Authenticity is often a serious debate within hip hop culture. Dating back to its origins in the 1970s in the Bronx, hip hop revolved around a culture of protest and freedom of expression in the wake of oppression. As hip hop has become less of an underground culture, it is subject to debate whether or not the spirit of hip hop is embodied in protest, or whether it can evolve to exist in a marketable integrated version. In "Authenticity Within Hip-Hop and Other Cultures Threatened with Assimilation," Commentator Kembrew McLeod argues that hip hop culture is actually threatened with assimilation by a larger, mainstream culture.[72] In support of this position, editors of magazines such as the Village Voice have said that hip hop is slowly losing its edge due to the genre's involvement in the mainstream, hyper-capitalist world.[not in citation given] Believing that hip hop should be utilized as a voice for social justice, Tate points out that in the marketable version of hip hop, there isn't a role for this evolved genre in context of the original theme hip hop originated from (freedom from oppression). The problem with Black progressive political organizing isn't that hip hop, but that the No. 1 issue on the table needs to be poverty, and nobody knows how to make poverty sexy.[73] Tate discusses how the dynamic of progressive Black politics cannot apply to the genre of hip hop in the current state today due to the genre's heavy involvement in the market. In his article he discusses Hip Hop's 30th birthday and its evolution has been a devolution due to its capitalistic endeavors. Both Tate and McLeod argue that hip hop has lost its authenticity due to its losing sight of the revolutionary theme and humble "folksy" beginnings the music originated from. "This is the first time artists from around the world will be performing in an international context. The ones that are coming are considered to be the key members of the contemporary underground hip-hop movement." This is how the music landscape has broadened around the world over the last ten years. The maturation of Hip Hop has gotten older with the genres age, but the initial reasoning of why Hip Hop has started will always be intact. Expression and oppression will always be at the root of any Hip Hop movement.

Though born in the United States, the reach of hip hop is global. Youth culture and opinion is meted out in both Israeli hip hop and Palestinian hip hop, while France, Germany, the U.K., Africa and the Caribbean have long-established hip hop followings. According to the U.S. Department of State, hip hop is "now the center of a mega music and fashion industry around the world", that crosses social barriers and cuts across racial lines.[29] National Geographic recognizes hip hop as "the world's favorite youth culture" in which "just about every country on the planet seems to have developed its own local rap scene."[30] [edit] See also

Hip hop portal • Rapping • Hip hop dance

• List of hip hop albums

• List of hip hop genres [edit] Notes

1. ^ Campbell & Chang 2005, p. ??. 2. ^ Castillo-Garstow, Melissa (2008-03-01). "Latinos in hip hop to reggaeton". Latin Beat Magazine. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0FXV/is_2_15/ai_n13557237. Retrieved on 2008-07-28.

3. ^ Forman, Murray “Review: No Sleep ‘Til Brooklyn”, American Quarterly Volume 54, 2002. pp.101-127

4. ^ Rosen, Jody (2006-02-12). "A Rolling Shout-Out to Hip-Hop History". The New York Times: p. 32. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/12/arts/music/12rose.html? pagewanted=3. Retrieved on 2009-03-10.

5. ^ http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?l=h&p=8

6. ^ a b Keith Cowboy - The Real Mc Coy

7. ^ Zulu Nation: History of Hip-Hop

8. ^ http://www.zulunation.com/hip_hop_history2.htm (cached)

9. ^ http://www.stantondj.com/v2/cartridge/artists_herc.php

10. ^ Campbell & Chang 2005, p. ??.

11. ^ Lee, Jennifer 8. (2008-01-15). "Tenants Might Buy Birthplace of Hip-Hop" (weblog). The New York Times. http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/01/15/tenants-might-buy-the- birthplace-of-hip-hop/. Retrieved on 2009-03-10.

12. ^ Kenner, Rob. "Dancehall," In The Vibe History of Hip-hop, ed. Alan Light, 350-7. New York: Three Rivers Press, 1999.

13.^ a b "The Story of Rapper's Delight by Nile Rodgers". RapProject.tv. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-SCGNOieBI&feature=related. Retrieved on 2008-10-12.

14. ^ Kool Herc, in Israel (director), The Freshest Kids: A History of the B-Boy, QD3, 2002.

15. ^ History of Hip Hop - Written by Davey D

16. ^ Article about MelleMel (Melle Mel) at AllHipHop.com

17. ^ Forman M; Neal M “That’s the joint! The hip-hop studies reader”, Routledge, 2004. p.2 18. ^ SamplesDB - Afrika Bambaataa's Track

19. ^ Rose 1994, p. 192.

20. ^ http://www.prefixmag.com/features/grandmaster-flash/interview/26354/

21. ^ Rose 1994, pp. 53-55.

22. ^ http://www.jamaicans.com/news/announcements/IRAWMAdougefresh.shtm l

23. ^ Chang 2007, p. 61.

24.^ a b c Chang 2007, p. 62.

25. ^ metro

26.^ a b Pareles, Jon (2007-03-13). "The Message From Last Night: Hip-Hop is Rock 'n' Roll, and the Hall of Fame Likes It". The New York Times: p. 3. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/13/arts/music/13hall.html. Retrieved on 2009-03-10.

27.^ a b c d Diawara 1998, pp. 237-76.

28. ^ Media coverage of the Hip-Hop Culture - By Brendan Butler, Ethics In Journalism, Miami University Department of English

29.^ a b Hip-Hop Culture Crosses Social Barriers - US Department of State

30.^ a b Hip Hop: National Geographic World Music

31. ^ CNN.com - WorldBeat - Hip-hop music goes global - January 15, 2001

32. ^ village voice > music > Rock&Roll&: Planet Rock by

33. ^ The Commodification of Hip Hop, Brooke Daniel and Kellon Innocent, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LiCo_uUD2SY

34. ^ Rap Criticism Grows Within Own Community, Debate Rages Over It's Effect On Society As It Struggles With Alarming Sales Decline - The ShowBuzz

35. ^ Diawara 1998, p. 238.

36. ^ The Commodification of Hip Hop, Brooke Daniel and Kellon Innocent, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LiCo_uUD2SY

37.^ a b Tate, Greg. “Hip-hop Turns 30: Whatcha Celebratin’ For?” Village Voice. 4 January 2005.

38. ^ Christgau, Robert. "The World's Most Local Pop Music Goes International", The Village Voice, 7 May 2002. Retrieved on 16 Apr 2008.

39.^ a b c d Bond, Ebenezer (2004). "Review: Global Hip Hop: Beats and Rhymes-The Nu World Cult " . Afropop Worldwide. World Music Productions. http://www.afropop.org/explore/album_review/ID/2450/Global+Hip+Hop: +Beats+and+Rhymes-The+Nu+World+Cult. Retrieved on 2008-04-18. 40.^ a b Schwartz, Mark. "Planet Rock: Hip Hop Supa National" in Light 1999, pp. 361-72.

41.^ a b Hartwig Vens. “Hip-hop speaks to the reality of Israel”. WorldPress. 20 November 2003. 24 March 2008.

42. ^ Chang 2007, p. 65.

43.^ a b c Chang 2007, p. 60.

44. ^ Michael Wanguhu. Hip-Hop Colony [documentary film].

45. ^ Wayne Marshall, "Nu Whirl Music, Blogged in Translation?"

46. ^ Carroll, Rory; Schipani, Andres (2009-04-26). "Bolivia's 'little Indians' find voice". The Observer: p. 30. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/apr/26/bolivia-indigenous-groups- music. Retrieved on 2009-04-28.

47. ^ Oxford English Dictionary

48. ^ [1] Ankeny, Jason, Allmusic.com profile of Last Poets; URL accessed February 01, 2007

49.^ a b c Shapiro 2007.

50. ^ "A History of Graffiti in Its Own Words". New York Magazine. unknown. http://nymag.com/guides/summer/17406/.

51. ^ David Toop, Rap Attack, 3rd ed., London: Serpent's Tail, 2000.

52.^ a b Patterson, Orlando. "Global Culture and the American Cosmos." The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts Paper Number 21994 01Feb2008 .

53. ^ http://www.america.gov/st/arts- english/2008/August/20080814205112eaifas0.7286246.html

54. ^ Alridge D, Steward J. “Introduction: Hip Hop in History: Past, Present, and Future”, Journal of African American History 2005. pp.190

55. ^ http://www.csupomona.edu/~rrreese/HIPHOP.HTML

56. ^ Evan Serpick (July 9, 2006). "MTV: Play It Again". Entertainment Weekly. http://www.ew.com/ew/article/commentary/0,6115,386104_3%7C16756% 7C%7C0_0_,00.html.

57. ^ Roger Ebert (August 11, 1995). "Reviews: Dangerous Minds". Chicago Sun-Times. http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article? AID=/19950811/REVIEWS/508110301/1023.

58.^ a b c d e Kiley, David. Hip Hop Two-Step Over Product Placement BusinessWeek Online, April 6, 2005, accessed January 5, 2007

59. ^ Williams, Corey (2006-11-01). "'Jacob the Jeweler' pleads guilty". Associated Press. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071101/ap_en_ot/people_jacob_jeweler. Retrieved on 2007-11-01. 60. ^ Sales, Nancy Jo (2007-10-31). "Is Hip-Hop's Jeweler on the Rocks?". [[Vanity Fair (magazine)|]]. http://www.vanityfair.com/fame/features/2006/11/jacob200611? currentPage=1. Retrieved on 2008-04-14.

61. ^ Kitwana 2005, pp. 28-29.

62. ^ TIMEeurope Magazine | Viewpoint

63. ^ Kwaito: much more than music - SouthAfrica.info

64. ^ South African music after Apartheid: kwaito, the "party politic," and the appropriation of gold as a sign of success | Popular Music and Society | Find Articles at BNET.com

65. ^ Bling-bling for Rastafari: How Jamaicans deal with hip-hop by Wayne Marshall

66. ^ http://https://moodle.brandeis.edu/file.php/3404/pdfs/marshall-bling- bling.pdf/

67. ^ Reggae Music 101 - Learn More About Reggae Music - History of Reggae

68. ^ Marshall, Wayne Bling-Bling ForRastafari: How Jamaicans Deal With Hip- HopSocial and Economic Studies 55:1&2 (2006):49-74

69. ^ Sisario, Ben (2007-08-19). "An Itinerant Refugee in a Hip-Hop World". The New York Times: p. 20. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/19/arts/music/19sisa.html. Retrieved on 2009-01-07.

70. ^ Watkins, S. Craig. "Why Hip-Hop Is Like No Other" in Chang 2007, p. 63.

71. ^ template

72. ^ McLeod 1999.

73. ^ Tate, Greg. "Hip-hop Turns 30: Whatcha Celebratin’ For?" Village Voice. 4 January 2005. [edit] References

• Ahearn, Charlie ; Fricke, Jim, eds (2002). Yes Yes Y'All: The Experience Music Project Oral History of Hip Hop's First Decade. New York City, NY: Da Capo Press. ISBN 0306811847. • Campbell, Clive ; Chang, Jeff (2005). Can't Stop Won't Stop: A History of the Hip-Hop Generation. New York City, NY: Picador. ISBN 0312425791.

• Chang, Jeff (November-December 2007), "It's a Hip-hop World", Foreign Policy (163): 58-65, ISSN 0015-7228, http://www.foreignpolicy.com/story/cms.php?story_id=3994, retrieved on 2009-03-10

• Corvino, Daniel; Livernoche, Shawn (2000). A Brief History of Rhyme and Bass: Growing Up With Hip Hop. Tinicum, PA: Xlibris Corporation/The Lightning Source, Inc.. ISBN 1401028519. • Diawara, Manthia (1998). In Search of Africa. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. ISBN 0674446119.

• Gordon, Lewis R. (October-December 2005), "The Problem of Maturity in Hip Hop", Review of Education, Pedagogy and Cultural Studies 27 (4): 367- 389, doi:10.1080/10714410500339020, ISSN 1071-4413

• Kitwana, Bakari (2002). The Hip-Hop Generation: Young Blacks and the Crisis in African American Culture. New York City, NY: Perseus Books Group. ISBN 0465029795.

• Kitwana, Bakari (2005). Why White Kids Love Hip Hop: Wankstas, Wiggers, Wannabes and the New Reality of Race in America. New York City, NY: Basic Civitas Books. ISBN 0465037461.

• Kolbowski, Silvia (Winter 1998), "Homeboy Cosmopolitan", October (83): 51, ISSN 0162-2870

• Light, Alan , ed (1999). The VIBE History of Hip-Hop (1st ed.). New York City, NY: Three Rivers Press. ISBN 0609805037.

• McLeod, Kembrew (Autumn 1999), "Authenticity Within Hip-Hop and Other Cultures Threatened with Assimilation" (PDF 1448.9 KB), Journal of Communication (Washington, DC: International Communication Association) 49 (4): 134-150, ISSN 0021-9916, http://kembrew.com/documents/Publications-pdfs/McLeod- Authenticity.pdf, retrieved on 2009-03-10

• Nelson, George (2005). Hip-Hop America (2nd ed.). St. Louis, MO: Penguin Books. ISBN 0140280227.

• Ogbar, Jeffrey O. G. (2007). Hip-Hop Revolution: The Culture and Politics of Rap. Lawrence, KS: University Press of Kansas. ISBN 9780700615476.

• Ro, Ronin (2001). Bad Boy: The Influence of Sean "Puffy" Combs on the Music Industry. New York City, NY: Pocket Books. ISBN 0743428234.

• Rose, Tricia (1994). Black Noise: Rap Music and Black Culture in Contemporary America. Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press. ISBN 0819562750.

• Shapiro, Peter (2007). Rough Guide to Hip Hop (2nd ed.). London, UK: Rough Guides. ISBN 1843532638.

• Toop, David (1991). Rap Attack 2: African Rap to Global Hip Hop (2nd ed.). New York City, NY: Serpent's Tail. ISBN 1852422432. [edit] External links

• Hip hop at the Open Directory Project

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Transcending Poetry, Jazz, Rap & Hip Hop

Overview

Students of grades 11-12 explore poetry, jazz, rap and hip hop music and discover the common threads that run through the poetry and music, and how the themes and subject matter of the poetry and music reflect the lifestyle of the period. Students begin the lesson by examining various types of music and selected poems, and discussing the similarities and differences in the themes and how they reflect everyday lifestyles.

Following the introduction, students research the music to obtain a more in-depth knowledge of its history, pioneers in the field, and examples of artists. From this research students prepare a PowerPoint presentation of the information found. Students then read jazz poems and compare these to the lyrics of the music they researched.

A culminating activity provides an opportunity for students to write their own lyrics to a jazz, rap or hip hop selection and share their songs with the class. At the conclusion of the lesson, students complete a unit evaluation.

• Objectives • Estimated Time

• Materials Needed

• Teaching Procedure

• Assessment Recommendations

• Extension/Adaptation Ideas

• Recommended Resources

• Relevant National Standards

Objectives

Students will:

• describe the characteristics of poetry, jazz, rap and hip hop music; • compare and contrast the themes and lyrics of poetry, jazz, rap and hip hop music; and,

• analyze how poetry, jazz, hip hop and poetry reflect the culture of the time. Estimated Time

Ten 50-minute class sessions.

Materials Needed

Print Literature

• Selected Langston Hughes poems from The Weary Blues and Montage of A Dream Deferred. Specific poems include: "Railroad Avenue," "Mulatto," "Brass Spittoons," "The Cat and the Saxophone," "Jitney'," and "Closing Time."

(These poems can be found in many standard American Literature anthologies as well as the Complete Works of Langston Hughes or Selected Poems of Langston Hughes.)

Song Lyrics

• Duke Ellington's "Take The A Train" and "It Don't Mean A Thing" • Louis Armstrong's "Ain't Misbehavin'" and "Star Dust"

• Billie Holiday "Lady Sings The Blues" and "God Bless The Child"

• Grand Master Flash's "The Message"

• Run DMC's "It's Like That"

Video

• The PBS JAZZ documentary, Episodes Two ("The Gift") and Three ("Our Language")

Music

• Your choice of recorded examples of jazz, rap and hip-hop music.

Equipment & Technology

• Audio tape or CD player • VCR and television

• Computes with Internet access and word processing software

• Blank audio and video cassette tapes

• Optional: PowerPoint projection system or overhead and transparencies

• Optional: Scanner

General Supplies

• Markers • Newsprint

• Poster paper

• Flip chart Assessment Forms

• Rubric for Group Work & PowerPoint Presentation • Student Evaluation & Comprehension Assessment Form

• Original Lyrics & Presentation Rubric

• Unit Evaluation

Teaching Procedure

Session One

1. Play recorded examples of jazz, hip-hop and rap for the students and have them write down characteristics of each type of music or describe what they hear. See the Behind the Beat section of the JAZZ Web site for online audio files of jazz music. 2. Discuss the similarities and differences of each type and record their responses on newsprint or a chart. Include the subject and theme of the music. For example, the discussion might point out the answers to questions like:

o What was the message of the song?

o How was this message conveyed?

o To whom was the message directed?

o What words were used to convey the message?

o What does the message say about the everyday lifestyle of people?

o How were the messages similar or different?

3. Have students listen to recorded poetry or read a poem to the students. The PBS Fooling with Words Web site includes recorded poetry.

4. Discuss the theme and subject of the poetry, using questions similar to those asked about the music.

5. Discuss the similarities and differences between the poetry and the music. You might consider message, language, lifestyle of time, etc.

6. Tell students the objectives of the lesson. You might also introduce students to the vocabulary terms that will be referenced throughout the lesson.

Sessions Two and Three

1. In preparation for group PowerPoint presentations (or optional oral presentations), divide class into three groups (one each for hip-hop, jazz and rap) and have them research the following: o Definition of music

o Descriptions of music by individuals in that field

o History of music (including era it became popular, pioneers in the field, etc.)

o Find at least four pictures or images to include in your presentation

o Titles of the genre's popular songs o Examples of at least four pieces of music, giving the theme/message and how it reflects the culture of the time. Use this music as a part of your PowerPoint or oral presentation.

In addition to the resources on this Web site, see Recommended Resources below for more information.

2. Review the Rubric for Group Work & PowerPoint Presentation for the assignment. 3. If available, use I See The Rhythm by Toyomi Igus for students to find a description of jazz, rap and hip hop through poetry. The following poetic descriptions are available in this book: "A Tribute to the Jazz Women," "Jazz Beginnings," "BeBop," "Sounds of Swing," "," "Rap/Hip." Each one of these poetic descriptions comes with a painting that depicts the idea of the poem. These poetic expressions and paintings could be a warm-up for research.

For example, this excerpt from the poem "Rap/Hip" says:

"Don't-push-me-cause-I'm_close-to-the-edge! I see young rappers seek answers, speak truths, and reconnect to the Motherland."

This statement could be an introduction to rap and hip-hop and what the artists see as its purpose. If this book is not available, you might find descriptions of how various artists view each type of music. (See Recommended Resources below.)

Sessions Four And Five

Using the information gathered during sessions two and three, have students prepare a 10- to 15- minute PowerPoint presentation. (See Rubric for Group Work & PowerPoint Presentation.) If students do not have access to PowerPoint, they can create an oral presentation, using audio- visuals (CD's, tapes, videos, etc.). Have each student deliver a portion of the presentation.

Session Six

1. Have each group share its PowerPoint presentation. 2. Students will complete an evaluation and comprehension assessment after each of the three presentations. (See Student Evaluation & Comprehension Assessment Form.)

3. Discuss the presentations as a class.

Sessions Seven, Eight, and Nine

1. Give students a poem or several poems to read, such as the jazz poems of Langston Hughes. Suggestions are listed above under Materials Needed.

For example the poem "Railroad Avenue" depicts the recreational/leisure activities of a person living in that community, i.e. describing fish joints, pool rooms, music—the victrola and , playing numbers, lounging on corner, laughing, girl-watching, etc.

2. If available have students read Chapter Three, "Jazz, Jive & Jam," in Modern Critical Reviews: Langston Hughes, which deals with jazz poetry, or use it as a reference when discussing the themes.

Discuss the themes and subjects of these poems and how they relate to the lifestyle of the period.

3. View JAZZ Episode Two, the section titled, "New York," (00:59:30 - 01:03:55). Note especially the Langston Hughes quotation (01:03:00 - 01:03:55) regarding jazz music. Unlike the African-American middle class and other African-American intellectuals of the Renaissance, who preferred classical music and believed that "lowbrow" jazz music was vulgar and embarrassing to the race, Hughes recognized jazz as a unique, innovative art form that celebrated African-American life and culture. 4. Give students the lyrics to some representative examples of jazz, hip hop and rap music. (See the Materials section for printable examples.)

For further information on jazz, show students excerpts of JAZZ Episodes Two ("The Gift") and Three ("Our Language"), which give information on great jazz artists like Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong and Billie Holiday.

Discuss the themes and subjects of these songs and how they relate to the lifestyle of each historical period. Discuss the similarities and differences in the lyrics to the various types of music and to the poetry. For example, "God Bless The Child" could be used to discuss how the Harlem Renaissance was a period where people were motivated towards individual financial and social achievement.

5. As homework, have students select one of the types of music, a specific artist, and the lyrics to one song. Have them answer the questions: What is the theme or subject? When was it written? What does it say about the lifestyle of the period? 6. Ask students to create their own lyrics for a jazz, hip hop or rap piece. They should identify their theme or subject. These lyrics will be performed in class, using music where appropriate. (See Original Lyrics & Presentation Rubric.)

Session Ten

1. Share students' original compositions in class; encourage students to perform their songs, if possible. 2. Ask each student to complete a Unit Evaluation.

Assessment Suggestions

Refer to student assessment forms.

Extension/Adaptation Ideas

1. A modification of this lesson could be to use the recorded music of rap, jazz and hip-hop for warm-up. Play one of the types of music and have the students respond to the music in writing by answering questions such as what the music says about a particular community or culture, the theme, etc. This could be journal writing. You could have students share their responses with the class. 2. Research the life of an artist of one of the types of music: jazz, hip-hop, or rap. Do a written report or PowerPoint presentation. For the special needs student, do a pictorial report or PowerPoint presentation with captions that represent events in the life of the artist.

3. Write a report on selected jazz poems of Langston Hughes. Discuss the similarities of themes in the poems and how they reflect the lifestyle of the period.

4. Make collages of lyrics and musicians of rap, hip-hop and jazz, or a combination of the three. This could be used for younger children or special needs students.

5. Draw pictures of the leading artists in the field of rap, hip-hop or jazz. Use pictures to post in class or have an art show.

Recommended Resources

Web Sites

Duke Ellington's Washington http://www.pbs.org/ellingtonsdc/ Swingin' with the Duke http://www.pbs.org/wnet/gperf/ellington/

I hear America Singing (Langston Hughes) http://www.pbs.org/wnet/ihas/poet/hughes.html

Literature & Life http://www.pbs.org/ktca/litandlife/index.html

I'll Make Me A World http://www.pbs.org/immaw/

The Hip-Hop Phenomenon http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/entertainment/jan-june99/hiphop_2-24.html

Fooling with Words http://pbs.org/foolingwithwords/

Print Literature

African American Literature, Voices In Tradition, 1992.

Barksdale, Richard, (ed). Black Writers of America. New York: Macmillan, 1972.

Bloom, Harold, (ed). Modern Critical Views: Langston Hughes. New York: Chelesa House Press, 1989.

Giants of Jazz, Louis Armstrong Alexandria, VA: Time Life.

Goss, Linda & Marian E. Barnes, .

Igus, Toyomi, I see the rhythm. San Francisco, CA: Children's Book Press, 1998.

Lewis, David L., (Ed). The Portable Harlem Renaissance Reader. New York: Penguin Books, 1994.

Nelson, Havelock & Michael Gonzales. Bring The Noise: A Guide To Rap Music & Hip Hop Culture.

Selected Poems of Langston Hughes. New York: Vintage Books, 1990.

Wiltz, Teresa. "Taking The Rap Online And Off", Washington Post, Style Section, October 9, 2000.

Relevant National Standards

NCTE and IRA http://www.ncte.org/about/over/standards/110846.htm

• Students use a variety of technological and informational resources (libraries, databases, computer networks, video) to gather and synthesize information and to create and communicate knowledge. • Students read a wide range of literature from many periods in many genres to build an understanding of the many dimensions (philosophical, ethical, aesthetic) of human experience.

• Students use spoken, written and visual language to accomplish their own purposes (for learning, enjoyment, persuasion, and the exchange of information. • Students employ a wide range of strategies as they write and use different writing process elements appropriately to communicate with different audiences for a variety of purposes.

Mid-Continent Research for Education and Learning http://www.mcrel.org/standards-benchmarks/

• Students know the characteristics and uses of computer software programs. (Technology) • Students understand the relationship between music and history and culture. (Music)

About the Authors Judith Kelly, currently director of the D.C. Area Writing Project, taught middle school for 27 years in the District of Columbia Public School System. She was recently honored by the D.C. Council of Teachers of English.

Patricia Bradford, chairperson of the English Department at Charles Herbert Flowers High School in Prince Georges County, Maryland, was recently named Prince George's County Teacher of the Year.

Consentine Morgan, currently academic dean at Frank W. Ballou Senior High School in Washington, DC, has taught English for 28 years. She is one of the three 1999-2000 ACE-Intel Teacher Summer Institute grand prize winners for her lesson plan integrating technology into history and English language arts.