INTRODUCTION-
“Music is the key to your soul”.
How many times have a heard a song and you are suddenly transformed back to the place you first heard it or shared it with another person?. Music can stimulate the mind and help make us feel all the possible emotions that we experience in our lives. Everybody has their own kind of music genre(type) that they love, which is why it is special to us all in its unique ways. One such genre which created a passage for people to musically express their identity and experiences is Hip-Hop.
Hip-Hop is an art movement that was created by African Americans, Latino Americans, and Caribbean Americans in the Bronx, New York City. It comprises of 4 basic elements namely: DJing, MCing(rapping), B-Boying(dance) and writing. These elements have adapted and developed considerably such that it has merged with the local styles of the various countries it has reached and in turn created myriad and unique new art forms.
Hip-Hop is simultaneously an old and new phenomenon; the importance of sampling tracks and beats from older records to the art form means that much of the culture has revolved around the idea of updating classic recordings, attitudes, and experiences for modern audiences.
As people moved into the 2000s, with the rise of media platforms such as the Internet and streaming services like Spotify, the Hip-Hop culture transitioned from being a closed art form to the most mainstream genre of our time.
ORIGINS-
Hip-hop first began in the early 1970s as an underground urban culture. Historically speaking, it began in the ruins of a post-industrial and ravaged South Bronx, in New York, as a form of expression for the racially persecuted blacks and Latino's in the community.
It is said that the beats in early hip-hop music had used African or Latino percussion instruments, which were brought by these people when they immigrated to the United States. There is an interesting story that a budding Jamaican born DJ called DJ Clive “Kool Herc” Campbell, pioneered the use of ‘DJing percussion’ and helped kickstart hip-hop music. On August 11, 1973, DJ Kool Herc was the Dj at his sister’s back to school party. He extended the beat of a recording by using some percussion and mixed them, thus, the first hip-hop beats were born.
The 1980s saw many artists start making social statements through Hip-Hop. It also started incorporating B-boying(break dancing) into its music to reach a wider audience. The scene also opened up a new art form known as Graffiti art. What made graffiti art stand out from other forms was its dynamic nature. Buildings and walls become the artist’s canvas and spray paints were their paintbrush. During the 1980s, hip-hop embraced the creation of vocal percussion (making beats and rhythms using the human body) via beatboxing. Artists were now able to sing and imitate musical sounds using only their mouths, lips, tongue, voice.
THE 1990s –
The 1990s was considered the Golden age of hip-hop as it gave rise to 3 new styles- The hardcore rap of New York and The Gangsta rap, the G-funk of Los Angeles.
G-funk was characterized with the usage of keyboards, heavy bass, relaxed beats, electronic effects as well as harmonic progressions. Dr. Dre a famous producer and rapper was considered one of the pioneers of this style. One such famous song which personifies the essence of G-funk is “Still D.R.E”(Dr. Dre with Snoop Dogg).
Hardcore rap becomes successful with the introduction of New York’s Wu-Tang Clan. The songs had swinging hip hop beats with samples from martial arts movies. In 1994, a young rapper called Nas released an album called IIImatic. The Poetic rapping about his story and struggles made IIImatic one of Hip-Hop’s greatest albums. However, the poster boy of this form was the Legendary “The Notorious B.I.G. His unique flows (the rhythm of reciting the lines) and creative oration made him a crowd-pleaser. His greatest hits included “Hypnotize” and “Big Poppa”. Other famous rappers like Jay-z and 50 cent also began with this form.
Los Angeles gangsta rap was started by artists from Compton, one of La’s poorest neighborhoods, which was home to violent gangs like the bloods and crips. The crew ‘NWA’ was influential is releasing tracks like “You Played Yourself” which spoke about the dangers of drugs, crime, and dropping out of school. The poster boy of this form was 2Pac or Tupac Shakur. Considered as one of the most influential rappers of all time, he played a crucial role in educating the masses about the injustices his community faced as well as police brutality. His songs like “California Love” showed his lyrical and poetic prowess.
THE 21ST CENTURY-
Hip-Hop has become a major genre of popular music and had now pushed boundaries. It was no longer only performed by Black, Latino Americans. There was once a young shy teenager who lived in a poor neighborhood in Detroit. He won many local rapping competitions due to his natural flow as well as humor in his raps and he would read the dictionary every day to improve his rhyming and vocabulary. After struggling for years, he finally got a record deal. This boy was Eminem.
Now, many female rappers like Nicki Minaj has become influential figures in the hip-hop scene. The genre has moved to become more main-stream, thus garnering more audiences. This transition was initially hard for orthodox rappers, however seeing as to how much attention their music was now receiving by using music videos or even streaming and Downloading, these rappers finally made successful shifts. This transition also bridged the gap between pop and Hip-Hop thereby creating newer more enjoyable music for the masses. Some of these famous songs include: See you Again( Charlie Puth and Wiz Khalifa) and Empire State of mind(Alicia keys and Jay-z).
HIP-HOP’s ROLE IN SENDING A MESSAGE:
Hip-Hop has always been a way to express yourself and your problems. Initially, Hip-hop as an art form was scrutinized by the media and the general public for endorsing violence and bad temperament. As the form becomes more mainstream however, people are using hip-hop as a tool to educate the masses about prevalent issues and injustices. Lyrically genius rappers like Kendrick Lamar have taken it upon themselves to address issues like police Brutality, racial Inequality, lapses in infrastructure, and corruption by using subtle metaphors, double entendres to create subliminal messages.
CONCLUSION:
From the alleyways of the BRONX to the masses all around the world, Hip-Hop’s journey has enjoyed a glorious ride. The world is excited to see the music evolve and bring more exciting artists to the forefront.
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