Hip Hop History

The Development of Hip-Hop and Rap throughout the Twentieth Century: The Outline Art. Throughout history, mankind has always expressed his emotions, ideas, and opinions in the form of art. Whether it be a caveman painting on the wall of his cave, or Galileo and his ceiling in the Sistine chapel, art has always existed in some form or another. But history’s greatest art and the geniuses behind it are all found in the past century right here in the U.S. of A. These masterpieces are classified as ‘hip-hop or ‘rap’ music. The internet defines hip-hop as ‘a popular style of music featuring rap with an electronic background’. But I define hip-hop as the perfect and glorious combination of elegant computer-generated rhythm and socially aware crafty
lyrics. And although large amounts of people see how crucial hip hop music is, it is largely controversial due to the… honesty of its messages.
Today im gonna teach you about the development of the genre, but as Dr.Dre and Ice Cube said in Gangsta Gangsta by N.W.A., “(Wait a minute, wait a minute, cut this s***)/{Man whatcha gonna do now?}/"What we're gonna do right here is go way back"/(How far you goin back?)/"Way back"”. As with all music, nobody knows for sure how exactly the genre got started or who was really responsible for this blessing onto the Earth. And like most musical developments, its development was gradual. But the first notable hip-hop music was first recognized in the 70’s when ‘block parties’ (a party for all the residents of a block or neighborhood, typically held on a closed-off city street.) became increasingly popular in New York City. Particularly among youth residing in The Bronx area. At block parties DJs played percussive breaks of popular songs using two turntables to extend the breaks. This is known as turntablism or DJing. One major factor in the advancement of hip-hop was the growing availability and affordability of sampling technology and drum machines. At the same time, rapping was also growing in notability among similar groups, explaining how hip-hop and rap were so easily and deeply intertwined. Notable artists at this time include DJ Kool Herc, Grandmaster Flash and The Furious Five, Fab Five Freddy, Marley Marl, Afrika Bambaataa, Kool Moe Dee, Kurtis Blow, Doug E. Fresh, Whodini, Warp 9, the Fat Boys, and Spoonie Gee. Although it definitely wasn’t the first hip-hop song, the song ‘Rapper’s Delight’ by The Sugarhill Gang in 1979 is widely regarded to be the first hip hop record to gain widespread popularity in the mainstream. (Press)
Although we see the birth of hip-hop in the 1970’s, the 1980’s is really when it starts to bloom and branch off into different categories.
(G) ‘New School Hip Hop’ is the second wave of hip hop music, originating around 1983-1984. Examples of this New School hip hop can be found in records of artist such as Run-D.M.C. and LL Cool J. The Golden age hip hop period was an innovative period between the mid-1980s and the early 1990s. A few examples of artists during this Golden Age were Juice Crew, Public Enemy, Eric B. & Rakim, Boogie Down Productions and KRS-One, EPMD, Slick Rick, Beastie Boys, Kool G Rap, Big Daddy Kane, Ultramagnetic MCs, De La Soul, and A Tribe Called Quest. One subgenre of hip hop, called Gangsta Rap, can be seen in art from musicians such as Schoolly D, N.W.A., Ice Cube, and the Geto Boys. These artists are often credited with founding the subgenre of Gangsta Rap. “These artists were known for mixing the political and social commentary of political rap with the criminal elements and crime stories found in gangsta rap.” (Lamont) Gangsta rap often focuses on the violent lifestyles and impoverished conditions of inner-city youths. Although Gangsta Rap is started back in the mid 1980’s, much of the music from this time is still deeply imbedded in today’s media. For example, N.W.A. is still largely popular among hip-hop/rap fans. There are many well-known and iconic songs by N.W.A., such as ‘**** Tha Police’, ‘Gangsta Gangsta’, ‘100 Miles and Runnin’’, and many more. The original N.W.A. was comprised of artists such as Arabian Prince, Dr.Dre, Eazy-E, and Ice Cube. They were later joined by DJ Yella and MC Ren. Arabian Prince left shortly before the release of their legendary album ‘Straight Outta Compton’ over royalty disputes. Ice Cube left in December of 1989. There is even a reference to this in the song ‘100 Mile and Runnin’, where it says “We started with five, but yo / One [Ice Cube] couldn't take it—So now it's four / Cuz the fifth couldn't
make it." (N.W.A.) In 1991 the group disbanded, although Eazy-E, Dr. Dre, Ice Cube and MC Ren would later become platinum-selling solo artists in the 1990s. Another division seen in hip-hop at the time was East Coast Hip Hop versus West Coast Hip Hop. With artists such as G-Funk reppin’ West Coast and Nas, Wu-Tang Clan, and the notorious Notorious B.I.G on the East Coast.
Hip-hop today is still one of the main forms of mainstream music in the world. Modern hip-hop can be seen influencing pop music, and vice versa. One example of this is Eminem (1999-?), whose cunning lyrics and counter-ego ‘Slim Shady’ range from crude social commentary to emotional accounts of his personal life. Although it seems Eminem has always had a wide variety of themes in his music, his art has become *slightly* less controversial and *slightly* more meaningful. Another example of a modern hip-hop success is the rapper Drake, whose latest album Views was released April 29, 2016, sold 852,000 copies in the first week it was released. (Caulfield) Kanye West, another extremely influential rapper, saw great success with his latest album ‘Life of Pablo’, which combined influences from hip-hop and gospel music. Other modern rappers/hip-hop artists you should check out include Kid Cudi, Chance The Rapper, Future, Desiigner, 50 Cent, Jay-Z, etc. Another change in hip-hop circa modern times is the arrival of major female hip-hop artists to the scene. Including Beyoncé, Nicki Minaj, Rihanna, etc. Iggy Azalea does not count as a rapper or really even as an artist.
Although hip-hop/rap remains highly controversial and widely disliked by certain groups of people because of its common explicity and so called ‘negative influences’, it is still one of the biggest musical developments and influences in our time, and continues to grow more influential and popular as time goes on.