Definition, History, and Facts of Hip-Hop - Term Paper Example

Name : xxxxxxxxxxx Institution : xxxxxxxxxxx Course : xxxxxxxxxxx Title : Hip Hop Music Tutor : xxxxxxxxxxx @2010 Hip hop Music Indtroduction Hip hop music is a musical genre which was formed alongside hip hop culture with characteristics of rapping, scratching, deejaying, sampling and beat boxing. The Origin of the name hip hop is attributed to Keith Cowboy. He worked with Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five as a rapper. In order to tease one of his friends who was freshly recruited in the U.S Army, he tried to mimic the cadence of the soldiers who are marching by reciting the words “hip/hop/hip/hop” rhythmically. He later applied this cadence in to some of his stage performances (George, 2005 p.45). Sooner other artist like the Sugar hill gang started using this term. Africa Bambaataa (a Zulu nation member) was the first artist to use the term in describing which subculture the music was belonging. The first newspaper to use this term was Steven Hager’s ‘The Village Voice’. Steven Hager later authored the history of hip hop in 1984.Hip-hop has risen from the underground state to a great style the world over, it has not only been popularized but also commercialized mostly by the people of United States. It has four pillars namely deejaying, rapping, graffiti arts and also break dancing. The pillars have been extended to include the fashion of hip hop, hip hop slang, beatboxing, street entrepreneurship and also street knowledge. Reasons for birth of hip hop The hip hop music was more important for the younger generation who tried to express to the older generation their concerns over the rejection of their values as well as needs but to no avail. Hip hop became a useful tool in confronting the older generation .Therefore hip hop emerged as the youth’s way of expressing their desires to be heard and seen. Hip hop became a handy tool for expression of opinions and feelings among the ignored people. Since the dominant disco music was mostly europeanized and watered down, the youths didn’t have much choice. In order to counteract the dominance of discos, different regions came up with different music for example the house music in Chicago, the GoGo music from the youths in Washington DC and also the emergence of funk. It was only through the production of hip hop music that the youths found a place in the entertainment circle to express what kind of music they truly needed. This was much opposed to the discos which didn’t allow for much freedom to express movement (Fricke, 2002 p.121-7). Hip hop was also birthed by the creation of awareness of civil rights especially among the blacks. The black radio deejays played an integral part in campaigning for human rights since the black folks were mostly dependent on radios as their preferred choice of communication since the language was most compatible with the blacks. The development stages of hip hop. Hip hop as a music of the majority traces its roots back to Bronx in New York city (1970’s) among the African Americans and some little influence from Latin Americans .Kool Herc was a Jamaican DJ who migrated to new York .he tried to blend his own Jamaican toasting method to the music in U.S thereby forming the a newer version which was later termed as rock. This was also associated with emergence of youth gangs’ gatherings for block parties. In the beginning hip hop played the role of unifying the minority races in New York hence creating harmony among the ethnic races. It came about as a result of the coming of Caribbean migrants hence bringing with them new musical influences , the blending of jazz poetry of the late 60’s and also the political cultures as well as the gang cultures of 1960’s to 70’s ( Chang, 2005 p.67-72). The gang cultures originated from the need for the different gangs whose number had swelled, to identify them with given groups, meaning they needed an identity to isolate them from other groups, hence they formed the art culture of painting the areas where they met using spray painting. The members of a given group also had different marks on the body from other members of different groups, for instance writings or drawings on their arms. Hip hop rose from block parties and reached the global recognition within a very short time. The artists as well as labels were producing hip hop independently, atleast for the first time, around mid eighties. It is also during this period that the Grand Master Flash and also Furious Five became globally recognised, through their first production ‘the message’. Hip hop saw another phase of evolution from the blending of both jazz music and the beats of the funk music that was combined with the percussion breaks. During this initial stage the DJs spun the music but had no controlling mechanism or any sophisticated equipment to transfer the songs from one to the next smoothly. So in order to change the song without interfering with the audience the MC would be called to entertain the audience while the records were being changed by the DJ.Due to these complications, the MCs started joking. Audience interaction was also part of the way of getting the audience entertained and occupied as the DJ was changing the songs. This led to the rise of short raps (mainly autobiographical), finally leading to the current rap music. The transitions in the hip hop took three main stages Early years (1970-1986) During this particular stage of development, there were a lot of block parties, the music was live, and also the rhymes were not complicated. The lyrics here were very simple and easy. The lyrics were dominant in the scenes of hip hop until the song of Grandmaster flash that was very contradictory (the message).the main type of hip hop here was the new school hip hop .It started from 1983 to 1984 with records of people like Run-D.M.C and LL Cool J. It originated from New York and was characterized by the minimalism of the drum machine and a little bit of rock. It was also known for taunting and rapping (Rose, 1994 p.89). The era of the golden age (1986-1993) This period of transition was characterized by New York lyrics that were highly politicized hence the west coast’s gangsta rap emergence. The artists from New York like KRS-One were very dominant in the scene with their lyrics that were not only highly rhythmic but also highly political. At a particular instance the infamous KRS-One brought controversy by turning the famous Malcolm-X image as standing next to a window, holding an M-1 assault rifle in to his image next to a window holding a Mack -10 automatic one which was frequently used by gang members and also for highway shootings. In 1980, hip hop was intensely diversified since the complex styles were developing. In this particular period there was increased diversity, influence, and also great inventions. The songs were of a better quality, with afro centric themes and political militancy. During this time the music had to undergo experimental as well as eclectic processes (Potter, 1995 p.61). The modern (current) era This was from 1993 to the present time. In this period the rappers from west coast have been dominant hence causing rivalry from the rappers from the east coast. The rivalry grew to be more intense when Biggie Smalls and Tupac Shakur died. There have been not only fresh sounds from both north as well as south of America, but also the significant growth of a number of hip hop artists all over the world. So far hip hop has evolved to great acceptance all over the world. In 2006, the last obstacle of hip hop was crossed when the hip hop artists won the elusive Oscar award for their best song “It’s Hard out Here for a Pimp.” Public enemy This was a more confrontational group that was mainly concerned with addressing social issues that were affecting the Afro-American ghettos. This caused a lot of controversy with people like Flavour Flav’s neck- wearing of the clock to symbolize that time was ready. It is also during this period that G-funk emerged. The sound was mainstreamed by the rap crews from west coast, the N.W.A, or niggas wit attitude, released a debut album (straight outta Compton). The type of hip hop that was most effective during this time was the gangsta rap. It reflected on the violence in the life styles of the inner-cities of America. This genre was pioneered by some rappers like Ice T and schooly D .It was commercially very lucrative and the lyrics from N.W.A were very shocking, openly confrontational, and also very violent than any other rap acts. Globalization of hip hop West coast hip hop In this kind of hip hop the rhymeschemes were more thoughtfully planned and properly sampled. The artists that used this include CL Smooth, MC Hammer, and also Too Short from Oakland. East coast hip hop It was produced in the 1990’s.This kind of hip hop tried to blend in better aspects in hip hop .The native tongues posse was the most dominant and which was slightly composed of De La Soul. The east coast and west coast rappers have always been rivals, mainly after the death of Tupac Shakur. Crunk and Snap music Crunk traces its origin from the north (1990’s), while snap is from Atlanta, Georgia (1990’s) In crunck, the style involved includes drum machine that has been looped and stripped down and accompanied with melodies that are repeated synthesized and simple .It is almost a party music. Snap is characterized by hi-hat, snapping, bass, a vocal track, and a main groove. Glitch hop and wonky music Glitch is a combination of glitch and hip hop originating in mid 2000 in Europe as well as United States. It is characterized by chaotic and irregular break beats and other glitch music’s sound effects. Wonky music on the other hand originated from all around the globe in 2008 due to the influence of glitch hop as well as dubstep.It is almost the same as glitch, except its notable melody which is rich in the midrange instability of the synths. World hip hop This is the genre that was from 1990-2000.this was characterized by assimilation of hip hop in to other popular music, for example the neo soul was a blend of hip hop and soul music. Another was the single of merentrap being the product of combination of hip hop and meringue. The city of New York was also hit by the heavy influence of the hip hop from Jamaica. It was brought about by the shifts in cultures in 1990 since the Jamaicans were immigrating to New York City. Some hip hop artists whose albums have been influenced by this include Black Star and De La Soul. Brazilian hip hop began in Sao Paulo in Brazil and turned out as the second greatest hip hop throughout the world, after the American hip hop. Its concerns were based on the issues of ethnicity and economy since the blacks had poor shelters and inadequate resources in the violent slums of Brazil known as Favelas. It spread very fast that every city in Brazil had hip hop scenes (Light, 1999 p.163-8). The hip hop culture The culture of the hip hop music had its origins from the various music cultures including tap culture, American and Latino culture, rock culture and jazz culture that were dominant. However, its dance culture is highly energetic. Its uniqueness results from the fact that its dancers are allowed to freely move hence adjusting according to their personalities. This culture is affected by four elements namely disc jockeys, MCs, breaker boys and girls and also graffiti. The first hip hop dance was the break dance. Reasons for Popularity Hip hop has grown very first from the use of simple techniques to characterised with slow growth in fan numbers to the current use of sophisticated techniques with a corresponding large number of fans. Popularity of hip hop was mostly due to the Black radio that tried to address the issues that the people from ghetto were going through. Most of the people from the ghetto relied on the radio for their information. Hip hop also gave the urban New York youths the opportunity to completely express themselves freely .It is also due to this that the rhyme games came about. The most important reason for its popularity was because anyone was able to access it even without money and other expensive resources .It was also an art form that didn’t require training in order to be performed, a person simply had to practice and improve on the perfection of his verbal skills anytime (Anthony, 2005 p.56-8) Another reason for its popularity was because it had great challenges and the rules were inexistent. What was required was only to be original and be able to rhyme with the music’s beat. That means one could basically sing about anything, as long as he was perceived good by other peers. The hip hop artists looked for fame and praises, just like the sports heroes, and tough guys sought for fame, hence being hip hop artists (Toop, 1991 p.205). The ability of individuals to fully use their personality both accurately as well as efficiently made the hip hop music more admired by many than any other type of music. That means it was very flexible for the different personality types. Hyperactive people were allowed to be fast, a laid back person could as well perform at lower pace. This trait is evident with people who always try to be faster but can’t be as fast as their colleagues since it is hard to imitate another person’s style. Since hip-hop is flexible ,it enjoys a lot of backing from different aspiring artists,hence making it the most popular type of music in the world.Since it is able to provide an individual with the attention the person needs from the peers, it draws more attention seeking artists and fans. Hip-hop has also created a belief in many people that a better life can be simply got by jotting down some words,reciting them and going to the producers for recording of your music.This is simply because it is not complicated in any way.Many people attempt to be hip-hop artists hence making it popular (Perry, 2004 p. 2). Hip hop has also been used by many to reflect on their personal lives and the challenges they are going through ,since hip hop sometimes has emotional attachments in some people.These people make it even more popular.Some people always seek for the way to counteract the harshness of the situations they are going through by listening to hip-hop. Conclusion Hip hop as a genre of music has experienced a lot transitions in techniques in order to attain the desired effects hence satisfaction to the.It has been accepted all over the world due to its culture that is associated with freedom of expression.Hip hop has widely expanded all over the world right from its origin,America,to all the continents of the world.hip hop is a musical genre that other musical genres cannot march in terms of popularity. Bibliography Toop , D., 1991, Rap Attack II: African Rap to Global Hip Hop, Serpent's Tail, New York. Anthony, M., 2005, Thats the joint!hip hop studies, Routledge, New York. orvino, D., 2000, A Brief History of Rhyme and Bass: Growing Up With Hip Hop, The Lightning Source, Inc., Tinicum, PA. Chang,Jeff.,2005,Cant stop wont stop:a history of the hip hop generation,Picador, New York. Rose, T.,1994, "Black Noise",Wesleyan University Press, Middletown, Connecticut. Potter, R., 1995 ,Spectacular Vernaculars: Hip-Hop and the Politics of Postmodernism, SUNY PressAlbany. Light, A., 1999 ,The VIBE History of Hip-Hop, Three Rivers Press ,New York. George, N., 2005, Hip-Hop America, Penguin Books, New York. Fricke, J.,2002, Yes Yes Y'All: The Experience Music Project Oral History of Hip Hop's First Decade,Da Capo Press,New York. Perry,I.,2004,Prophets of the hood:politics and poetics in hip hop,Duke university press,durham, North Carolina Read More