Hip hop is a cultural movement which is said to have been developed in New York City in the early 1970s primarily among African Americans and Latin Americans. Although it was said to started then I think this is just maybe the first recorded evidence of hip hop making the first steps as a movement. I consider Hip hop's main elements to be MCing(Or Rapping), DJing, Graffiti Writing, Breakdancing, Beat-boxing, Hip hop fashion as well slang. The first recorded steps of Hip Hop began emerging in the Bronx since then lifestyle of hip hop culture has spread around the world.
DJ Clive "Kool Herc" Campbell is one of the innovators of the hip hop music culture, in the Bronx, after moving to New York at the age of thirteen. He created the blueprint that today all artist follow 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.
Herc said he and other Djs would tap into the power lines to connect their equipment and perform at places like public basketball courts and at 1520 Sedgwick Avenue, Bronx, New York, a historic building "Where Hip Hop Was Born".
If we fast forward a few years DJs such as Grand Wizard Theodore, Grandmaster Flash and Jazzy Jay refined and developed the use of breakbeats, including cutting and scratching. The earliest popular tunes were tracks like Kurtis Blow - The Breaks, The Sugar Hill Gang - Rappers Delight
In 1982 Melle Mel and Duke Bootee recorded "The Message" (officially credited to Grandmaster Flash and The Furious Five), a song that outshone the socially conscious statements of Run-DMC's "It's like That" and Public Enemy's "Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos"
Tony Tone, a member of the pioneering rap group the Cold Crush Brothers, noted that "Hip-hop saved a lot of lives." He believed that the hip hop culture was a way of people in minorities in America dealing with the hardships that life had dealt them. It became of turning negative things in to positive ones. Also the hip hop culture was an outlet way for youths to deal with violence and gang culture, MC Kid Lucky mentioned that "People used to break-dance against each other instead of fighting."
Hip Hope in its earlier days was on centered around violence and drugs in the earlier days maybe because at the this it wasn't as much as an issue compared to social issues. For example the track "The Message", which discussed the realities of life in the housing projects."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." Hip hop gave young African Americans a voice to let their issues be heard." Hip hop was and still is opposed by conservatives because I think it gives young blacks earlier on and now people of all races a chance for financial gain by voicing its opinions on the the events going on around the world.
In the 1990s an emphasis on violence was incorporated, with many rappers boasting about drugs, weapons, misogyny, and violence. This era of hip hop would be know as 'Gangsta Rap'.
N.W.A
N.W.A (Niggaz Wit Attitude) Were a group made up by members Eazy E, Dr Dre, Dj Yella, Ice Cube and Mc Ren. In 1988 NWA released their debut album Straight Outta Compton...If the world had been trying to keep gangsta rap under the radar this album was a shock to the system. N.W.A were much like Public Enemy in the way that they shocked the world with there lyrical content especially with tracks like 'Fuck The Police'. Milt Ahlerich, an assistant director of the FBI, sent a letter to Ruthless and its parent company Priority Records advising the rappers that "Advocating violence and assault is wrong and we in the law enforcement community take exception to such action." This letter can still be seen at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio. Policemen refused to provide security for the group's concerts, hurting their plans to tour. Nonetheless, the FBI's letter only served to draw more publicity to the group. Ice Cube left in early 1990 over royalty disputes;[1] having written 40% of the "Compton" album himself, he felt he was not getting a fair share of the money and profits....This was the beginning of the end for the NWA.
ICE-T
Ice-T released one of the seminal albums of the 1990s OG: Original Gangster in 1991. The group attracted a lot of media attention for the Cop Killer controversy.
His next album, Home Invasion, was postponed as a result of the controversy, and was finally released in 1993. While it contained gangsta elements, it was his most political album to date. After that, he left Warner Bros. Records. Ice-T's subsequent releases went back to straight gangsta-ism, but were never as popular as his earlier releases.
Deathrow and the G Funk Era
In 1992 Dr Dre released his 1st solo album on death row called "The Chronic" this album was the 1st step to dominance that the west coast took. Snoop Dogg's first album on the label was Doggy style and also had a massive impact on gangsta rap. In addition to these albums the singles "Nuthing But A G Thang" and "It was a Good Day" all were received world wide as classic Hip Hop tracks....
This is just the begging era of hip hop but its what moulded to day for the current artists, like Immortal Technique, Lil Wayne, Drake, Kanye West, Nas, Lupe Fiasco, 50 Cent, Eminem and so many more....Hip Hop is more than music to me, more than a form of art more than just a style. Hip hop is my life and has influenced me from a young boy to the man I am now and will continue to influence me for the rest of my life, Hip hop is something that I can always relate my life to no matter what is happening and for something as special like this to do this to me is truly memorable.
I've know hip hop and loved hip hop and will always love hip hop....
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