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The Foundation
Hip-hop is a global phenomenon that permeates the fabric of society. However, it had a long and arduous history before becoming mainstream. Hip-hop is based on overcoming hardship. Disco was the premonition of hip hop in the 1960s, a music genre that took everyone by the craze. The Bronx experienced devastating fires, poverty, and crime. Hip-hop came to be out of the turmoil. Kool Herc is the founder DJ of hip-hop who was throwing parties in the Bronx that attracted the young kids. The sounds and music were different. Herc took the funk music and broke it down into basic beats. The beat was extended through a technique called merry-go-round. The bass was emphasized to create an atmosphere.
Afrika Bambaataa helped to unite the street gangs and spread the style throughout the Bronx. Hip-hop music was a release and cultural pride. Meanwhile, Grandmaster Flash perfected the technique of seamless transition between records through mixing and scratching with turntables. Rap formed from a rich culture of song, poetry, and speaking styles of the African-American culture. DJ Hollywood considered the first rhythmic rapper of the era. He brought emotion and crowd interaction to music performances. However, it divided the hip-hop community between club music and low end. Club DJs were still oriented around disco, while hip-hop at its core was about breaks and beats.
DJ Flash formed a group of MCs known as the Furious Five that rapped over breakbeats. Elevated hip-hop music to a level of concert performance rather than underground parties. The focus switched in hip-hop from DJs to rappers ( The Foundation ). Hip-hop is a unique combination of various music and poetic styles. The culture was formed from social and political influences that overtook the Bronx.
From the Underground to the Mainstream
The Furious Five became successful and began to tour, inspiring a generation. However, touring was expensive, which limited what artists could do. After a massive blackout in New York City resulted in widespread looting, sound equipment became more available in the Bronx underground. This led to the formation of groups as MCs now had appropriate equipment. The competition resulted in group rivalry but also increased the quality and creativity of hip-hop music. The performances sought to involve the crowd and focused on showmanship. Eventually, people began to focus on the words in the music rather than performance. Artists such as Grandmaster Caz began to write poetic lyrics, forming the common stereotype of rappers jotting down lines in a notebook. The lyrics became the core of the message of rap.
Hip-hop was finally put on vinyl records in 1979. The Sugarhill Gang recorded the first hip-hop record with the famous Rappers Delight. It was more than an underground release but an actual worldwide hit. However, most original founders of hip-hop thought the song was misrepresentative of the culture in addition to taking credit for starting it. The song became so popular that everyone thought they could rap.
In attempts to preserve the core culture and message of hip-hop, Bambaataa called to bring the music from the Bronx to Manhattan. This gave access to the crowds, particularly affluent whites. It captured attention as a wild alternative to a disco. At this point, hip-hop established the philosophy that there are no boundaries, and every hip-hop song is supposed to sample from someone you would not expect ( From the Underground to the Mainstream ). Hip-hop began to evolve, including electrofunk styles but still encompassed the core breaks and beats of the music. Technology allowed for further experimentation with rhythm and synthesizers. The overall production style changed as hip-pop became mainstream.
Socio-economic hardships and the crack epidemic in the Bronx inspired rappers to write lyrics with a social message. The Furious Five wrote a hit The Message that is the first critically acclaimed hip-hop hit. The music became a method to inspire and tell a story of urban America through the lyrics. It shifted the paradigm of the cultural depth and the voice available to rappers.
The New Guard
Russel Simmons and Kurtis Blow created a hit Christmas Rap which was a pop hit. That gave them a platform to bring the core hip-hop to a new crowd. The Run-DMC duo dramatically simplified beats and focused on lyrics. It was different from the heavily edited commercial music but related to the underground foundations of hip-hop. Once again, the rhythm became the central part of the music as strong beats and scratching were introduced behind the lyrics. Run-DMC began to commercialize hip-hop through style and apparel. The song My Adidas resulted in the first endorsement deal of a non-athletic entity by a sports company.
Simmons and Rick Rubin created a recording company Def Jam which focused on making hip-hop fully mainstream. Def Jam began to combine rap and rock as a style. They sampled an Aerosmith song and rapped over it creating the hip-hop hit Walk this Way. It created another wave of popularity. This was the point when hip-hop crossed a line and started to become a worldwide identity.
A new technique was invented by Marley Marl by taking kicks and snares from samples of music and restyling it with unique sound by breaking the drum beats. It no longer used the standard repetitive drum machine samples. It redefined the style of how hip-hop was made. It inspired a new generation of MCs that combined creative music and concise lyrics ( The New Guard ). It perfected the best elements of hip-hop and added complexity and flow necessary for professional records. Hip-hop began to emphasize the message of racism and resistance against the establishment. It was a political message against the discrimination and abuse against African-Americans.
The Birth of Gangsta Rap
Hip-hop created a culture that gave a platform and a voice to urban blacks around the US. Los Angeles and the West Coast had different music and social history. Hip-hop focused on parties and entertainment and distinct techno influence. The focus was on DJs and their music rather than lyrical rap. Gang violence and drug dealing were overtaking society. That context became central to hip-hop with lyrics highlighting the violence of streets from a first-person perspective. It was graphic and unprecedented. This became the foundation of gangster rap. The cocaine epidemic fueled gang violence, and the situation in urban neighborhoods deteriorated.
The N.W.A. was formed by Dr. Dre along with prominent local MCs. They sought to create a record of the realities of gangster violence in Los Angeles. Using their direct experience, the N.W.A. was able to create a unique sound with quality music and relevant lyrics. They represented the feelings of urban Los Angeles, highlighting the social message of poverty and police brutality. There was a social outcry as people thought that the songs encouraged violence and gangster violence. The lyrics established a direct challenge to the establishment which resulted in attempts of censure and police brutality. Hip-hop acquired a bad reputation in white suburban America. As the social crisis was deteriorating as the urban community clashed with the police and the racist establishment, the song became a social anthem.
Afterward, hip-hop transformed into a more relaxed g-funk style to entertain rather than emphasize social issues. Dr. Dre began creating music that used original beats and melodies rather than samples. Hip-hop transformed into a mainstream pop music phenomenon. Hip-hop doesnt influence the mainstream, it is mainstream ( The Birth of Gangsta Rap ).
Works Cited
From the Underground to the Mainstream. Hip-Hop Evolution. Dir. Darby Wheeler. HBO Canada, 2016. Netflix.
The Birth of Gangsta Rap. Hip-Hop Evolution. Dir. Darby Wheeler. HBO Canada, 2016. Netflix.
The Foundation. Hip-Hop Evolution. Dir. Darby Wheeler. HBO Canada, 2016. Netflix.
The New Guard. Hip-Hop Evolution. Dir. Darby Wheeler. HBO Canada, 2016. Netflix.
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