Brief Outline of Music Genre: Hip Hop

Hip-hop is a cultural movement that exploded in the early 1970s in the Bronx, New York. It draws
upon the dance, poetry, visual art, social and political legacy of African, African American,
Caribbean and Latino immigrant communities in the United States. Hip-hop began as an
independent, non-commercial musical and cultural form of expression. Nobody thought it would
ever make money. Rather, it was about enjoyment—or “rocking the party.”


Alternative Hip-Hop vs. Commercial Rap“Rap” is a term often used interchangeably with “hip-hop.” However, the term “rap” has a more
commercial overtone and is more often used to describe hip-hop music released and promoted by
major record labels and aired on commercial radio stations and Internet sites. Many artists,
especially those who are critical of mainstream rap, have preferred that the term ”hip-hop” be used
to describe the musical genre, with “rap” used as a verb for the act of singing, “spitting” or speaking
hip-hop lyrics or with an adjective such as mainstream, underground, conscious or alternative
placed in front of it.
• Mainstream and Commercial Rap
In the last 10 years, the record industry has consolidated from over 20 major labels to five.
Mainstream rap or hip-hop is that which is recorded on—or crafted to sound like it is recorded
on—one of the five major labels (Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment, EMI
Group, Warner Brothers Music and BMG Entertainment). Gangster rap came into prominence
at the beginning of the industry consolidation as its use of violent, sexual and consumerist
themes proved highly marketable. Generally speaking, commercial rap has a highly produced
pop sound and more frequently contains violent, sexist, consumerist and homophobic
metaphors.
• Alternative, Independent, Conscious and Underground Hip-Hop
Alternative, independent, conscious and underground hip-hop describe recordings done on a
smaller scale with an independent label or in one’s own studio. This music prioritizes artistry
and content over commercial viability and crossover appeal. Conscious hip-hop is a subset of
the musical genre that explores social themes relevant to young people as a distinct
community, not just as individuals, such as: policing, poverty, militarism, reparations, the
representation of women, homophobia, among others subjects. The first record labels to
record and mass-produce hip-hop albums were small and black-owned.




The Four Elements of Hip-Hop

• MCing or Rapping: Stemming from the initials for “Master of Ceremonies,” rapping is the art
of saying rhymes to the beat of music. It draws its roots from the Jamaican art form known as
toasting. The influences of present day rap can be traced to artists like James Brown, The
Last Poets and Gil Scott Heron, along with old “dozens” rhymes and jail house jargon passed
down through the years and made popular by Black activist H. Rap Brown.

• Graffiti: The first forms of subway graffiti were quick spray-painted or marker signatures
("tags") of one’s crew, gang or nickname. Graffiti evolved into large elaborate calligraphy,
complete with color effects, shading and more. Graffiti is now recognized as a force in
contemporary visual art and is collected by major art institutions worldwide as well as
remaining an expression of rebellion and youth culture in public spaces.

• DJing: The art of “cuttin' and scratchin'” and the manipulation of a vinyl record over a particular
groove so it produces a high-pitched recombinant scatching sound is known as DJing. The
term also refers to the practice of selecting dance party records or other songs in a compelling
thematic sequence. This was invented by Grand Master Flash and Grand Wizard Theodore,
two popular disc jockeys from the Bronx.

• Breakdancing: The acrobatic style of dance that includes headspins, backspins and
gymnastic style flairs (long before Olympic athlete Kirk Thompson) is called breakdancing. No
one knows who New York's first break dancer was, but a group of youngsters known as “BBoys”
or Break Boys and original members of an organization called Zulu Nation
popularized it. At the same time breakdancing became known in the streets and dancehalls of
New York, Black and Latino communities in California popularized a style of dance known as
“Pop-Locking.” This particular West Coast form includes strutting, moon-walking, waving and
angular, staccato or robot-like contortions of the body. With the broadcast of Don Cornelius’s
dance-party television show Soul Train, breakdancing soon became a nation-wide
phenomenon.


Hip-Hop’s Fifth Element
Some members of the community have added a fifth element to the fundamentals of hip-hop:
activism. Many see hip-hop as a larger movement—more than just a musical or cultural genre.
While this means different things to different people, it suggests that hip-hop is a way of life with its
own ethical code, politics and aesthetics.