Big Blog no.1: American Roots Music
Hip Hop Roots
America is so diverse in music culture! I can get so lost in the millions of songs, each of which has a different background that we don't even think about! Where does the music that we listen to come from? What group inspired it or started it? Where in America was it created? What era? There are multitudes of music forms and many questions that could be asked but today, we are going to focus on the roots of Hip Hop!
I chose Hip Hop because the music really hypes me up, and gets me ready for practices, games, and weight training! This is important, I need the hype to perform my best!
Initially, when I began doing research on Hip Hop and where it came from, a song caught my eye. It is called Rappers Delight by the SugarHillGang, and this is one of the first hip hop pieces in America. It hit the top ten charts worldwide! This song is what started the worldwide spread of hip hop! After this song dropped, it was almost a snowball effect! Hip hop album after album was released.
After reviewing multiple sources I am going to define Hip Hop as a culture. It was created in the earlier 70's by people that identified with a minority groups, these groups included African Americans, Latino Americans as well as Carribian Americans. Though this music and culture was created by many different races, it was all started in the West Bronx of New York city!
- Rapping: Created when MCs at block parties began to talk to the beat of the music for entertainment purposes.
- DJing: The DJs would conduct the music on turntables
- Break dancing: Formed to the beat and rythems of the rap music that became so popular during this time.
- Graffiti: This was used as a form of self expression on the streets, could also be considered a form of entertainment.
- Beat Boxing: This was not as common, but it was also something that MCs and DJs did to continue the enteterainment and the block parties.
Fashion: A particular style arose with this music as well, pictured to the right is a great example of a street style outfit.
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This music quickly became more widespread in culture and groups of artitists and MCs started to band together. New DJing techniques arose to keep the parties alive and fresh so the music quickly became very popular. Once one song hit the top charts, the next one was written and preformed and the rest is history. This music quickly because a part of American culture. The music was always very relatable, since it was created by minority groups in the West Bronx, it was always written about the crime that these groups had to endure, since this was such an ongoing problem of the time for these particular people.
As you watch this video, pay close attention to the lyrics, the music is about the problems and struggles of living in the West Bronx of New York. A few problems are mentioned include drugs, "Creeps", women working the peep show, bad education and healthcare, lack of good jobs, guns, unemployment, jail/prison, and early death. The song always refers back to "Don't push me, I'm close to the edge trying not to lose my head". This statement that is reffered back to is a general representation of basic survival in these areas, there was always some form of unequal or unfair obstical in the way.
Variations of Hip Hop:
Since this music was about all of the struggles that these people had to endure during this time, it became a symbol of political change and hope. It was an outlet for all of their voices. Hip Hop became very political. Artists that used the music as a outlet for political change include but are not limited to: Most Def, Common and Public Enemy.
There is also gangsta rap and G-Funk rap, this was considered the era of hardcore rap. This "season" of rap/hip hop took place throughout the 90s. Artists include Jay-Z, 50 cent, and Puff Daddy. This variation of hip hop was basically summarizing up the life of a ganster, and how it was to live life on the "other side of things". This music was about not following the rules.
What is Hip Hop like today?
Since the first released song hit the charts Hip hop has been a large part of American culture. There a multitude of artitist that continue to influence American culture as well as the "Hip Hop culture/Popular culture" in both a political fashion and lifestyle influence. A few popular artists include J cole, Dababy, LilBurk, Lil Baby, Post Malone and Pop Smoke. This music is listened to by a variety of subcultures within America, including all races and all genders.
Citations:
“Hip Hop.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 19 Oct. 2020, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hip_hop.
“History of Hip Hop Music.” EnglishClub, www.englishclub.com/vocabulary/music-hip-hop.htm.
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