History Of Hip Hop part 2

2006-11-24T12:54:00.000-08:00

Old school hip hop (1970–1986)

Old school hip hop is the very first hip hop music to come out of the block parties of New York City in the 1970s and early 1980s. It began in the early 1970s in New York with the advent of breakbeat DJing, in which DJs including Kool DJ Herc and Grandmaster Flash extended the breaks of funk records, creating a more "danceable" sound. The old school era ended and the golden age began with the popularity of Run-D.M.C.'s 1986 album, Raising Hell.

Origins

DJ Kool Herc

In the early 1970s many Black radio stations switched to playing disco. There was a backlash against disco by many in the African-American community. Hip hop arose during the 1970s, from block parties in New York City. These popular parties were usually accompanied by music, especially funk, disco and soul. The early DJs at the parties began isolating the percussion breaks to hit songs — realizing that these were the most danceable and entertaining parts — and extending them, using an audio mixer and two records. At the time, this technique was common in Jamaica, and was known as dub music. It spread via the substantial Jamaican immigrant community in New York City, especially the godfather of hip-hop, Kool DJ Herc. The use of extended percussion breaks led to the development of mixing and scratching techniques, and later to the popularization of remixes.

As hip hop's popularity grew, performers began speaking ("rapping") in sync with the beats, and became known as MCs or emcees. The Herculoids, made up of Herc, Coke La Rock, and Clark Kent, were the earliest to gain major fame. But teams of emcees sprang up throughout the country. Frequently, these were collaborations between former gang members, such as Afrika Bambaataa's Universal Zulu Nation (now a large, international organization). The Herculoids and other early performers focused on introducing themselves and others in the audience (the origin of the still common practice of "shouting out" on hip hop records). These early emcee teams often emceed for hours at a time, with some improvisation and a simple four-count beat, along with a basic chorus to allow the performer to gather his thoughts (such as "one, two, three, y'all, to the beat, y'all").

Later, the MCs grew more varied in their vocal and rhythmic approach, incorporating brief rhymes, often with a sexual or scatological theme, in an effort at differentiating themselves and entertaining the audience. These early raps incorporated similar rhyming lyrics from African American culture (see roots of hip hop music), such as the dozens.

During the early 1970s, b-boying more popularly known as breaking arose during block parties, as b-boys and b-girls got in front of the audience to dance in a distinctive, frenetic style. The style was documented for release to a world wide audience for the first time in Beat Street but it could be argued that Flashdance offered the first glimpse to a worldwide audience. It was also prominently featured a year earlier in both Style Wars and Wildstyle, but whether these would be considered worldwide releases could be argued

History Of Hip Hop part 1

2006-11-24T12:53:00.000-08:00

Roots of hip hop

The roots of hip hop music are in West African and African American music, as well as 1970s dance hall reggae. Discussion of the roots of hip hop (and rap) must mention the contributions of the griots of African Culture. As well as musicians such as; The Last Poets, Jalal Mansur Nuriddin, and Gil Scott-Heron, whose jazzy and poetic "spiels" commented on 1960s culture. There have also long been verbal traditions such as the dozens which have influenced the roots.