Last month, we celebrated the 44th anniversary of Hip Hop, so I found it appropriate to profile the creation of the culture.
Hip Hop was born on August 11, 1973 in the Bronx, 1520 Sedgwick Avenue, to be exact. This was no ordinary party, in which songs were played in its entirety. Kool Herc played only the instrumentals of songs, specifically sections called the ‘brakes.’
The brakes tended to excite the crowd more than the rest of the song. During the brakes, you could hear chants made by Coke La Rock that are now timeless, such as, “Yes, yes y’all! And it don’t stop.”
What DJ Kool Herc did with these records was blasphemous to some. Scratching a perfectly good record? Just dancing to some drums? Why waste the record?
But to those at the party, this was not a waste of a record, it was art. It was culture. Hip Hop bloomed. New art forms emerged such as breakdancing, graffiti, DJing, and of course, Rap music.
The use of Rap was not limited to hyping up a party. Rap became a platform for Black Americans and minorities to vocalize their struggles to the masses. From graffiti sprawled around New York, to legendary hits such as Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five’s “The Message” gaining popularity, Hip Hop was here to stay. Forerunners of this craft range from Public Enemy, to Rakim, and is even heard in the music of contemporary rappers such as Kendrick Lamar and J. Cole.
Although Hip Hop indeed began on the East coast, it has evolved throughout the years. The creation of Gangsta Rap on the west coast in the late 80s, pioneered by Schooly-D, Ice-T and later N.W.A. brought serious topics such as drugs, gangs, and police brutality to the forefront.
In response to the domination of Hip Hop by east and west coast artists, the Hip Hop scene spread across the southern United States, led by acts such as UGK in Port Arthur, TX and Outkast in Atlanta.
Hip Hop was, and still is a multi-faceted view of the Black American experience and has not only paved the way for a plethora of entertainers, but has also transformed music forever.