Where did it all start?
1970s New York was a different time. Deep inside Bronx a new sound emerged. That's right Hip-hop wasn't really a thing 50 years ago. (In fact, the term Hip-hop started circulating only in the 80s.)
The start of a Genre
Today, Hip-Hop has integrated itself with every aspect of reality. But how did it all happen in less than 50 years?
Well it all happened in the streets. During the 70s, block parties(Street parties) were extremely popular, DJs would make a name for themselves by keeping the crowd going.
It was 1973 when DJ Kool Herc who was 16 at the time was the DJ at his sisters "back-to-school" party. Herc did something different this night. Instead of mixing songs like all DJs do, Herc decided he would play the instrumental of one song and fuse it with the instrumental break of another song. That little experiment of his is what we now call "scratching". This experiment lead to the birth of "Hip-Hop" style music. This also lead to the growth of the art of "Sampling" which has influenced producers like Kanye West, which could be seen in his journey from his debut album "The College Dropout".
DJs ran the show back then, but they also started incorporating dancers who were initially called break-boys and break-girls or what's now more popularly knows as b-boys and b-girls. Beatboxers also struck a name in the community in this era.
When did Rap start?
You might have heard the term emcee I suppose. Well an MC was just a Master of Ceremonies. They'd introduce the DJ and hype the crowd up, sometimes they'd crack a joke or two. With time, emcees started speaking for longer durations while being in tune with the DJ and slowly this evolved into rapping.
Rapping has also been influenced by the game which was more common in African American communities called dozens or "capping" where two individuals diss each other in order to get the best crowd reactions. (capping is also where the terms "that's cap", "he's capping", "no cap" originate from)
The Golden Age
The late 1980s to the early 1990s is considered as the Golden Age of Hip-Hop. Hip-hop turned mainstream in this era. Songs became shorter and more radio friendly, gangsta rap became a hot trend which saw the rise, fall and demise of many.
The Golden Age brought fame to the early legends like Public Enemy, Tupac, Notorious B.I.G., MC Hammer and even Nas and Snoop Dogg.
Ever since, Hip-Hop never stopped growing.
Closing Words
What started out as an experiment by Herc gave the world a plethora of legends. We've seen Hip-Hop evolve for the better or worse but we keep it going because it's where our soul is. We listen to it, we live it and we WEAR it.
We let it grow in our hearts and in our cities (all love to #DHH, you've got an era ahead).
For the love of Hip-hop and the spirit of Bronx.
*this is an original condensed article on the history of Hip Hop*
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