Hip hop music, also known as rap music, is a genre of popular music
developed in the United States by inner-city African Americans and
Latino Americans in the Bronx borough of New York City in the 1970s.
DJ Kool Herc, a Jamaican DJ, is credited for officially originating
hip hop music through his "Back to School Jam", hosted on August 11,
1973, at 1520 Sedgwick Avenue. It consists of a stylized rhythmic
music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech
that is chanted. It developed as part of hip hop culture, a subculture
defined by four key stylistic elements: MCing/rapping,
DJing/scratching with turntables, break dancing, graffiti writing.
Other elements include sampling beats or bass lines from records (or
synthesized beats and sounds), and rhythmic beatboxing. While often
used to refer solely to rapping, "hip hop" refers to the practice of
the entire subculture. The term hip hop music is sometimes used
synonymously with the term rap music, though rapping is not a required
component of hip hop music; the genre may also incorporate other
elements of hip hop culture, including DJing, turntablism, scratching,
beatboxing, and instrumental tracks.Hip hop as both a musical genre
and a culture was formed during the 1970s when block parties became
increasingly popular in New York City, particularly among
African-American youth residing in the Bronx. At block parties DJs
played percussive breaks of popular songs using two turntables and a
DJ mixer to be able to play breaks from two copies of the same record,
alternating from one to the other and extending the "break". Hip hop's
early evolution occurred as sampling technology and drum machines
became widely available and affordable. Turntablist techniques such as
scratching and beatmatching developed along with the breaks and
Jamaican toasting, a chanting vocal style, was used over the beats.
Rapping developed as a vocal style in which the artist speaks or
chants along rhythmically with an instrumental or synthesized beat.Hip
hop music was not officially recorded for play on radio or television
until 1979, largely due to poverty during the genre's birth and lack
of acceptance outside ghetto neighborhoods. Old school hip hop was the
first mainstream wave of the genre, marked by its disco influence and
party-oriented lyrics. The 1980s marked the diversification of hip hop
as the genre developed more complex styles and spread around the
world. New school hip hop was the genre's second wave, marked by its
electro sound, and led into Golden age hip hop, an innovative period
between the mid-1980s and mid-1990s. The gangsta rap subgenre, focused
on the violent lifestyles and impoverished conditions of inner-city
African-American youth, gained popularity at this time. West Coast hip
hop was dominated by G-funk in the early-mid 1990s, while East Coast
hip hop was dominated by jazz rap, alternative hip hop, and hardcore
rap. Hip hop continued to diversify at this time with other regional
styles emerging, such as Southern rap and Atlanta hip hop. Hip hop
became a best-selling genre in the mid-1990s and the top-selling music
genre by 1999.
developed in the United States by inner-city African Americans and
Latino Americans in the Bronx borough of New York City in the 1970s.
DJ Kool Herc, a Jamaican DJ, is credited for officially originating
hip hop music through his "Back to School Jam", hosted on August 11,
1973, at 1520 Sedgwick Avenue. It consists of a stylized rhythmic
music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech
that is chanted. It developed as part of hip hop culture, a subculture
defined by four key stylistic elements: MCing/rapping,
DJing/scratching with turntables, break dancing, graffiti writing.
Other elements include sampling beats or bass lines from records (or
synthesized beats and sounds), and rhythmic beatboxing. While often
used to refer solely to rapping, "hip hop" refers to the practice of
the entire subculture. The term hip hop music is sometimes used
synonymously with the term rap music, though rapping is not a required
component of hip hop music; the genre may also incorporate other
elements of hip hop culture, including DJing, turntablism, scratching,
beatboxing, and instrumental tracks.Hip hop as both a musical genre
and a culture was formed during the 1970s when block parties became
increasingly popular in New York City, particularly among
African-American youth residing in the Bronx. At block parties DJs
played percussive breaks of popular songs using two turntables and a
DJ mixer to be able to play breaks from two copies of the same record,
alternating from one to the other and extending the "break". Hip hop's
early evolution occurred as sampling technology and drum machines
became widely available and affordable. Turntablist techniques such as
scratching and beatmatching developed along with the breaks and
Jamaican toasting, a chanting vocal style, was used over the beats.
Rapping developed as a vocal style in which the artist speaks or
chants along rhythmically with an instrumental or synthesized beat.Hip
hop music was not officially recorded for play on radio or television
until 1979, largely due to poverty during the genre's birth and lack
of acceptance outside ghetto neighborhoods. Old school hip hop was the
first mainstream wave of the genre, marked by its disco influence and
party-oriented lyrics. The 1980s marked the diversification of hip hop
as the genre developed more complex styles and spread around the
world. New school hip hop was the genre's second wave, marked by its
electro sound, and led into Golden age hip hop, an innovative period
between the mid-1980s and mid-1990s. The gangsta rap subgenre, focused
on the violent lifestyles and impoverished conditions of inner-city
African-American youth, gained popularity at this time. West Coast hip
hop was dominated by G-funk in the early-mid 1990s, while East Coast
hip hop was dominated by jazz rap, alternative hip hop, and hardcore
rap. Hip hop continued to diversify at this time with other regional
styles emerging, such as Southern rap and Atlanta hip hop. Hip hop
became a best-selling genre in the mid-1990s and the top-selling music
genre by 1999.
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