The Evolution and Influence of Hip-Hop Culture
TLDR Hip-hop is a cultural movement that originated from toasting in Jamaica and evolved to include various art forms such as graffiti, breakdancing, MCing, DJing, and fashion. It has had a significant impact on mainstream music, with subgenres like gangster rap emerging and artists like Run DMC and Salt-N-Pepa paving the way for future female rappers. Hip-hop style has also become a lucrative business, with rap moguls starting clothing lines and selling brands for millions of dollars.
Timestamped Summary
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Hip-hop is more than just rap, it is a cultural movement with roots dating back to Africa.
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Hip-hop is a cultural movement that encompasses graffiti, breakdancing, MCing and DJing, performance poetry, various dance styles, and fashion, with roots in African traditions and influences from jazz, blues, gospel, calypso, and salsa, as well as the tradition of toasting in Jamaica during World War II.
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Hip-hop originated from toasting in Jamaica, which led to the creation of talk over and dub reggae music, and eventually made its way to the Bronx where DJ Cool Herk became known as the originator of hip-hop through his DJing and toasting at block parties.
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DJ Cool Herk enlisted the aid of Cochlearock and Clark Kent to come toast for him, inadvertently establishing rapping and leading to the creation of the first b-boys and b-girls, while Africa Bambaataa formed the Zulu Nation as a positive influence for kids and Grandmaster Flash innovated DJing techniques such as punch phrasing and scratching.
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In the 1980s, hip-hop starts to cross over into mainstream music with songs like Blondie's "Rapture" and The Clash's "Magnificent Seven," and artists like Run DMC, LL Cool J, Beastie Boys, and Salt-N-Pepa become popular. The Sugar Hill Gang releases the first hit rap record, "Rapper's Delight," and sampling becomes a common practice. Women artists like Salt-N-Pepa and Queen Latifah also emerge, paving the way for future female rappers. Public Enemy and the black nationalism movement gain prominence, and MTV starts airing rap videos on their show "Yo MTV Raps."
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Gangster Rap emerged as a subgenre of hip-hop, with NWA being the first to turn it into a hit, and it eventually took over and became hip-hop itself, although it has now evolved into other subgenres.
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Graffiti is considered a part of hip-hop culture, even though it came before hip-hop and evolved into its own art form.
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Breakdancing, including moves like headspins, backspins, and windmills, has been a part of hip-hop culture since the 1940s.
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Breakdancing originated from West Africa and was influenced by Caucasian dancing like the Lindy hop and the Charleston, as well as the Caribbean and South American martial art Capoeira, and it carries on the tradition of having a good time and not meaning any harm.
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Breakdancing originated from a James Brown dance in the 60s and started to die down in the 80s, but made a comeback in the 90s and is still around today, leading to the emergence of crumping; fashion in hip-hop started with comfy clothes and loose, comfortable clothing for breakdancing, and evolved to include military-inspired boots on the west coast, black jeans and leather jackets from Run DMC, African-inspired clothing in the late 80s, and baggy clothing that is still popular today.
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Hip-hop style became a big business commodity, with rap moguls like Russell Simmons starting clothing lines, and JZ selling his clothing brand for $204 million.
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Society & Culture