Welcome to "Introduction to Hip Hop culture". If you listen to the "beats" everyday, the question is, "Do you really know what Hip Hop is?" If you tell me it's just African-American Black culture or just "rap", you only know the half of it.

Hip Hop is a culture movement. The word, "rap" has almost become synonymous with Hip Hop. But rap, originally known as emceeing is only one part of the Hip Hop culture; deejaying, break dance and graffiti art are the other cogs of hip hop culture. Hip Hop is the way you walk, talk and dress. One can even say that you have Hip Hop in your "blood" from the way you swagger.

Hip Hop – The Beginning...

Hip Hop culture originated from Black culture, no doubt. It only came into prominence in the mid 1970's. It all began in the Southern part of the Bronx in New York, as a subculture of the African and Caribbean Black community. Originally, Hip Hop was deemed as a way for young people to vent their anger and fury from their difficult life in "the hoods" or the American ghettos. The older generation saw Hip Hop as a more appropriate way to pass time than engaging in violence and gang activities.

Dissecting Hip Hop Music

D for Deejaying
Deejaying is the cutting and scratching of a record with a turntable while the music is playing, creating unique sounds and grooves for the track. Kool Herc, Grand Master Flash and Grand Wizard Theodore are the "godfathers" of this art form. There are no boundaries as to what kind of music makes Hip Hop for as long as there is a beat to the music, rappers can rhyme to it. Deejays can mix Michael Jackson into Tchaikovsky and that can still be considered Hip Hop since there are no boundaries. In that sense, Hip Hop is a unique form of music that evolves with time and thrives on creativity.

Rap
Traces of rapping or emceeing are found throughout Black history as different rhyming games were played including "signifying"or freestyle, the "Dozens", school yard rhymes and prison jail house rhymes. For example, the object of "signifying" or "freestyle" is to improvise rap verses with the intention of insulting their opponents. The person who received the most support from the crowd won.

Later on, rhymes moved on to the party scene where DJs gave "shutouts" or announcements to people attending the party. DJ's such as Kool Herc would shout something like "Yo, this is Kool Herc in the joint-ski saying my mellow-ski Marky D is in the house". The crowd would begin using these lines or create their own. As the years went by, the rhymes became more elaborate. Eventually, Kool Herc handed the microphone over to his friends Coke La Rock and Clark Kent. People then started to call this art form, "emceeing".

The word "rap" first gained prominence in 1979 after the release of two early Hip Hop records by King Tim III and Sugar Hill Gang. No one knows exactly where the word came from, but according to some, the word came from people from the older generation who felt an association between the young rappers and word "manipulators"; the latter being the original definition of the word. That is because at one point in the 70's, rap became so popular in the black community that con artists used rap as excuses to trick people.

Hip Hop and Rap Taking Off
Rap and Hip Hop took North America by storm in the 80's and 90's. And now Hip Hop has captivated the imagination of the world. How did rap and Hip Hop become "the thing" amongst young people all around the world in so little time?

Because rap and Hip Hop are borderless, they transcend race whether a person is black, white, yellow, red, green or blue. Rap is so versatile that individuals can form their own style of rap with their own language and culture. Rap has the ability to touch many lives because it gives urban youths an avenue to express themselves without any restrictions. Youths can convey their anger, happiness or whatever topic that is on their mind via their rap. Rapping is fun and can bring great satisfaction as peers show their appreciation and respect for a good rap. The best rappers can even claim urban legend status in their community. Finally, rapping is accessible to all people since all you need is a pen, a piece of paper and a brain filled with wild ideas. There are no rules in rap other than coming up with genuine lyrics that you can grunt to the beat of the music. The sky's the limit!

Graffiti art and break dancing will be discussed in the next lecture. Don't miss out. Holla!

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Ebonics A-Z
30 cents shy of a quarter – (adj) Broke and out of money
2fingers – (n) Peace out; a way to say goodbye
A-Town – (n) Atlanta; City in the U.S.
Abe – (n) Five U.S. dollars
Ace – (n) One U.S. dollar
Actor – (adj) A fraud or sell out
Afro Grape – (n) watermelon
Ain't holding no air – (adj) Referring to a person who lies
Ain't Nuttin' – (adj) Something or someone that is of no value
Air Bag – (n) Lungs
All that – (adj) Something or someone that has everything pertaining to a subject. (E.g. She's got all that and the "bling bling")
Ax – (v) Ask
Ay yo Trip – (interj) A saying for getting attention