Hip-Hop History

According to Brittanica, hip-hop is a cultural movement that provides the background for the rap music genre. The art originated in the late 1970s, in the economically depressed Bronx section of New York City, predominantly inhabited by African-American families affected by poverty, drug abuse, and gang violence; hip-hop is recognized as a product of these struggles.

“Hip-hop started as an outlet for expression, created by the people in urban areas,” Grantham said. “When you start writing, you’re going to start writing about what’s important to you, and if all you really know is struggling, fighting, and poverty, that’s what you’re going to express. This really sets the genre apart from others, because it’s allowed to focus on the negative aspects of society. Other genres don’t always get quite as real as hip-hop, because the art is based on the authentic experiences of the people making it.”

This marginalization formed the platform on which black youths created the foundations of hip hop, to express their struggles against institutional disadvantages. According to Icon Collective, hip-hop culture consists of four elements: DJ’ing/turntablism; MC’ing/rapping; graffiti; and break-dancing/B-boying, which encompasses hip-hop dance, style, and attitude. Occasionally, a fifth element is added to this list. “Knowledge of self” or “consciousness,” refers to the knowledge someone needs to truly understand their community, a mix of spiritual and political consciousness designed to acknowledge members of oppressed groups.

“There’s never one origin point for a genre,” Grantham said. “Instead, it’s like a tree with roots that span a wide area; and a lot of those roots touch on the community aspect of bringing people together with music. But there’s also a degree of introspection that’s allowed, when you really sit down with something and make it your own, and it took a little while for hip-hop to develop the social consciousness it’s known for. When people started taking the art form seriously, it forced us to listen to it in a different way and appreciate both what it took to make it, and what they’re making it for.”

Senior Adrian Ferretiz feels that these elements have historically encouraged hip-hop artists to put on a “mask” that denies expressions of weakness or emotion. He believes this has changed over time, and modern hip-hop is now more accessible for people from all different areas of life, experiencing and expressing their own personal struggles. He feels that this gives every era its own unique set of strengths and weaknesses, which express the changes among the genre and the society it reflects.

“In the 90s, you had Tupac, Snoop Dogg, Biggie and Ice Cube, people who often put on an inflated persona, which expressed that the world hates them,” Ferretiz said. “But they put on this gangster mask, and try to show what and who they are through their music. Now we have a lot of artists that don’t have to put on as much of an image, people like Kenny Mason, J. Cole or Kendrick Lamar, and people that are able to express themselves differently.”

According to the African American Intellectual History Society (AAIHS), the “golden era” of hip-hop was a crucial moment in African American history; Paz believes this era of the genre facilitated societal change, especially as it relates to civil rights, racism, and inequality.

“Rappers usually talk a lot about cultural issues and societal problems,” Paz said. “They use their art and skills to speak out against the problems affecting their communities; it’s a great method for getting a message out into the world.”