what is hip hop

La story that revolves around what hip hop is, it's very interesting and we should all know it, especially lovers of the different existing cultural movements. Hip hop is an urban cultural movement that emerged in the 70s and which is made up of different disciplines such as graffiti, dance and music.

Es a current that encompasses different street cultures, and that goes far beyond dancing or knowing how to sing. It was born as a response to a situation of repression that the Afro-American citizens of the moment were enduring.

This movement over the years, has been popularizing and spreading to all corners of the planet influencing people of all ages. Next, in this publication, we are going to tell you all the secrets and the history that surrounds this genre.

What is hip-hop?

Hip hop is much more than music, is an urban culture that brings together music, dance, art and fashion. Four of the fundamental pillars of this culture are turntablism, rap, B-boying and visual arts such as graffiti. These pillars have become subcultures within hip hop.

The union of these four different elements revolutionized culture as it was known in the 70s and managed to expand worldwide at an unstoppable rate. The influence of this culture has given rise to new musical styles, new forms of art and entertainment.or, news regarding fashion, dance, education, politics, etc.

Today, hip hop culture remains a worldwide phenomenon, thanks to which different forms of artistic expression continue to develop, impacting the new generations.

Origins of hip hop culture

This new cultural movement, born in the 70s in New York City, more specifically in the New York neighborhood of the Bronx. This movement sought to show the negative effects of a changing economy, politics and the industrial sector.

In this time and time past, New York City lived in constant economic collapse. The economy was collapsing, due to manufacturing and construction. All this had a direct impact on the population. Much of the white middle class population tried to escape to the suburbs to escape all these social and economic problems.

All of this led to a worsening in areas where African-American and Latino communities resided. Such was the bad situation, which increased the cases of delinquency, violence, gangs and the rise of poverty.

As a result of all these problems and the closure of many companies, young people of that time took to the streets looking for distraction, entertainment and means with which to express themselves.

This is the starting point of this new urban culture, the parties that were held in the neighborhood in abandoned buildings or in car parks. These parties, were the ones that marked the foundations of hip hop culture, a new era was emerging driven by feelings of abandonment, deprivation and anger on the part of these communities.

In the year 1520, in the Sedwick Avenue condominium is when the DJs they began to experiment with different sounds like soul and funk. In addition, they begin to investigate how to unite these new rhythms with physical abilities.

evolution of hip hop

many years later, in 1980 the urban culture of hip hop hits the table hard and internationalized. All the music that was produced at the time we are talking about had a very characteristic sound provided by the Roland 808 and Oberheim DMX drum machines.

The rise of this new cultural movement begins, opening new borders worldwide, which causes new figures begin to emerge in the musical scene known like B-boys in different parts of the world like Germany, Japan, France, etc.

In the city where hip hop first appeared, in New York, four years later the New School that was characterized by using rhythms in a more minimalist way. This new way of making rhythm was influenced by rock genre music and the lyrics written by rappers, which launched powerful messages and vindictive content.

hip hop news

At the end of the 90s, different styles originate within this urban movement influenced by different musical styles. As time progresses, hip hop suffers a new blow that makes the sales of this musical style plummet, but in the year 2010, resurfaces again with great force on the international scene.

It is evident that everything that surrounds this urban culture has evolved continuously over the years, making it new subgenres appear such as Trap, currently highly produced, or Mumble Rap.

hip hop pioneers

From its beginnings in the neighborhoods of the Bronx and Harlem, the culture of hip hop has been evolving and spreading through different cultures and places in the world. They are several important figures, those who directly influenced the world of hip hop. Some of the most notable were DJ Kool Herc, Afrika Bambaataa and Grandmaster Flash.

DJ Kool Herc

One of the most influential people in this cultural movement is this Jamaican immigrant who is considered the founding father of hip hop. In 1973, he and his sister made history by hosting a Back to School Jam in their apartment building.

Also, it was the driver and the one who introduced the breakbeat technique. A term, used to describe different subgenres of electronic music that are characterized by making use of rhythmic patterns other than the well-known 4/4.

DJ Kool Herc, would mix musical genres like funk or soul, with percussion sections using a pair of turntables. Kook Herc himself would call this technique breakbeat juggling, which quickly made him one of the pioneers in the rise of the music of this urban movement.

Also, had much to do with the development of spoken rhythm and puns, who were played by MC. This style of singing was what is known as the first appearance of rap, inspired by the Jamaican tradition of toasting, that is, speaking or singing over a rhythm.

Afrika Bambaataa

Also known as The Godfather, Afrika Bambaataa is another important figure to note in the history of hip hop. Music producer and DJ, who organized parties in the Bronx in the 70s and who also I help many young people to get away from gangs, violence, weapons and drugs.

He was the founder of Universal Zulu Nation, an organization dedicated to music as a movement of peace and unity. The young people who belonged to this organization were taught to be DJs, rappers, creators of visual arts and even breakdancers. Time later, these four elements were pointed out as the four fundamental pillars of hip hop.

La song, Planet Rock released by Afrika Bambaataa and Soul Sonic was one of the earliest and most influential of this style in 1982.

Grandmaster Flash

Another of the most important characters in the hip hop culture in New York. Grandmaster Flash, was the first DJ to use and manipulate records by moving their direction, front, back or left. Also, he is known for creating new DJ techniques at the time such as cut, punch, scratching and backspin.

One of the most influential groups in hip hop era, Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five in 1976. They offered the public a unique musical style, exchanging lyrics between different rappers and these were combined with Grandmaster Flash's DJ techniques.

This figure is known worldwide not only for everything we have just seen but also for use hands, feet, elbows and different objects to manipulate the vinyls with whom he played.

The group's song "The Message" was the most prominent and helped rap establish itself as a new urban genre and made rappers reach the highest point for the first time. In the year 2007, the group Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five made history becoming the first hip hop group to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.   

the golden age

Between the 1980s and 1990s, hip hop gained a lot of strength and could be found more and more in different cities. This era that we are talking about is called the golden age of hip hop, which marked the explosion of this urban movement giving rise to diversity, influence, innovation and total success.

Many of the record labels of the time saw the hip hop as a booming trend and bet for said movement a lot of money. Records were launched on the market at an accelerated rate, to alleviate the demand generated by different local radio stations.

As this culture grows and becomes popular, new scenes and styles of hip hop are emerging, although it was still only experimental. But many hip hop producers made more advanced material which led to creating much higher level rhythms.

In this golden age, the use of sampled music was characteristic, that is, sampled fragments of the music track were extracted and used to create new ones. The same copyright did not exist today, so artists had complete freedom.

What drove this new movement was not only music, it was also linked to fashion that brought together its own style of clothing, accessories, footwear, etc. All this became a way of expressing itself.

As you can see, the history that surrounds the culture of hip hop is fascinating and full of symbolism and important characters. Over the years, this culture has experienced different changes and evolutions that have led it to be what it is today. From the neighborhoods of the Bronx to a worldwide phenomenon.