Hip hop is a cultural movement that began amongst urban (primarily, but not entirely, African American) youth in the United States, but has since spread around the world. The four main elements of hip-hop are: emceeing, deejaying, graffiti art, and breakdancing. The term has since come to be a euphemism for rap music to much of mainstream audiences; they are not, however, interchangeable -- rapping (emceeing) is the vocal expression of lyrics in sync to a rhythm beneath it.
U-Roy, one of the earliest Jamaican dub musicians
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Hip hop music is related to the
griots[?] of West Africa, traveling singers and poets whose musical style is reminiscent of hip hop. Some griot traditions came with
slaves to the
New World. The most important direct influence on the creation of hip hop music is the
Jamaican style called
dub, which arose in the
1960s. Dub musicians like
King Tubby (who is often said to have invented dub) isolated
percussion breaks because dancers at clubs (
sound systems) preferred the energetic rhythms of the often-short breaks. Soon, performers began speaking in sync with these rhythms. In
1967, a Jamaican immigrants like
DJ Kool Herc brought dub to
New York City, and it there evolved into hip hop. In Jamaica, dub music has diversified into genres like
ragga and
dancehall.
Herc was one of the most popular DJs in early 70s New York, playing at neighborhood parties (
block parties[?]), and he quickly switched from using
reggae records to funk, rock and, later, disco, since the New York audience did not particularly like reggae. Herc and others DJs extended the percussive breaks using an audio mixer and two records, and other mixing techniques soon developed. Performers spoke while the music played; these were originally called
MCs (
Master of Ceremonies or
Mic Controller) and, later,
rappers. Originally, these early rappers focused on introducing themselves and others in the audience, with some improvisation and a simple four-count beat, along with a simple chorus. Later MCs added more complex lyrics, often humorous and incorporated sexual themes. By the end of the 1970s, hip hop music was beginning to become a major commercial and artistic force and had spread throughout the United States. During the
1980s and
90s, hip hop gradually became mainstream (a transition usually considered to have been completed in
1992) in the US and, to a lesser degree, worldwide.
One of the earliest and most important gangs was the Savage Seven (later, as they increased in number, the Black Spades), who included future
old school rap star
Afrika Bambaataa. The Black Spades were followed by many other gangs, and graffiti art arose to mark boundaries between them, among other purposes. Graffiti as an art had been known since at least the
1950s, but really began developing in earnest in
1969 and flourished during the 1970s. Originality was very important for grafffiti artists; for example, in
1972, one well-respected graffiti artist called
Super Kool[?] replaced the dispersion cap on his spray paint with a wider one, found on a can of oven cleaner. This is still a common practice. By
1976, graffiti artists like
Lee Quinones[?] began painting whole murals using advanced techniques. Some of the most memorable of Quinones' work was political in nature, calling for an end to the
arms race, for example.
see also: Feuds and rivalries in hip hop music