Rap can trace its roots back centuries, through blues and jazz style music played as a form of escape, spirituality, and celebration during times of slavery in early America. Consider a time and situation where a person owned nothing and had precious little to hope for, except music. The “chanted speech” evolved over the years […]
A strong drum line is like a strong heart beat. The beat that keeps the foot tapping, the head bobbing, the fingers flicking. The rhythm controls the mood. The drums control the rhythm. Fractions of seconds, millions of moments, all these to put life into those feet that stand on the dance floor. Pumping motion […]
The standard life of an ordinary well-paying person in the music industry is waking up, exercising, eating and sleeping, this process recurs every single day of their life. Well, the difference between them and one who excels and shines in the music industry is that they incorporate more than the four essential necessities in life […]
For many of those involved in the rise of Hip Hop in the 1970s, it was about an expression of their circumstances and the growth of this culture had an underlying political and social significance. The Hip Hop movement is a multifaceted culture and is often defined through the four main elements of MCing, […]
A disc jockey is someone who mixes recorded music while it is playing. The concept can be traced back to the 1930s where radio presenters would select and play recorded tracks on radio stations, and it evolved over the years to a form of public entertainment involving the continuous play of music through the […]
B-boying, breakdancing or breaking is a type of improvisational street dance that is intertwined with hip-hop culture. The term came from the creation of breakbeats in the 1970s by the “Holy Trinity” of DJs, Kool Herc, Grandmaster Flash, and Afrika Bambaataa. They noticed that crowds at the block parties that they orchestrated were waiting […]
Graffiti has existed for thousands of years, with roots in ancient times, and has been used as an expression of social and political ideals. Graffiti was popularized in New York around the same time that hip-hop culture expanded and as with the musical aspect of the time, reflected the struggle of the African-American community […]
Clothing is also a huge part of the hip-hop culture and has lead to the overall commercialization of the industry, particularly with the progression into the internet era where record sales have declined. This has meant that artists are relying more on their merchandise sales and tours to make a profit. During the peak […]
Changes in society and culture also inspire an evolution of language. This is evident in the emergence and solidification of hip-hop culture. The rise of hip-hop as a local phenomenon in New York quickly gave birth to a national and then global phenomenon and has impacted many forms of language. New words and slang […]