HISTORY OF HIP-HOP

Fast growing music genre, Hip Hop, has been developing since the 70’s and has had a major impact on the music industry. It all began in the Bronx by a Jamaican DJ named Kool Herc. Herc’s style of deejaying involved reciting rhymes over instrumentals. He would start rapping over instrumentals which was seen unordinary at the time. The scene eventually shifted towards Brooklyn then all over New York. Some of the earliest rap songs ever recorded include “King Tim III’ by Fatback Band and “Rapper’s Delight” by the Sugarhill Gang.

The hip hop genre itself originated from blues, jazz and gospel music. We can classify hip hop with its rap verses over an upbeat drum percussion. Hip hop has been mainly dominated by black artists; some of the lyrics surrounds itself around the struggle of blacks in America in the past. Some of the themes discussed in hip-hop would be moving but most commonly, it is known as a ruthless music with a lot of cussing and profanity. In old school hip hop, rappers are stereotyped for wearing baggy clothes with their oversized top and snapbacks. Some of the rappers are often topless and would usually wear a lot of jewellery. The durag tradition has been set by fellow rappers; it is a recognisable iconography to gangster music. The rappers themselves often originated from the ghetto and would express the struggle they had while growing up thought their words. They would usually be very proud of where they come from especially if it’s a rural dangerous area – e.g., Big Sean and Eminem when they shout it Detroit. There has always been a lot of rivalry within hip hop – one of the most familiar one is West Coast vs East Coast where they would cuss each other; it is a competitive industry.

CODES & CONVENTIONS

Today’s hip hop has been slightly adjusted to fit in with other modern day music. In the 21st century, pop music is hybridised with rap to form a new level of hip hop. Unlike old school, modern day hip hop has hooks and more varied instruments since technology has evolved. A lot of recent hip hop music as been classified as alternative hip hop since it consists odd melodies and mixed rhymes including music from Kid Cudi and Travi$ Scott. Artists like A$AP Rocky hybrids trap music with hip hop. Grime is a UK based sub genre that is more aggressive.

SUB GENRE

TRAP GANGSTA GRIME SOUL

Hip hop is a very competitive genre. A lot of hip hop debuted from Los Angelas. One well known and top of the game rappers right now is Kendrick Lamar from Compton, south of Los Angelas. Easy E, another Compton rapper, began the game, but now Kanye West and Eminem have changed the game with modern influence. Artists like them and Drake, Jay Z, Chris Brown, have been dominating the charts in the recent decade. Many underground hip hop artist aim to start a career through social media including YouTube in hope they will hit the billboard.

LEADING ARTISTS

RECORD LABELS

G.O.O.D. Music is a small American record label founded by rapper and producer Kanye West in

2004. It is currently owned by the ‘The Island Def Jam Music Group’. G.O.O.D is an acronym for Getting Out

Our Dreams.

Def Jam Recordings is an American record label, focused predominantly on hip hop and urban music, owned by Universal Music Group. Although it started of as a rock label, it is now the biggest rap music label.

Roc Nation Records is a record label found by Jay Z in 2008. Just like good music it is a smaller label run by an artist himself. In June 2009, Roc Nation inked a 4-year distribution deal with Sony Music.

The culture of hip hop in the present day surrounds itself more around ‘gangsters’ and ‘drugs’. The negative lyrics surrounding drugs, sex and violence influence people who is listen to the music. Although their are successful female artists in the hip hop industry such as Nicki Minaj and Iggy Azalia, hip hop constantly objectifies women and represents them as sexual figures – there is very little respect. In music videos, male rappers would have stripers in the background as a way to show what they can have and female rappers wear tight clothes or show some cleavage to attract male gazers. It gives a negative impression towards young African young people as the rappers are representing them.

ISSUES /REPRESENTATION