Hip hop music history is filled with fascinating mixing of styles and culture. Hip hop came from the collaboration of inner city cultures of Latin, Hispanic and African-American to form a pulse pounding beat infused with record scratching, rapping, graffiti and break dancing.
Rapping derives itself from the slang of the 1960s, where rapping meant having a conversation between individuals for the sake of enlightenment. Enlightenment can be considered a central thread all through out hip hop music history, as early hip hop music adresses real life situations on some of the most dangerous cities in the US. The art of DJing brought scratching with the beat and the spoken rap poetry together. The final version of hip hop music history would carry these styles along, and blend them with a more primal background.
Hip hop music history has its start in African American and West African music. In the 1960s, poet-artists Jalai Mansur Nurriddin, and Gil Scott-Heron became huge influences. Originating from the Bronx, hip hop and soul with a funky back beat spawned some of the most incredible street music ever made. And finally, add a rise in Jamaican immigrants, and we get the perfect blend to start what is to be known as the American hip hop culture.
Throughout the 1970s and 80s, the disc jockey influence began to make its mark felt throughout the industry. Everywhere from dance clubs to recording studios, a defining moment for hip hop music history began. By combining spoken lyrics with pulsing back beat a new sub culture was let to emerge, which was consequently known as break dancing. Street corner dancers began to appear in every major city in America, all of them energetic, creative and expressing themselves in a very vibrant way. Backed with rap and hip hop music from their boom boxes, break dancers amazes the crowds with their dazzling seemingly impossible moves, bringing the music to the spotlight.
A new chapter in hip hop music history began, as the separation of rap and hip hop begins in the 1990s. Rap started to sing about and advocate violence, among peers, against law enforcement, and practically everyone else who stands in the way. The music became a guilty pleasure for those looking to express their dissatisfaction with their lives. The driving beats stayed, while the lyrics became more poetic, freestyle competitions became widespread all through out the city. The inner city was being heard by listeners in a big way, and they like what they heard, even if their parents didn’t.
By the end of 2000, former hardcore rappers have grown older and use their acquired popularity to pursue different careers. Now, new successors to hip hop use their notoriety to get fans rebuilding their cities instead of tearing it down, they use softer and more romantic language and develop their own style. Hip hop, where it goes from here is a mystery, but the new generation artists would certainly be something to watch out for.