Hip hop is a broad conglomerate of artistic forms that originated as a specific street subculture within South Bronx communities during the 1970s in New York City. t is characterized by four distinct elements, all of which represent the different manifestations of the culture: rap music (aural), turntablism or "DJing" (aural), breaking (physical) and graffiti art (visual). Despite their contrastin
g methods of ex*****on, they find unity in their common association to the poverty and violence underlying the historical context that birthed the culture. It was as a means of providing a reactionary outlet from such urban hardship that "Hip Hop" initially functioned, a form of self-expression that could reflect upon, proclaim an alternative to, try and challenge or merely evoke the mood of the circumstances of such an environment. Even while it continues in contemporary history to develop globally in a flourishing myriad of diverse styles, these foundational elements provide stability and coherence to the culture.[1] The term is frequently used mistakenly to refer in a confining fashion to the mere practice of rap music. The origin of the culture stems from the block parties of The Ghetto Brothers when they would plug the amps for their instruments and speakers into the lampposts on 163rd Street and Prospect Avenue and DJ Kool Herc at 1520 Sedgwick Avenue, where Herc Herc would mix samples of existing records with his own shouts to the crowd and dancers. Kool Herc is credited as the "father" of Hip hop. DJ Afrika Bambaataa of the hip hop collective Zulu Nation outlined the pillars of hip hop culture, to which he coined the terms: MCing, DJing, B-boying and graffiti writing.[7][8][9][10][11] Since its evolution throughout the South Bronx, hip hop culture has spread to both urban and suburban communities throughout the world.[12] Hip hop music first emerged with Kool Herc and contemporary disc jockeys and imitators creating rhythmic beats by looping breaks (small portions of songs emphasizing a percussive pattern) on two turntables, more commonly referred to as juggling. This was later accompanied by "rap", a rhythmic style of chanting or poetry often presented in 16-bar measures or time frames, and beatboxing, a vocal technique mainly used to provide percussive elements of music and various technical effects of hip hop DJs. An original form of dancing and particular styles of dress arose among fans of this new music. These elements experienced considerable adaptation and development over the course of the history of the culture. Hip hop is simultaneously a new and old phenomenon; the importance of sampling to the art form means that much of the culture has revolved around the idea of updating classic recordings, attitudes, and experiences for modern audiences — called "flipping" within the culture.[citation needed] It follows in the footsteps of earlier American musical genres blues, jazz, and rock and roll in having become one of the most practiced genres of music in existence worldwide, and also takes additional inspiration regularly from soul music, funk, and rhythm and blues.
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A culture and form of ground breaking music and self expression with elements that consisted of the elements of graffiti art, DJing, MCing, and breaking. Today Hip-Hop is considered to be dead in the mainstream because so-called mainstream Hip-Hop doesn't have the elements of hip-hop and have no meaning. The stuff on MTV and the radio can't be called Hip-Hop because the lyrics don't have any meaning or self expression. Wack artists today just rap about their shopping lists and other bu****it. There are no more DJs making a prescence since artists today think they can manage without them. Without a DJ there are no scratches and cuts. No much graffiti art is being shown in videos. Artists such as 50 Cent, Nelly, Chingy, J-Kwon, P. Diddy, Cash Money Millionaries lack the 4 elements since their lyrics are ridiculous (no MCing skills), they don't have any DJ presence in their tracks (notice that so-called hip-hop today lacks scratches and cuts), and not much graffiti art is being expressed. The point of this defintion is to show that MTV/Radio mainstream Bling Rappers should be categorized as Hip-Pop artists, not Hip-Hop artists. Hip-Hop Music is: Run DMC, A Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul, Gang Starr, Wu-Tang Clan, Pharcyde, Hieroglyphics, Aceyalone, Mos Def, Talib Kweli, Public Enemy, Common, Mobb Deep, Nas, Rakim, Eazy-E, Big L, Big Pun, Tupac Shakur, The Notorious B.I.G, Nas, Eric B. & Rakim, N.W.A., Public Enemy, EPMD, Gang Starr, Guru, Grand Puba, Brand Nubian, Group Home, Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth, Naughty By Nature, De La Soul, A Tribe Called Quest, Mic Geronimo, MC Ren, Ice Cube, Ice T, The Roots, Run-D.M.C., Wu-Tang Clan, Gravediggaz, Mobb Deep, Cypress Hill, A Lighter Shade Of Brown, Delinquent Habits, Warren G, Zion I, MF Doom, MF Grimm, Souls Of Mischief, The Pharcyde, AZ, Big Daddy Kane, Grand Daddy I.U., Canibus, Immortal Technique, R.A. The Rugged Man, LL Cool J, Snoop Dogg, DMX, Dr. Dre, Slaughterhouse, Crooked I, Joell Ortiz, Joe Budden, Royce Da 5'9, Organized Konfusion, Kurious, Onyx, Black Star, Talib Kweli, Mos Def, Common, Camp Lo, Brotha Lynch Hung, Boogiemonsters, Masta Ace Inc., People Under The Stairs, Above The Law, Compton's Most Wanted, Redman, Nice & Smooth, Lords Of The Underground, Digital Underground, Dead Prez, One Be Lo, Murs, Kam, The D.O.C., Kool G Rap, Kool Moe Dee, Too Short, The Sound Providers, Digable Planets, Crooklyn Dodgers, Slick Rick, Jedi Mind Tricks, Goodie Mob, Field Mob, Sway & King Tech, Mad Skillz, UGK, The Fugees, Pastor Troy, Scarface, Freddie Fo # # #, Andre Nickatina, and Ed O.G. & Da Bulldogs and many more old school and underground acts. Diddy, Ja Rule, Nelly, 50 Cent, G-Unit, Cash Money Millionaries, and other mainstream money making oriented acts.
