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Ethnography

This document discusses the origins and evolution of hip hop culture. It began in the Bronx in the early 1980s as a form of expression at parties where DJs would play music and emcees would rap over break beats. Over time, hip hop grew into a culture as different styles emerged, like gangsta rap on the west coast and conscious rap on the east coast. Today, hip hop has become a global phenomenon and reflects the experiences of diverse groups of people worldwide.

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60 views4 pages

Ethnography

This document discusses the origins and evolution of hip hop culture. It began in the Bronx in the early 1980s as a form of expression at parties where DJs would play music and emcees would rap over break beats. Over time, hip hop grew into a culture as different styles emerged, like gangsta rap on the west coast and conscious rap on the east coast. Today, hip hop has become a global phenomenon and reflects the experiences of diverse groups of people worldwide.

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Madi Sherif

English 111 44
3/24/17
Intawiwat
Ethnography

Hip Hop Culture

Per a documentary on Netflix titled: Hip hop Evolution, hip hop was born in

the Bronx in the early 80`s. It started of as a form of expression and a way

to have fun. Over time diferent boroughs in New York started forming

diferent groups with a DJ and a wordsmith, who would evolve into the

modern-day term rapper. Hip hop is a culture. This essay is going to tell

you how hip hop started, where its at now, and why its considered a culture.

In the beginning, the DJ was the center of attention. They were the

ones who got the crowd live, so they had all the clout. Gradually, the beat

breaks that they were so known for creating, started becoming a canvas for

wordsmiths to speak on, since the beat breaks were so simple yet they were

new and the way DJs did it was so complex. They would take popular disco

records and put them on the DJ equipment and find the spot where there

were drum solos and simply loop those parts creating a whole new beat that

a wordsmith or emcee could rap to. This beat break is also where the term
breakdancing came from, the kids at the parties would start dancing and

busting moves similar to the ones seen in modern break dancing, they did it

during the beat break so thats where the name came from.

Afrika Bambaataa was a New York DJ who created an organization

called the Universal Zulu Nation that was meant to keep kids away from

drugs and gang violence in the late 70s and 80s and they basically just had

hip-hop parties and DJ and Rap showcases. At this point hip hop was growing

in popularity but it was only known about in New York. In 1979, the very first

rap record to be recorded was by a group called Sugar Hill gang, it was titled;

Rappers Delight. (Elizabeth)

This is a monumental event in hip hop because this record was an original

studio recording and up until that time there had only been live hip hop with

DJs and emcees. This was a big part of bringing hip hop to the mainstream

music scene.

After hip hop became recognized as a genre, many sub genres of hip

hop began to emerge. For example, the early 90s is referred to as the

golden age of hip hop, this is where rappers started to gain fame and an

emphasis was placed on lyrical capabilities of artists. As hip hop moved

around the country and became popular on the west coast, the term

gangsta rap was coined as a reflection image rappers portrayed of the

excessive violence and hardships in places like LA and Compton. Over in the
east coast however, places like Chicago created the wave of Conscious rap

which had the purpose of uplifting and enlightening the minority community.

Hip hop as a subculture, has always reflected the times as well as the

lives and experiences of the people who created it. Just like other genres of

music, its always changing and evolving. From observation, I can say that

many hip hop fans in the current day and age are many diferent races,

religions, and genders. This shows how the culture has become very

inclusive overtime and the subject matter is much, much broader.

The purpose of this essay was to give you a small bit of insight into the

cultural music genre that is hip hop. It started of as a progressive

movement in the ghettos of New York, and turned into a multi-million-dollar

music genre that influences style, ideas, political views and many other

things. The current state of hip hop is very unique being that technology has

advanced so much that people can record music in their bed room. This has

led to a rise in Independent artist gaining popularity through self-recorded/

produced music going viral via the internet allowing for a surplus of diferent

rap styles. Today hip hop is more than just a genre, or even a culture, hip hop

has changed the world, its a way of life.


Works Cited

Blair, Elizabeth. "'Rapper's Delight': The One-Take Hit." NPR. NPR, 29 Dec. 2000.
Web. 09 May 2017.
"Hip-Hop Evolution." Netflix Official Site. Netflix, 02 Dec. 2016. Web. 09 May 2017.

*Anything that isnt cited came from my own knowledge accumulated over years of
observation, research, and passion.

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