History of Hip Hop

When people think of hip-hop, they tend to think of struggle behind it. But what is the root of this struggle? According to Jeff Chang in his book Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop, the root of the struggle can be traced back all the way to the building of the Cross-Bronx Expressway in 1959. Robert Moses was responsible for disrupting the lives of over 60,000 residents who’s lives dwelled in the pathway of the expressway. The construction of this road is responsible for the exodus of middle class families and businesses leaving behind the poor black and Hispanic families. Because these families were legally discriminated against, they became trapped in the ghetto of south Bronx. These families were left with crime, addiction, unemployment and a voice no one wanted to hear.

Despite the deaf ears, people in South Bronx began to find their voice through music. In 1973 Clive Campbell, DJ Kool Herc deejays the first block party in the Bronx at his sister’s birthday. DJ Kool Herc became the first to experiment with breakbeats and is also credited with being the father of hip hop. Following his lead, others such as Afrika Bambaataa, Grandmaster Flash, and Grandmaster Caz also began DJ’ing at house parties. Not only does this year give rise to breakbeats, but graffiti tagging as well.

In 1974 Afrika Bambaataa creates the Universial Zulu Nation, which consists of DJs, graffiti artists and dancers. It was in this year, the term hip-hop was coined.

In 1975, the art of DJ’ing continued to develop with more experimentation and even mere accidents. Grandmaster Flash established mixing. This was different from what DJ Kool Herc did because instead of extending breakbeats from the same song, Grandmaster Flash connected different songs during breaks. DJ Grand Wizard Theodore accidently invented “scratching”. Scratching consists of nudging a record while it’s playing. He discovered this sound when he held a record while trying to listen to his mom yell at him.

The late 1970s and 1980s proved to be explosive. What began as an underground art form slowly started making its way above ground and started gaining a larger audience. In 1978 hip-hop started breaking into mainstream media when the music industry coined the term “rap music”.  The very next year Sugar Hill Gang releases “Rapper’s Delight”, the first commercial rap recording and Kurtis Blow became the first rapper to be signed to a major record deal and 1980, he became the first rapper to appear on national TV when performed on Soul Train. In 1981, Funky 4 Plus One More becomes the first hip-hop group to perform on national television when they performed “That’s the Joint” on Saturday Night Live. The Beastie Boys was also created in this year.

Today we know that hip-hop doesn’t just have holds in America, but has a firm grip world-wide. This firm world-wide grip can be credited to the first international hip-hop concert in 1982. Artists apart of this tour included Afrika Bambaata, Fab 5 Freddy and the Double Dutch Girls

1984 saw the creation of Dej Jam records, established by Russell Simmons and Rick Rubin. From it’s inception, hip-hop grew out of an outlet of experimentation. As hip-hop matured it became more focused on social issues. This is evident with the creation of the politically charged hip-hop group Public Enemy is created in 1987. In 1988, YO! MTV Raps airs on MTV and N.W.A releases Straight Out of Compton. In 1989 friends promoting afrocentricity formed a Tribe Called Quest. Also in this year, rap music its own Grammy category. The presentations of this award were not aired on television.

The year of 1990 was important because it addressed the free speech of hip-hop. 2 Live Crew was arrested for lewdness at a Miami concert and their album As Nasty as They Wanna Be was banned for sale in Florida. According to members of 2 Live Crew, the album had approximately 270 cuss words. The crew would later be found not guilty.

In 1994 Common releases Resurrection. This album included the controversial song “I Used to Love Her”. This song is controversial because it is credited with the rift that was created between the East coast and the West Coast.

In 1974 Afrika Bambaata defines the elements of hip-hop as DJing, breakdancing, graffiti art and MCing. These four elements still exist and are still the voice of the artists for the same reason they were during hip-hops birth: outlet of expression.

It’s important to understand the timeline to understand the history of hip-hop. To fully appreciate and critique the present form of hip-hop, one must understand the history.