Hip hop (culture)

This article is about the culture in general. For the music genre, see Hip hop music. For other uses, see Hip hop (disambiguation).

DJ Grandmaster Flash in 1999

Hip hop or hip-hop is a culture and art movement that was created by African Americans,[1][2] starting in the Bronx, New York City.[a] Pioneered from Black American street culture,[4][5] that had been around for years prior to its more mainstream discovery,[6] it later reached other groups such as Latino Americans and Caribbean Americans. Hip-hop culture has historically been shaped and dominated by African American men,[7] though female hip hop artists have contributed to the art form and culture as well.[8] Hip hop culture is characterized by the key elements of rapping,[b] DJing and turntablism, and breakdancing;[9][10] other elements include graffiti, beatboxing, street entrepreneurship, hip hop language, and hip hop fashion.[11][12] From hip hop culture emerged a new genre of popular music, hip hop music.

The Bronx hip hop scene emerged in August 1973 when brother–sister duo DJ Kool Herc and Cindy Campbell hosted the first hip hop party in the Bronx, sparking the rise of the genre.[13] Hip hop culture has spread to both urban and suburban communities throughout the United States and subsequently the world.[14] These elements were adapted and developed considerably, particularly as the art forms spread to new continents and merged with local styles in the 1990s and subsequent decades. Even as the movement continues to expand globally and explore myriad styles and art forms, including hip hop theater and hip hop film, the four foundational elements provide coherence and a strong foundation for hip hop culture.[15]

Hip hop is simultaneously a new and old phenomenon; the importance of sampling tracks, beats, and basslines from old records 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. Sampling older culture and reusing it in a new context or a new format is called "flipping" in hip hop culture.[16] Hip hop music follows in the footsteps of earlier African-American-rooted and Latino musical genres such as blues, jazz, rag-time, funk, salsa, and disco to become one of the most practiced genres worldwide.

In the 2000s, with the rise of new media platforms such as online music streaming services, fans discovered and downloaded or streamed hip hop music through social networking sites beginning with Blackplanet & Myspace, as well as from websites like YouTube, Worldstarhiphop, SoundCloud, and Spotify.[17][18]

  1. ^ "Honolulu Star-Bulletin 01 Sep 1988, page 23". Newspapers.com. Retrieved May 7, 2023.
  2. ^ "The Press-Tribune 15 Sep 1988, page 15". Newspapers.com. Retrieved May 7, 2023.
  3. ^ Dyson, Michael Eric, 2007, Know What I Mean? Reflections on Hip-Hop, Basic Civitas Books, p. 6.
  4. ^ "The Guardian 07 Jul 1984, page 10". Newspapers.com. Retrieved May 7, 2023.
  5. ^ "Burton Mail 12 Jul 1984, page 16". Newspapers.com. Retrieved May 7, 2023.
  6. ^ "Chicago Tribune 09 Jun 1985, page 282". Newspapers.com. Retrieved May 7, 2023.
  7. ^ "The Boston Globe 27 Jul 1992, page 52". Newspapers.com. Retrieved May 7, 2023.
  8. ^ "The Boston Globe 27 Jul 1992, page 52". Newspapers.com. Retrieved May 8, 2023.
  9. ^ Brown, Lauren (February 18, 2009). "Hip to the Game – Dance World vs. Music Industry, The Battle for Hip Hop's Legacy". Movmnt Magazine. Archived from the original on April 3, 2010. Retrieved July 30, 2009.
  10. ^ Walker, Jason (January 31, 2005). "Crazy Legs – The Revolutionary". SixShot.com. Web Media Entertainment Gmbh. Archived from the original on February 15, 2010. Retrieved August 27, 2009.
  11. ^ "Elements | Universal Zulu Nation". new.zulunation.com. Archived from the original on December 22, 2016. Retrieved December 22, 2016.
  12. ^ KRS-ONE – 9 Elements, archived from the original on July 28, 2017, retrieved December 22, 2016
  13. ^ Allah, Sha Be (August 11, 2018). "Today in Hip Hop History: Kool Herc's Party At 1520 Sedgwick Avenue 45 Years Ago Marks The Foundation Of The Culture Known As Hip Hop". The Source. Archived from the original on April 2, 2019. Retrieved March 14, 2019.
  14. ^ "KRS-One's 40 Year's of Hip Hop". YouTube. September 6, 2013. Archived from the original on October 8, 2020. Retrieved August 13, 2017.
  15. ^ Chang, Jeff; DJ Kool Herc (2005). Can't Stop Won't Stop: A History of the Hip-Hop Generation. Macmillan. ISBN 978-0-312-30143-9.
  16. ^ "About". Archived from the original on April 4, 2019. Retrieved April 4, 2019.
  17. ^ "Hip-hop is the most listened to genre in the world, according to Spotify analysis of 20 billion tracks | News | Culture | The Independent". independent.co.uk. Archived from the original on April 4, 2016. Retrieved March 29, 2016.
  18. ^ "The Best Hip Hop Songs (On Spotify) Of June 2016". HNHH. July 2016. Archived from the original on October 3, 2016. Retrieved October 2, 2016.


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