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Hip Hop Vs Rap Culture

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Hip-hop is probably the most popular genre of music in the United States today. It isn’t just a genre of music; it is a culture that has had influences on other genres of music as well. Some might view this type of music as being a bad influence because they might rap about gang violence or drugs. There are many different types of artists and sub genres in hip-hop and rap. Hip-hop and rap is a platform of music for the artists to voice their opinions of society. This outlet for the African American community has been especially important to rap about the history of the treatment of African Americans in our country. Hip-hop has transformed in so many different ways overtime since its birth in the 1970s. Before getting into the history and the …show more content…

The first major hip-hop dj was DJ Kool Herc. He was an 18-year-old immigrant from Jamaica who introduced the huge sound systems of his native Jamaica to events and parties in the Bronx. He used equipment such as turntables, to meld percussive fragments from older records with popular dance songs to create a continuous flow of music. DJ Kool Herc was one of many pioneering hip-hop dj’s such as Grand Wizard Theodore, Afrika Bambaataa, and Grandmaster Flash. Djs could be considered the most important component to rap music because they are responsible for creating the beat and sound that is supposed to flow with the rap lyrics. At this time the type of dancing that was popular with this music was break dancing, which was a style of dancing with acrobatic and occasionally airborne moves, including gravity-defying head spins and backspins. DJ Kool Herc is known to be the one credited with being the father of modern rapping but there were many other artists that paved the way for the young rappers we know today. Some of the most famous and influential rappers of all time are Biggie Smalls, Tupac Shakur, Nas, and of course Eminem. There is so many to name but that is my opinion of the four fathers of Hip-hop and rap. Also to mention is how graffiti played a significant role in helping define hip-hop culture in its early stages. Graffiti writing essentially helped define the visual component of hip-hop culture because it provided a platform for people to express themselves just like they do when they compose there rap lyrics. Some people used graffiti to create murals or to write quotes even though most people relate graffiti to gangs tagging. By the 1980s a new wave of hip hop hit with groups and artists such as N.W.A. and Snoop Dog. The rap songs were mostly about the life of a gangster living in the hood. Labels such as Death Row Records built an empire off of the violent genre of gangsta rap. There are

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