Birth of a Genre
Hip-hop is the streets. A couple of elements that it comes from back in the days that feel of music with urgency that speaks to you. It speaks to your livelihood and it's not compromised -Na$
The First Time My Mama Heard Hip Hop
It was 1979, she was sophomore in high school. She walked into the commons area by the cafeteria. She had sat with her friends and they were talking and laughing and checking out the boys. Then she heard her a foreign sound — rhythms coming from the stereo…It wasn’t the Funky-Disco scene she was used to and it damn sure wasn’t Jazz…what was that sound? So she and her friends walked to where the crowd had gathered, everyone wanted to know what was that melody floating through the speakers. This dude who was into her at the time walked up behind her, gave her a kiss on the cheek. She turned her head, smiled, and asked him about the music. He said “that my dear, is hip hop”.
What Is Hip Hop?
Definition per M.C. KRS-One: “Hip" = present, "Hop"= action
“So, Hip Hop is a movement that represents the freedom to learn, grow, and evolve.
Despite the negativity and tumult in the South Bronx, Hip Hop heads were able to rise above their environment and create a positive form of release.
Instead of substances and violence, their energy was redirected to values like originality, creativity, identity, respect, and community.”
5 Elements of Hip Hop
Deejaying (D.J.): short for disc jockey, a term that dates back to the 1940s. In hip-hop, a DJ is an artist that uses turntables and mixing techniques to create music and beats. An MC/rapper (which could be the DJ themselves) accompanies this music with rhymes and vocals.
(M.C.): the act of singing or rhythmically rhyming while a DJ plays beats. MCing is said to have emerged during the 1970s, but it traces its origins back through African culture and oral traditions.
Breakdancing: An acrobatic form of dance that often uses choreography, footwork, and movements. Today, breakdancing has reached mainstream acceptance to the point of being a 2024 Olympic event.
Crate Digging: A term for the hip-hop world for when one goes to a record store to look for records to sample.
Graffiti: Modern artistic graffiti, also known as tagging or writing, is said to date back to the ’60s in the city of Philly by Darryl “Cornbread” McCray wrote his nickname on walls and buildings.
Knowledge: Hip-hop is often used for social change and as a means to give a voice to oppressed peoples. 1
L: When was the first time you heard hip hop?
Jah Smalls: Wow, you're taking me way back…
It started with break beats for me. I grew up in Brooklyn during the 70's. So there's a ton of freestyle rap battles etc…
L: Sounds like a scene from the movie, Brown Sugar…
Jah Smalls: Yes, they used to set up DJ equipment in the school yard and get the electricity from the street light…
A Timeline of the Birth of Hip Hop
1970: The self-titled debut by New York’s The Last Poets is released. The spoken-word-with-music album signals the rap-fueled hip-hop revolution to follow.
1973: At an Aug. 12 Brooklyn house party, DJ Kool Herc (aka The Father of Hip Hop) creates the break-beat, a foundational element in hip-hop. He did so by playing the same two records on two side-by-side turntables, and alternating back and forth between them, to create a drum-fueled rhythmic loop. He will be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame on Nov. 3.
1975: DJ Grand Wizzard Theodore invents scratching — a staple for hip-hop DJs — by accidentally moving the needle back and forth on a vinyl record.
1979: The Sugarhill Gang’s song “Rapper’s Delight” is the first hip-hop song to become a national Top 40 hit and to use “hip-hop” in its lyrics: Hip-hop, hippie to the hippie, to the hip-hip-hop and you don’t stop. 2
1980: Kurtis Blow’s “The Breaks” becomes a Top 5 R&B hit and is the first hip-hop song to earn gold record certification for sales of more than 500,000. His 1979 song, “Christmas Rappin’,” was the first hip-hop song released by a major record label.
1982: “Wild Style,” the first feature film about hip-hop, is released.
1983: Run-D.M.C.’s debut single, “It’s Like That/Sucker MCs,” welcome to a new, drum machine-driven era in hip-hop, while the video for the song earned airplay on MTV. The single has now sold more than 5 million copies worldwide.
1985: The New York trio The Fat Boys’ partnership with the Swatch watch company makes them the first hip-hop act to sign a corporate endorsement deal.
1988: N.W.A.’s debut, “Straight Outta Compton,” sells more than 500,000 copies, becoming the first gangsta-rap release to earn that designation.
1st Women of Hip Hop
Sha-Rock (Sharon Green)
In 1981, Sha-Rock, was the first woman to show her M.C. skills on national television. She grew up in the Bronx and first took her place in the hip hop world during the year of ‘76 as a B-girl.
She took on the rap name MC Sha-Rock and was a member of the hip hop group the Funky Four; later called the Funky 4 + 1 (she was the plus one) after she took a brief leave of absence.
Sha-Rock was the first female MC of a hip hop group and received the nickname “First Lady of Hip Hop.” She was known for her ability to rhyme and her technological innovation with the use of an echo chamber, which became common in hip hop.3
It seems that throughout her entire career she has had to fight for her title as the first lady in the business. On June 3rd, she hosted 'Sha-Rock Day'
Roxanne Shante (Lolita Shante Gooden)
In 1984 at the age of 14, she blew our minds with a diss record to UTFO's "Roxanne, Roxanne." The 12-inch single, "Roxanne's Revenge" sold over 250,000 copies.
At the age of 25, she had retired from her rap career, but she still made appearances. She currently hosts ‘Have A Nice Day’ with Roxanne Shante on LL Cool J’s Rock the Bells Sirius XM Radio Show. If I am not mistaken it comes on the air 4pm Eastern Time for me. I listen to the beginning of the show on my commute from work to home.
Trailer from the film, ‘Roxanne, Roxanne’ that premiered on Netflix in 2017
M.C. Lyte (Lana Moorer)
MC Lyte (my personal fav) is one of Brooklyn finest and began rhyming as a teenager. She recorded her first song - “I Cram to Understand U (Sam)” in 1986 - when she was only 16. The song speaks about crack addition and how it affected a relationship.
In 1988, she became Hip-hop’s first woman artist to release a solo album Lyte As A Rock.4
Salt-N-Pepa
This hip hop group was formed in Queens, New York City in 1985, with the beautiful ladies: Salt (Cheryl James) and Pepa (Sandra Denton). Their debut album, Hot, Cool & Vicious (1986), sold more than 1 million copies in the US, making them the first female rap act to achieve gold and platinum status by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Also on this album they made a diss, “The Showstoppa,” an answer record to “The Show” by rapper Doug E. Fresh.
I’ve recently transitioned from Apple Music to Spotify. This is my recent list of jamz which grows weekly as I come across the songs I love.
Feel free to listen & let the nostalgia kick in.
For those who haven’t come across Hip Hop from this time period, you do not know what you are missing!!
https://www.dictionary.com/e/five-elements-of-hip-hop/
https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/entertainment/music/story/2023-08-06/hip-hop-history-a-timeline-of-key-events
https://wams.nyhistory.org/end-of-the-twentieth-century/a-conservative-turn/mc-sha-rock-hip-hop-pioneer/
http://hiphoparchive.org/artists/mc-lyte
Wow! Love it! So much history and nostalgia. During the 80's hip-hop era, my best friend and I got jobs at a roller rink/nightclub so we could immerse ourself in the music, the sound, the party...and get paid!
Love this! If you haven’t already check out the evolution of hip-hop, it’s a Netflix documentary. “My how far we’ve come from the grand masters of hip hop!”