6.1: Introduction - Hip-Hop and Other Revolutions
- Page ID
- 292824
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\(\newcommand{\avec}{\mathbf a}\) \(\newcommand{\bvec}{\mathbf b}\) \(\newcommand{\cvec}{\mathbf c}\) \(\newcommand{\dvec}{\mathbf d}\) \(\newcommand{\dtil}{\widetilde{\mathbf d}}\) \(\newcommand{\evec}{\mathbf e}\) \(\newcommand{\fvec}{\mathbf f}\) \(\newcommand{\nvec}{\mathbf n}\) \(\newcommand{\pvec}{\mathbf p}\) \(\newcommand{\qvec}{\mathbf q}\) \(\newcommand{\svec}{\mathbf s}\) \(\newcommand{\tvec}{\mathbf t}\) \(\newcommand{\uvec}{\mathbf u}\) \(\newcommand{\vvec}{\mathbf v}\) \(\newcommand{\wvec}{\mathbf w}\) \(\newcommand{\xvec}{\mathbf x}\) \(\newcommand{\yvec}{\mathbf y}\) \(\newcommand{\zvec}{\mathbf z}\) \(\newcommand{\rvec}{\mathbf r}\) \(\newcommand{\mvec}{\mathbf m}\) \(\newcommand{\zerovec}{\mathbf 0}\) \(\newcommand{\onevec}{\mathbf 1}\) \(\newcommand{\real}{\mathbb R}\) \(\newcommand{\twovec}[2]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\ctwovec}[2]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\threevec}[3]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cthreevec}[3]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\fourvec}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cfourvec}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\fivevec}[5]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \\ #5 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cfivevec}[5]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \\ #5 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\mattwo}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{rr}#1 \amp #2 \\ #3 \amp #4 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\laspan}[1]{\text{Span}\{#1\}}\) \(\newcommand{\bcal}{\cal B}\) \(\newcommand{\ccal}{\cal C}\) \(\newcommand{\scal}{\cal S}\) \(\newcommand{\wcal}{\cal W}\) \(\newcommand{\ecal}{\cal E}\) \(\newcommand{\coords}[2]{\left\{#1\right\}_{#2}}\) \(\newcommand{\gray}[1]{\color{gray}{#1}}\) \(\newcommand{\lgray}[1]{\color{lightgray}{#1}}\) \(\newcommand{\rank}{\operatorname{rank}}\) \(\newcommand{\row}{\text{Row}}\) \(\newcommand{\col}{\text{Col}}\) \(\renewcommand{\row}{\text{Row}}\) \(\newcommand{\nul}{\text{Nul}}\) \(\newcommand{\var}{\text{Var}}\) \(\newcommand{\corr}{\text{corr}}\) \(\newcommand{\len}[1]{\left|#1\right|}\) \(\newcommand{\bbar}{\overline{\bvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\bhat}{\widehat{\bvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\bperp}{\bvec^\perp}\) \(\newcommand{\xhat}{\widehat{\xvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\vhat}{\widehat{\vvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\uhat}{\widehat{\uvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\what}{\widehat{\wvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\Sighat}{\widehat{\Sigma}}\) \(\newcommand{\lt}{<}\) \(\newcommand{\gt}{>}\) \(\newcommand{\amp}{&}\) \(\definecolor{fillinmathshade}{gray}{0.9}\)After reading this chapter you will be able to do the following:
- Identify and analyze the contributions of key elements and historical contributors to the development of hip-hop dance and culture.
- Explain how hip-hop culture has become a global phenomenon and assess the pros and cons of this transmission of culture.
- Discuss the cultural function of hip-hop as a tool for social identity and rebellion for communities in the United States, Tunisia, and Korea.
Introduction
Hip-hop was a revolution. A revolution involves a powerful energetic change that permanently shifts what was once accepted social exchanges. Like many other revolutions, American-born hip-hop is continuing to transform, inform, and inspire those who receive the messages in motion, transmitted around the world. Other revolutions, like Hip Life, Afrobeats, and South African House, to name a few, continue evolving and upheaving social norms in global music and dance culture. The need for revolutions come from within those who are compelled to share messages with their communities. This chapter will delve into such hip-hop rooted revolutions.
The roots of hip-hop are anchored in the poetic expressive traditions of Africa that migrated with the people, whose rhythms and musical characteristics have woven their way into modern forms of expression in the African diaspora. The invention of hip-hop music and rap originate from the call and response patterns of defensive war chants and religious ceremonies traced primarily to the griots of West African culture. Hip-hop culture as we know it today formed during the 1970s when block parties became a popular pastime, particularly among African American and Latino youth residing in the Bronx, New York. Block parties were effective in getting disenfranchised youth off the streets to create instead a community of practice centered not on conflict, but a new way to battle: hip-hop.
In this chapter, we will explore hip-hop as a community of practice for dancers and musicians in the ghettoes of New York and Los Angeles, and hip-hop as a revolution. The democratization of information and media through the internet extended the revolutionary reach and impact of hip-hop dance and culture around the world. We will learn how hip-hop is a tool for social rebellion and political messaging, as well as major player in the global cultural economy. But hip hop is not only dance, and though this is a textbook about dance, this chapter necessarily must cross-inform, pulling from the four main conduits for dropping knowledge: graffiti, DJs, MCs, and dance movement.
Graffiti is the visual manifestation of poignant statements frozen in time. DJs are those who not only mix beats but have the power to preserve and suspend beats as the crowd demands through their movement conversation with the music. MCs came to the forefront in American hip-hop as listening to music on the radio became a popular method of mass consumption. Movement has continued to transform with the shifting needs of what dancers need to say, how to say it, and how to engage their audience. Hip-hop is not only a genre of music, or a style of dance, but manifests in fashion and graffiti art, as well. Hip-hop is ripe with powerful political messaging but may have been tarnished by its rampant global corporatism, but no matter what, hip-hop culture is alive, its inclusive, its comprehensive, and as we will learn, hip-hop is revolutionary.
Key Words
- Breakdancing
- Cypher
- Freestyle
- Graffiti
- Rap