6.2: The Birth of Hip-Hop
- Page ID
- 292825
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\(\newcommand{\avec}{\mathbf a}\) \(\newcommand{\bvec}{\mathbf b}\) \(\newcommand{\cvec}{\mathbf c}\) \(\newcommand{\dvec}{\mathbf d}\) \(\newcommand{\dtil}{\widetilde{\mathbf d}}\) \(\newcommand{\evec}{\mathbf e}\) \(\newcommand{\fvec}{\mathbf f}\) \(\newcommand{\nvec}{\mathbf n}\) \(\newcommand{\pvec}{\mathbf p}\) \(\newcommand{\qvec}{\mathbf q}\) \(\newcommand{\svec}{\mathbf s}\) \(\newcommand{\tvec}{\mathbf t}\) \(\newcommand{\uvec}{\mathbf u}\) \(\newcommand{\vvec}{\mathbf v}\) \(\newcommand{\wvec}{\mathbf w}\) \(\newcommand{\xvec}{\mathbf x}\) \(\newcommand{\yvec}{\mathbf y}\) \(\newcommand{\zvec}{\mathbf z}\) \(\newcommand{\rvec}{\mathbf r}\) \(\newcommand{\mvec}{\mathbf m}\) \(\newcommand{\zerovec}{\mathbf 0}\) \(\newcommand{\onevec}{\mathbf 1}\) \(\newcommand{\real}{\mathbb R}\) \(\newcommand{\twovec}[2]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\ctwovec}[2]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\threevec}[3]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cthreevec}[3]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\fourvec}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cfourvec}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\fivevec}[5]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \\ #5 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cfivevec}[5]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \\ #5 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\mattwo}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{rr}#1 \amp #2 \\ #3 \amp #4 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\laspan}[1]{\text{Span}\{#1\}}\) \(\newcommand{\bcal}{\cal B}\) \(\newcommand{\ccal}{\cal C}\) \(\newcommand{\scal}{\cal S}\) \(\newcommand{\wcal}{\cal W}\) \(\newcommand{\ecal}{\cal E}\) \(\newcommand{\coords}[2]{\left\{#1\right\}_{#2}}\) \(\newcommand{\gray}[1]{\color{gray}{#1}}\) \(\newcommand{\lgray}[1]{\color{lightgray}{#1}}\) \(\newcommand{\rank}{\operatorname{rank}}\) \(\newcommand{\row}{\text{Row}}\) \(\newcommand{\col}{\text{Col}}\) \(\renewcommand{\row}{\text{Row}}\) \(\newcommand{\nul}{\text{Nul}}\) \(\newcommand{\var}{\text{Var}}\) \(\newcommand{\corr}{\text{corr}}\) \(\newcommand{\len}[1]{\left|#1\right|}\) \(\newcommand{\bbar}{\overline{\bvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\bhat}{\widehat{\bvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\bperp}{\bvec^\perp}\) \(\newcommand{\xhat}{\widehat{\xvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\vhat}{\widehat{\vvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\uhat}{\widehat{\uvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\what}{\widehat{\wvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\Sighat}{\widehat{\Sigma}}\) \(\newcommand{\lt}{<}\) \(\newcommand{\gt}{>}\) \(\newcommand{\amp}{&}\) \(\definecolor{fillinmathshade}{gray}{0.9}\)There was a rapid ascendancy of an unnamed culture formed in the ghettos of New York, when DJ Kool Herc hosted block parties, playing popular funk and soul music. He used 2 turntables to extend the music by isolating the percussion breaks of popular songs. During those percussion breaks, dancers would “battle” in a distinctive style. The term “b-boy” and “b-girl” was coined by DJ Kool Herc to describe the people who would wait for the break section of the song; hence, “breakdancing” was born. This athletic style of street dancing was performed by African American and Puerto Rican youth who pioneered moves such as: top-rocking, down-rocking, power moves, and freezes.
The athletic style of street dancing that started in the 1970s at block parties hosted by DJ Kool Herc, where African American and Puerto Rican youth pioneered moves including top-rocking, down-rocking, power moves, and freezes.
The new culture was officially named when Jamaican American DJ Afrika Bambaataa from South Bronx named the dynamic urban movement “hip-hop” on November 11, 1973, the date when Bambaataa formed a communal organization, the Universal Zulu Nation. His intention was “to eradicate street violence by using the arts as a means to squelch rivalries. Under the Zulu Nation, street gangs transformed into crews, whose members vanquished foes in battles using superior turntable skills, dance, or lyrical talents instead of weapons” (Bynoe, 2006, p. x). Afrika Bambaataa’s series of electro tracks in the 1980s greatly influenced the continued development of this new culture, and through his vision for dance as the catalyst for ‘battle’, his determination to redirect angry, disenfranchised urban youth from the streets revolutionized how they channeled their energies into a more constructive activity. He hosted block parties in the way DJ Kool Herc had modeled as one way to achieve this common goal for social and community improvement (Chang, 2009).
However, amid DJ Kool Herc and DJ Bambaataa’s efforts, there was always a common, underlying pulse which gave life to the new hip-hop culture: Rhythm. This rhythm that gave birth to hip-hop can be illustrated by four elements:
- rhythmic beats the DJ selected
- the rhythm of the dancers' movements
- the MCs' rhyme patterns
- the visual rhythm of graffiti in flowing stylization.
Since then, the democratization of information and media through the internet, a world wide web of global connectivity using platforms including YouTube and Rumble, social media platforms and ‘old school’ physical travel, hip-hop is not confined to disenfranchised youth in The Bronx. Hip-hop dance and culture have been adopted as a rallying cry for many, manifesting in various expressive cultural forms for youth around the world, hip-hop in the 21st century remains revolutionary.