Hip hop

Hip hop or hip-hop is a sub-cultural movement that formed during the early 1970s by African-American and Puerto Rican youths residing in the South Bronx in New York City. It became popular outside of the African-American community in the late 1980s and by the 2000s became the most listened-to musical genre in the world. It is characterized by four distinct elements, all of which represent the different manifestations of the culture: rap music (oral), turntablism or DJing (aural), b-boying (physical) and graffiti art (visual). Even while it continues to develop globally in myriad styles, these four foundational elements provide coherence to hip hop culture. The term is often used in a restrictive fashion as synonymous only with the oral practice of rap music.

The origin of the hip hop culture stems from the block parties of the Ghetto Brothers, when they plugged in the amplifiers for their instruments and speakers into the lampposts on 163rd Street and Prospect Avenue and used music to break down racial barriers, and from DJ Kool Herc at 1520 Sedgwick Avenue, where Herc mixed samples of existing records with his own shouts to the crowd and dancers. Kool Herc is credited as the "father" of hip hop. DJ Afrika Bambaataa of the hip hop collective Zulu Nation outlined the pillars of hip hop culture, to which he coined the terms: MCing or "Emceein", DJing or "Deejayin", B-boying and graffiti writing or "Aerosol Writin".

Hip hop music

Hip hop music, also called hip-hop or rap music, is a music genre formed in the United States in the 1970s that consists of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted. It developed as part of hip hop culture, a subculture defined by four key stylistic elements: MCing/rapping, DJing/scratching, break dancing, and graffiti writing. Other elements include sampling (or synthesis), and beatboxing.

While often used to refer to rapping, "hip hop" more properly denotes the practice of the entire subculture. The term hip hop music is sometimes used synonymously with the term rap music, though rapping is not a required component of hip hop music; the genre may also incorporate other elements of hip hop culture, including DJing, turntablism, and scratching, beatboxing, and instrumental tracks.

Hip-hop dance

Hip-hop dance refers to street dance styles primarily performed to hIP HOP or that have evolved as part of hip-hop culture. It includes a wide range of styles primarily breaking, locking, and popping which were created in the 1970s and made popular by dance crews in the United States. The television show Soul Train and the 1980s films Breakin', Beat Street, and Wild Style showcased these crews and dance styles in their early stages; therefore, giving hip-hop mainstream exposure. The dance industry responded with a commercial, studio-based version of hip-hop—sometimes called "new style"—and a hip-hop influenced style of jazz dance called "jazz-funk". Classically trained dancers developed these studio styles in order to create choreography from the hip-hop dances that were performed on the street. Because of this development, hip-hop dance is practiced in both dance studios and outdoor spaces.

The commercialization of hip-hop dance continued into the 1990s and 2000s with the production of several television shows and movies such as The Grind, Planet B-Boy, Rize, StreetDance 3D, America's Best Dance Crew, Saigon Electric, the Step Up film series, and The LXD, a web series. Though the dance is established in entertainment, including mild representation in theater, it maintains a strong presence in urban neighborhoods which has led to the creation of street dance derivatives Memphis jookin, turfing, jerkin', and krumping.

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Hip Hop

by: Lone Catalysts

Hip hop, a way of life
Chosen by the ghetto youth out of necessity
It involves graffiti, deejaying, breakdancing and emceeing
Which all rely on raw, artistic skill
You know, they used to tell me that this music would never last
Now look at it now, it influences all music here today
So either you respect it we gon' take it back
Hip hop, the voice of the street, the voice of the youth
The voice that you hear, the voice that only we produce
The way that we salute that makes the wildest niggas start to shoot
The voice that recoupes only 12% of the loot
The voice of the groups, like OutKast, LOX and The Roots
The voice of the truth, that no society can ever mute
The voice of the men and women who gave their lives defendin
The God-given rights, they had no choice but to fight
The voice of the black, latino and the white
The voice of the club that makes the freaks come out at night
The voice of the thugs who pop champagne and rock ice
The voice of the shorties who wear tight shirts and talk sheist
The voice of the shook who look one time but not twice
The voice of the crooks at gambling spot with hot dice
The voice of the church, mosque, synagogue and temple
The voice of your soul, your body and your mental
The voice that says "rap!" when I hear a instrumental
The voice that don't stop and it's just that simple
The voice that don't stop and it's just that simple
The voice that don't, d-d-don't, d-don't...
Yo, we live that life that you call hip hop
From the bottom straight to the tip top
Hey Rawls, we got em while them others did not
So if you with the LC, nigga, lick shot
If you live that life they call hip hop
Worldwide everyday tic-toc
This life is like nothin to play with, ock
That's why when I say "shit" you say "shit hot"
That's why when I say "shit" you say "shit hot"
That's why when I say "shit" you say "shit hot"
That's why when I say "shit" you say "shit hot"
That's why when I say "shit" -
(*excerpt from the movie _Wildstyle_*)
[ Double Trouble ]
Cause here's a little story that must be told
About two cool brothers that were put on hold
Tried to hold us back from fortune and fame
They destroyed the crew and they killed our name
They tried to step on the ego and walk on the pride
But true blue brothers stand side by side
Through thick and thin, from beginning to end




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