{"id":4435,"date":"2023-08-14T17:39:26","date_gmt":"2023-08-14T17:39:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mpelembe.net\/?p=4435"},"modified":"2023-08-14T17:39:26","modified_gmt":"2023-08-14T17:39:26","slug":"hip-hop-at-50-how-the-sights-sounds-and-moves-of-the-music-spread-across-the-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mpelembe.net\/index.php\/hip-hop-at-50-how-the-sights-sounds-and-moves-of-the-music-spread-across-the-world\/","title":{"rendered":"Hip-hop at 50: how the sights, sounds and moves of the music spread across the\u00a0world"},"content":{"rendered":"

Adam de Paor-Evans<\/a>, University of Plymouth<\/a><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

On August 11 1973, DJ Kool Herc and his sister Cindy threw the now legendary Back To School jam in the recreation room of 1520 Sedgewick Avenue in The Bronx, New York. <\/p>\n

Herc\u2019s party represented a coming together of music and the start of something new. The Bronx crowd did not want the dancehall sounds<\/a> Herc had begun to play. They wanted soul and the tough percussion of funk. So, Herc changed up the sound and used the main switch for the lights like a strobe-light to add atmosphere. Little did they know, that his event<\/a> would be commonly accepted by the hip-hop fraternity worldwide as the starting point of what was to become one of the most important creative movements of the last century. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

This year, members of the hip-hop community, spanning several generations, will be celebrating the core elements of hip-hop culture: graffiti, breaking (or breakdancing), DJing and rapping that have thrived in the last 50 years. <\/p>\n

Although 1973 is recognised as the year that gave birth to hip-hop, it was not until 1979 that the first rap records connected to hip-hop culture were recorded. Fatback\u2019s King Tim III (Personality Jock)<\/a> arrived in the spring of that year followed by Sugarhill Gang\u2019s Rapper\u2019s Delight in the late summer. Over the next three years, a swathe of disco-oriented rap records followed, solidifying hip-hop culture through the medium of vinyl.<\/p>\n

Hip-hop\u2019s development<\/h2>\n

The six years between 1973 and 1979 are hugely significant to hip-hop\u2019s development. Grandmaster Flash, DJ Mean Gene, GrandWizzard Theodore, DJ Breakout and DJ Baron from The Brothers Disco<\/a>], Afrika Bambaataa and Kool Herc were each pioneering hip-hop jams in their respective Bronx neighbourhoods. MCs and rappers, such as Coke La Rock, Grandmaster Caz and M.C. G.L.O.B.E.<\/a>, also developed rap styles. <\/p>\n

Breakers were also progressing breaking moves, styles and forms of dance in response to the breakbeat \u2013 the parts of the record where rhythm and percussion takes over. Kool Herc developed the Merry-Go-Round<\/a>, a method of continuing the break by utilising two copies of the same record, thus providing a music space where breakers could dance longer and in more creative ways.<\/p>\n

\n