Origins Of Hip-Hop

Hip-hop is a culture born from the ashes of disco and the development of funk. In the early 70s, many funk bands started playing disco because at the time it was the latest trend. Inspired by disco production techniques, funk music began to become technology-driven by absorbing more electronic sounds from synthesizers and rhythm machines. In the mid-1970s, funk became the new dance music in urban America.

Looking at New York at this time, we begin to see an economic collapse. New York City was in a budget crisis and the city's economy was collapsing due to the decline of the manufacturing industry. Much of the white middle class has also started to move to the suburbs, and gang violence has increased. Many opportunities in the music industry and sources of entertainment have evaporated. Nightclubs and nightclubs closed because there was not enough money to pay for entertainment. As a result, urban youths took the party to the streets with mobile audio equipment called "Sound Systems," introduced by Jamaican culture.

During these block parties, DJs played popular music genres, especially funk and soul. Similar to the style of disco DJs in their day, funk DJs would mix percussive pauses in songs together. Mixing and mixing breaks was a common technique used in Jamaican dub music and was later introduced to New York mainly by immigrants from the Caribbean. These rhythmic reinterpretations became the most awaited parts of the songs where people danced the most. A whole new style of break-based dance has emerged called breakdancing, or "b-boying"

One of the most influential early hip-hop DJs was DJ Kool Herc, who was called the "founding father of hip-hop."Kool Herc isolated the instrumental section from a disc that emphasized the drum beat, or "break", then went from one break to the next using a pair of turntables. He would also play two copies of the same disc to extend the break. This juggling style of juggling breakbeat formed the basis of turntablism which strongly influenced the rise of hip-hop music.

MC

To hype the crowd during these block parties, the DJs were accompanied by a Master of Ceremonies, also known as MC or master of ceremonies. An MC would introduce the DJs, entertain the crowd, speak or rhyme with the audience and provide spoken voices over the music. In the late 1970s, record labels such as "Sugar Hill" began to take advantage of the growing trend of DJs and MCs. Some of the earliest rap records were recorded by live disco groups and a rapping MC on music.

The godfather of hip-hop

Afrika Bambaataa, also known as "The Godfather", is one of the most influential and important figures to emerge from the street music scene in New York. In many ways, Bambaataa was a visionary who helped guide the city's youth away from gang violence and into the many expressions of hip hop culture through DJing, rap, beatboxing, breakdancing and visual arts. He formed Zulu Nation, a movement focused on the music of creative people who believed in unity through a positive hip-hop culture.

Discover "Planet Rock" and "Looking for the Perfect Beat", two Bambaataa songs that have become hip-hop hymns.

Early music technology

In the late 1970s and early 1980s,manufacturers of musical instruments began to design more hardware instruments such as the legendary Roland TR-808, which was one of the first programmable rhythm machines. As rap music developed, we 
started to see live drummers being replaced by drum machines and an increased use of DJs scratching records to add a percussive element to the music. At that time, sampling technology appeared and drum machines became widely available to the general public at an affordable cost to the average consumer. DJs have also started to become producers and use sampling technology to reconstruct song breaks rather than using turntables. Legendary samplers like Akai's MPC have allowed producers to take a section of a song and modify it to play as an instrument in a sequence or add additional sounds and texture.

The golden age of hip-hop

By the late 1980s, hip hop had spread across the country. Record labels have recognized the genre as an emerging trend and have started investing a lot of money in the movement. New scenes and different styles have emerged from city to city as the culture has become popular. The music quickly developed and became more complex as well. The new generation of hip-hop producers had access to more advanced drum machines and samplers that allowed them to take sampling and layering sounds to the next level. This new era was labeled as the "golden age" of hip-hop and lasted throughout the 1980s and early 1990s. During this period, hip-hop was largely experimental and characterized by its sound, its diversity, its innovation, its attitude and the influences of different regions. New and innovative production techniques have been discovered leading to more advanced styles. Even the lyrical content of hip-hop rappers has evolved.

Sampling and copyright

In the early 1990s, sampling was widely used in rap. The original copyright owners of the sampled music heard parts of their songs used in new rap music and realized that they were not paid for it. After numerous lawsuits, copyright laws have been implemented, requiring artists to erase all samples in advance to avoid prosecution. Deleting the samples was very expensive and many record companies could not afford to delete all the samples. Rap music started to take a whole new direction and the producers had to start making their own sounds rather than relying heavily on the samples. We started hearing a completely different sound because the producers were no longer drawing from samples of funk, disco and rock songs. Music began to lose much of its jazz, soul and aesthetics.

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