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WHAT IS HIP HOP?
The Four Elements of Hip Hop
Hip hop is music — and a culture, encompassing speech, styles of dress, art, poetry and dancing, as well as "rapping." Purists have narrowed the major components of the culture into four loosely defined categories: deejaying, emceeing, breaking and graffiti art.
Deejaying
Jamaican immigrant Kool Herc, inspired by the “dubbing” and “toasting” from his native home, is credited with introducing deejaying to New York. Early New York DJs improvised, using a pair of turntables as a makeshift instrument when funding for school music programs were cut. Later Afrika Bambataa evolved the art of deejaying.
MCing, or Emceeing
MCs have become a centralized figure in hip hop. Commercially, MCs are known as
rappers. During hip hop’s early days, MCs played a supporting role, accompanying the deejay and carrying crates of records. They used a microphone to talk over breakbeats and publicize their own neighborhoods while the deejay spun records. As competition for this position increased, MCs engaged in one-upmanship, boasting of their greatness in the face of inner city economic despair.
Breaking
Also known as b-boying, the dances that accompany the music have many influences. Kids in diverse New York neighborhoods were exposed to Eastern martial arts, tap dancing, gymnastics, salsa, Afro-Cuban and Native American dances. In the late ‘90’s b-boys and b-girls integrated moves from capoeira, a 16th century fighting dance developed by Brazilian slaves preparing for resistance.
Graffiti
Urban graffiti, using spray cans to create stylized murals and “tags” to create art in public spaces, gave kids a means of self-expression and a chance to spread political messages.
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