A brief history

Subject: HIP HOP'S HISTORY: LEARN!!!
From: Infinite <jdesi@erols.com>
Date: 1997/10/28
Message-ID: <345589C7.36CF@erols.com>
Newsgroups: rec.music.hip-hop

History of rap, huh??? Well, let me give you a quick rundown...

It all started in the summer of 1973 in New York City... A young man named Kool Herc, having come from Jamaica three years earlier, began spinning in the parks in the South Bronx... What made Herc different from most DJs was his "looping" of certain parts of records... What he would do is take the phattest part of a song (callded a "break") and replay it back and forth using two turntables and a mixer... A new song of sorts was created -- a repeating groove -- that kids in the parks would dance to...

It spread, and along with Kool Herc, Afrika Bambaataa and Grandmaster Flash began pumping this new sound... They primarily spun in parks concentrated in the Bronx, but began to expand into the other boroughs (i.e. Queens, Brooklyn, etc...), DJing at public schools, fire halls, and whatever other spots could be rented out...

In Manhattan, you had a whole other set of DJs... The likes of DJ Hollywood, Eddie Cheba, and DJ Pete Jones who played more "disco"... They incorporated elements of hip hop into their sets, however, they lacked the raw feel of Herc, Bam, and Flash... The crowds at their shows had more money and were usually older than the kids in the parks who couldn't afford or were too young for the upscale club scene...

Invariably, MCs (Master Of Ceremonies or Mic Controller) began to sprout up... The title of "first MC" has been widely debated... Some say it was DJ Hollywood, but most die-hard historians of hip hop point to a man in Kool Herc's crew named Coke La Rock... Rapping started simply as getting on the microphone and "shouting out" kids at the party -- thanking them for coming out... Eventually, it evolved into saying catch phrases to excite the crowd, such as "Now throw ya hands in the air / And wave em like you just don't care / And if you got on clean underwear / Let me hear you say 'Oh Yeah'"... At which point, the crowd would yell, "Oh yeah"... This type of interaction with the audience, while the DJ was spinning breaks, led to a more evolved form of MCing where rappers would brag about themselves (i.e. how fly they were, their sexual prowess, their lyrical skills, etc...) or just talk about the party...

Breakdancers were also a vital part of the hip hop culture, as they represented the innovative dancing segment of the crowds... Their steps were composed of both fluid and sporadic movements... It started as "b-boying" with little dance sequences, then incorporated the "popping", "locking", "freezing", and "spinning" most people recognize today... The Rock Steady Crew exemplified the breakdancer... Other crews set their sites on taking their throne, but none were successful... On a side note, the term, "B-Boy", was coined by Kool Herc to describe those in the crowd "b-boying" or rocking the b-boy look (Lee jeans, mockneck shirts, name plates, etc...) ... Among the first of these b-boys were the Nigger Twins who came to just about every jam Herc spun at...

The importance of graffiti can not be overlooked, as a lot of graf heads went to jams and depicted the hip hop culture visually... They added a new dimension to the music, spray painting as an expression of hip hop on walls and subway cars throughout NYC... Some "old school" artists of note include Zephyr, Phase2, Dondi, Future2000, and Lee (of "WildStyle" fame)...

Most of these events took place from 1973 - 1979 or so, spilling into the early 80s... And although I failed to mention numerous pioneers such as Grandwizard Theodore (invented "scratching"), the Cold Crush Brothers, and many more, you must forgive me... I only have so much room for a brief overview... I could write a book on each of hip hop's four aspects (MCing, DJing, Breakdancing, and Aerosol Art or "graffiti"), however, this post simply serves as an introduction to the origins of our culture...

If anyone has any comments or would like to add onto this cipher, I encourage your participation... If you have read this for the first time, please share this knowledge with the deaf, dumb, and blind... Each one, teach one...

Stay up...

J - Decibel