- Hip Hop is a music genre and culture. It involves rapping, beatboxing, DJing, and dancing. Influences of hip hop include African American and Latino music, street dancing, spoken word poetry, and DJ block parties.
- Clive Campbell is often called the “Father of Hip Hop”. He was born in Jamaica and moved to the US at the age of 11. His school friends called him Hercules because of his size. Clive Campbell grew up listening to Jamaican DJ battles. When he became a DJ in the 70’s, Clive Campbell named himself Kool Herc.
- Kool Herc’s special technique of mixing records became very popular. DJs learned to buy two copies of an album. They remixed the tracks to prolong the drum solos or “breakbeats” . Rhyming, scratching, break dancing and emcee battling became part of the new hip-hop culture. Hip hop dancers were called b-boys or b-girls. The “b” stood for break, breaker, or break dancer.
- The term “rap music” was coined in 1978. The word “rap” was an African American English word meaning “to say” or “to converse”. Rap music refers to speaking in rhymes to a musical beat. Rap crews began to form in the late 70’s, and rap singles hit the music charts soon after. The world famous Beastie Boys formed in 1981. By 1983, Ice T had introduced a new kind of hip hop called gansta rap. Gansta rap lyrics reflected the violent lives of inner city youths.
- Early rap music was often about street life. In the late 80’s and 90’s, hip hop artists often rapped about political issues . Prior to the 2008 Presidential election, many hip hop rappers began endorsing Barack Obama. They did this by using his name in lyrics, such as “Critics say we can’t, but Barack says we can.”
- Eminem is sometimes referred to as the “King of Hip Hop”. This rapper from Detroit burst on to the scene in 1999. Eminem’s real name is Marshall Bruce Mathers III. Eminem also goes by the name Slim Shady. In 2000, Eminem’s second album sold 1.76 million copies in its first week. Eminem set many world records, including fastest selling album and most liked “living” person on Facebook.
Pre-Reading Warm Up Questions
- What words do you think of when you hear the word “hip hop”?
- What is the difference between rap and hip hop?
- Do you enjoy hip hop music? Why or why not?
- What is the role of a DJ?
- Why might a reading about hip hop mention Barack Obama?