Friday, July 4, 2014

A History Of Underground Hip Hop And Popular Music

By Todd S. Braun


Hip Hop music has its roots in the black funk and soul music of the 70's. Rap originated from the R&B tradition of which is complemented by the sampling and scratching which began in black ghettos of the United States. Hip Hop refers to not only a musical genre, but also the youth culture characterized by elements of rap (MCing), DJing, breakdancing, graffiti writing and beatboxing.



Two years earlier, a young MC named Schooly D launched his career. Although it was rather unspectacular, he earned a reputation with his innovative lyrics. At the same time, Gangsta Rap was accused of glorifying violence, rather than constructively tackling it. The group defended themselves mostly with the argument that they only simulated the conditions in ghettos.

This was confirmed by top chart positions by artists such as K'naan, Kid Cudi, Drake or Nicki Minaj in the following years. Since the early 1990s, Hip Hop had spread internationally. Typical styles of each country have emerged, but overall the performers from the United States remain dominant. In Europe, Hip Hop was already falling on fertile ground around the 80s, in places such as Paris and Marseille. There also exist Hip Hop scenes in other countries (e. G, Germany, Poland, Belgium).

Also worth mentioning is British Hip Hop, which produced its own brand of Britcore, as well as Brazilian Hip Hop, it introduced its own style, influenced by the Bass Music Rio Funk. In Africa, a diverse scene developed in the meantime, often in its search for American role models but also produces independent varieties of African Hip Hop. Hip Hop music can indeed take many forms: either limited to beats of DJs, in which case the term rap is not appropriate. The term rap, let alone Hip Hop, cannot be applied to slam.

Consolidation of Hip Hop as a separate style with its own techniques called mixtapes came in 1979, when the disco Fatback band together with the rapper King Tim III Personality Jock band released a single. A week later came the famous "Rapper's Delight" by Sugar Hill Gang, which was a huge success, to the surprise of all concerned, it sold over 8 million copies worldwide.

The genre fits both continuity and rupture with black American music. It continuous manifestation as a distant descendant of complaints about the living conditions of African Americans in the Bronx, the tradition of improvisation appeared with ragtime and jazz, and musical dialogues (call and response).

Unlike older styles of African-American music that reflected only incidentally or diverted living conditions of black communities, Hip Hop stands as the very expression of these conditions and proposes to stick to street, that is, follow the codes and relationships that govern life in ghettos.

Although officially, neither the west or east coast had triumphed. The Hip Hop market was dominated by the presence of gangsta rappers of the West Coast, and their successors. Since the turn of the millennium, however, the dominance of West Coast rappers has fallen. In recent years, however, Detroit has drawn attention to itself. For the most part, the most famous representative is Eminem, the careers of other artists such as D12, G Unit, Obie Trice, Stat Quo, or 50 cents also enjoyed the limelight. Eminem was discovered by Dr. Dre, who now operates a branch in New York with Aftermath Records. Although this music in now mainstream, it took a series of underground Hip Hop producers to innovate and bring this music to popular prominence.




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