The Hip Hop Music Genre - Essay Example

Introduction This is the kind of music you listen to almost everywhere you are since it is widely played. Talk of the dance halls, when attending afriend's party and inside the car when traveling; inside coffee houses and other eateries; and inside homes as the family members relax with the music drifting from somewhere. These are some of the many areas that you can expect to here this music played. Known as hip hop, it is a very popular music genre in America which also goes by the name rap. The term hip hop was coined by a rapper known as Keith Cowboy who was a group member of the Grandmaster flash and the Furious five band. He did this when he was teasing a friend who had joined the U.S. army by singing these words i.e. hip hop hip hop in a manner that imitated the rhythm of marching soldiers. He then used the hip hop rhythm in a part of his performance on stage from where other artistes picked. The word first appeared in print form in a book titled Village Voice that was authored by Steven Hager. Hip hop music is a music genre that is comprised of two major components, which are, rapping which is also referred to as MCing or it also goes by the name DJing; and record scratching. Rapping utilizes vocals where the performer speaks rhythmically to supportive beats which are in most cases generated from some bits of other songs. The history of hip hop has it that it has evolved through two main eras; the era of old school hip hop that ranged from the year 1970 and lasted till the year 1985. The new age or golden era of the hip hop school began in 1985 and lasted till the year 1993 Rappers are also known to recite poems in the course of making the hip hop performance. The other components include graffiti which is usually made on the clothing wore by the performers, and break dancing. Some instrumentals played in the version or trend that depicts hip hop are also categorized into this group hence regarded as hip hop. It is worth noting that hip hop music is part of the larger hip hop culture that comprises of fashion, music and art. Hip hop is characterized with a drum beat that regularly takes up the 4/4 time signature. It might be accompanied with vocal bit of the music which might also be ignored. The hip hop music might be presented by a live band or as produced music Roots of hip hop lyricism The roots of hip hop can be dated back to the 1970's. They can be found in music that was played by the West African and African Americans that were living in this era. These West African hip hops fore fathers also known as the griots played songs and made poems that had a musical style that was suggestive of hip hop music. They were composed of a group of singers and poets and they were engaged in much traveling and singing as their career. This group of singers also forms part of an oral tradition that existed hundreds of years past (Flores 2000P24). The other fore fathers of rap were found in the New York City who made their performances in a similar manner as the griots. They gave performances of a poetic nature as well as music that suggested hip hop. They held the traditions known as talking blues; signifying the dozens and jazz poetry- all of which makes part of oral tradition. Some other groups of people who made great contributions to the roots of hip hop include a group popular for poetry and that was known as the last poets, and a poet known by the name Jalal Mansur Nurridin who was vocal even in the 1960s The popularization of the block parties in the New York City during the 1970s led to the greatest development of the hip hop music. This can be attributed to the fact that music especially of the funk and soul music nature was often played heavily in these parties. Frequent playing of this music led to the discovery of a means of playing the percussion breaks in songs that had formed part of the most popular hits during those days. This was after it was realized that the parts that were isolated were the most danceable parts that entertained crowds the most. DJ Kool Herc has been famed as being responsible for bringing this technique to the New York City from Jamaica. A most popular party that incorporated these songs is the Bronx (Flores 2000P25). The techniques of mixing and matching, those of scratching and those of juggling the beat were also applied on the hip hop music soon after the breaks were introduced. All the above developments led to the creation of new ways of singing that ensured that hip hop could be rapped over and over again. Eventually, a form of music piracy developed with a lot of artists taking up the productions of the other artistes and redesigned them using the new techniques of mixing and scratching. This eventually led to the creation of a more refined hip hop genre of music- this is the process that led to the beginning of the remixing of music (Mitchell 2001PP17-18). Hip hop went through greater development with the contribution of the Jamaican immigrants who influenced rapping to a great degree from the influence of their indigenous habit of toasting, and the American African performers who added chants that were meant to elicit responses from their audiences. This was incorporated into hip hop giving it a new dimension. At the same time as the MCs struggled to give performances that were unique to them and through which their audiences could attach to them, the hip hop music was pushed to yet another level of development. The commonest dance style that often accompanied the hip hop performances in the 1970s was the break dance that pulled great crowds during the block parties with the audience dancing to the music. Hip hop also had some affiliation to disco as evidenced by the hip hop DJs Pete DJ Jones and DJ Hollywood among others. The popular hip hop singers of the 1970's include Kool Herc, a group that was known as the Universal Zulu Nation, and a single performing rapper Melle Mel, Kurtis Blow and Spoonie Gee to name but a few of the early MCs that saw the beginning of the hip hop music. The hip hop music at this particular juncture was used by the African Americans to voice out their concerns and to expose the things they were going through. This is because of the choice of the words they were inputting in the lyrics of their songs which reflected their day to day living and the challenges they were going through as black people. The 1980s saw another dawn for the hip hop music since more and greater enrichment of this genre was experienced. Some of the productions made during this decade include the Beat pop produced in the year 1983 by rappers Rammellzee and K-Rob and the album 'It's yours' that was done by T La Rock (Mitchell 2001P19). Both of the above mentioned performances were characterized by heavy usage of drum sets. Kick drums were used through out the 80's. The incorporation of the kick-drum in the production of hip hop is still widely in use today though the versions used today are much more complex than those that were used in the 1980s. Sampling of technology also took another turn with increased intensity and offered a wider memory and greater flexibility that allowed production of hip hop music parts that were greatly creative. This was made possible by the filtering and the layering and late the mixing of the tracks into sequences that it helped make possible. Another change that was experienced in the music arena during the 1980s is the content and the theme of the piece of production. The content of the pieces that were performed in the 1970's were overhauled by the introduction of the highly symbolic lyrics. These were often rapped over beats that sounded complex and multi layered to a point that the genre was viewed by many as pieces of novelty as opposed to being matured art pieces (Maxwell 2003P60). The audience and reception of this genre of music also expanded a great deal to the point that it broke its traditional boundaries of dominance in the New York City to other parts of the world e.g. the early 1980s saw the music received in South Africa, Japan and Germany as break-dance but later took up rapping later in the decade. The recorded form of this music found its way to the French market where it was widely received. Foreign rappers also took up the art e.g. the Spanish rapper called Vico C took up rapping in Puerto Rico. The new school of hip hop had its beginnings in the year 1985. This era only began once hip hop found its way into the mainstream music. By so doing, it consolidated the contributions of the west coast with those of the east coast. It also originated in the New York City. This new version of the hip hop music had some differences from the old school hip hop. The instruments that backed the golden era music were mostly dominated by the use of drum machines that were played in close resemblance to rock. The content of the pieces of music also changed greatly with dominant usage of the socio-political; and rapping boasts and tease themes. These messages were delivered in hostile and self assertive styles. This mode of delivery displayed the MC as cool headed, tough and firm - a stint that led them to contrast sharply with their old school counterparts. At the same time, the artists kept the length of their songs much shorter than those done in the old school (Perry 2004P34). The golden age in hip hop saw the performances characterized with great deal of innovation that totally elevated the quality of the songs and spread the influence of these songs to a greater number of audiences. The theme carried by the songs had strong notions of political militancy and afro-centricity. This same decade saw the birth of the sub genre gangsta rap in the mid 80s. It was pioneered by some hip hop MCs like Schooly D and Ice T. support for this subgenre was set in the year 1988 where it was formalized and viewed as part of hip hop. Its main centre was declared as Los Angeles as well. The gangsta rappers group that was known as the niggaz with attitude assisted with the promotion of the west coast hip hop to the same stance as was the east coast hip hop (Mitchell 2001P17). The decade of the 1990s saw a greater development of the music subgenre hip hop. It was characterized by the use of a new dancing style that is known as G Funk that came to dominate the rap and general hip hop that had dominated the west coast. This style had been pioneered by an artiste known as Dr. Dre. In 1993, the hip hop artiste Snoop Doggy Dog came up with another newer dancing style; doggy style that brought greater revolution to hip hop (Mitchell 2008P34). The east coast was also represented by rising hip hop stars like the Notorious B.I.G. who was from New York. This decade saw the rise of a great number of hip hop stars both from the west and the east coasts. The development of new styles of dancing was also great and it surpassed the previous decades by far. Apart from the many stars that arose during this period and the numerous styles of dancing, this era also saw the emergence of music that was remixed and widely assimilated with elements from the other genres e.g. there was the emergence of Nu soul that was a combination of elements of both soul and hip hop; merenrap was the result of the fusion between the elements of hip hop and those of meringue while the Jamaican influence on hip hop greatly covered most of the new York hip hop music during the 90s. This decade also witnessed the expansion of the audience of the hip hop to the entire globe with the greatest influence felt in Europe, Africa, and Asia. Production of the hip hop songs sprouted in Germany, France, Turkey, Romania, and Palestine accompanied with the rise of musicians who not only supported hip hop but who also got into performing. The music subgenres like snap music and crunk were invented in the 2000s. This era has also witnessed the rise of a number of new hip hop artistes on a global scale with the artistes preferring to have influence from their own countries so that they can identify with the performances. Recording of the hip hop music started in the year 1979 with either the rapper group sugar hill Gang's Delight of the rappers or King Tim III of the personality Jock making their first recording. By the year 1980, all the most important elements that made up this genre and the techniques used to do performances in this genre were fully developed. Popularity of this genre of music had reached the African Americans who even lived outside of the New York City to as far as the Washington DC, Toronto, Baltimore and New Orleans among many other parts (Flores 2000P23). Conclusion From the discussion above, it is quite evident that the hip hop genre of music has gone through various changes from its inception to date. It has had great enrichment and widened its audience and support to a great extent to a point that it has won the support at a global scale. Its influence is felt in the daily living where some of the artistes decide to speak up for the groups that experience some form of injustice within the society. The great entertainment that the performances give is a real plus to the accommodation the genre has managed to receive from its lovers the world over. From the continued changes that have been experienced in this culture from the time of its inception to date, I believe we could expect more and more changes as this genre gets to live on in the coming days. References Flores, J (2000) "From bomba to hip-hop" Oxford university press PP23-25 Maxwell I (2003)Phat beats, dope rhymes: hip hop down under comin'upper books.google.com P60 Mitchell, T. (2008) "Australian hip hop as a 'glocal' subculture Wile Blackwell P34 Mitchell, T. (2001) "Global noise, Rap and hip-hop outside the USA" Wile Blackwell PP17-19 Perry, I. (2004) "Prophets of the hood, Politics and poetics in hip hop" Revi publishers p34 Read More