In order to understand Rap music, one has to come to understand what is known as the Hip Hop culture. Rap is a very important part of the evolution of this Hip Hop culture. Besides music, Hip Hop consisted of graffiti, break dancing, new attitudes, and a unique style of clothing. As I have come to understand through my resources, the origin of the Hip Hop culture was centered in the Bronx in New York City. To get a better understanding of how the Hip Hop culture developed, we have to get a better understanding of the conditions which existed at this time.

In Steven Haver’s book, “Hip Hop; the Illustrated History of Break Dancing, Rap Music an

d Graffiti,” he claims that there were three major events that took place in the Bronx that led to the birth of the Hip Hop culture. First, in 1959 Parks Commissioner Robert Moses started to construct an expressway through the middle of the Bronx. Because of this, the most of the middle class vanished overnight. Just as well, businesses and factories began to relocate. Poor black and Hispanic families replaced the former population with crime, drug addiction, and unemployment. The next major event that took place was in 1968 when Parks Commissioner Robert Moses built a 15,382 unit co-op apartment complex at the northern most part of the Bronx right next to the expressway. As a result of this, the remainder of the middle class were forced out of their comfortable apartments. Slumlords began replacing landlords as the owners of most Bronx apartment buildings. The third and probably most important event that occurred was the graffiti aspect of the Hip Hop culture. A group of seven teenage boys began to vandalize the vicinities around the southeastern part of the Bronx. Slowly but surely more kids began to join what they called the “Black Spades”.

A DJ technique that became very popular was ‘scratching’ which was invented by a DJ called Theodor. In scratching, the DJ spins a record backwards and forward very fast while the needle is in the groove. Grandmaster Flash was a popular DJ who invented the technique known as ‘punch phasing’. This technique occurs when a DJ hits a particular break on one turntable while the record on the other turntable is still playing. Flash also used a machine known as a beat box which produced an electronic beat. Prior to this, many rap groups used what was called ‘human beat boxes’ which involved members of a group to produce the same beats with their lips, mouth and throat. The most common group known for using the ‘human beat box’ was the Fat Boys.

It is clearly shown that whites began to have a large effect on rap music that began in the black neighborhoods. According to Samuel David, with the influence of whites on the rap music scene, it’s only a matter of time before rap starts to lose its popularity in the black community and that rap is on its way out. I really doubt David’s claim here. If anything, rap music is headed forward and will just continue to evolve among the black and white societies across America.

In New York City, a female rap group was formed called “Salt ‘N’ Pepa which consisted of three artists. Their album, ‘Hot, Cool, & Vicious’ succeeded in its debut while selling over a million copies. In Thigpen’s article, Simmons states, “There are more women buying rap records who would like to relate to women artists and there are more guys who want to hear a women’s point of view.” Other female artists that began to rise were Monie Love, Queen Latifah, and BWP (Bytches with Problems). Each of these artists had their own style of music that emphasized particular points that they wanted to get across to the public. Many of these issues consisted of date rape, male egos, police brutality, optimistic women, sexual responsibility, etc. According to Thigpen, female rappers, besides offering a different attitude, have shown that rap can be far more significan

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