Hip Hop: The Beginning to The Present.
Hip -hop is a word to describe a cultural movement, that includes styles of dance and music. The music originated in the South Bronx of New York in the 1970"s.
The first DJ of hip-hop was a man named Kool Herc. He innovated previous turn-table techniques into new-school recording and play back machine, that kept the beat going through-out the whole song. Kool Herc's real name was Clive Cambell. In 1955 he was born in Jamaica. He moved to N.Y.C. in 1971. Reggae music highly influenced his beats, but native New Yorkers did not like the Reggae beats. Now, without Reggae, he would make a beat on the turntables and recite a rhyme over it. His first gig was performing at one of his sisters parties in a rec room of a N.Y.C. high rise. After the party, many more people requested his services and became a party regular. In 1973 he performed the first block party.
Another innovator of hip-hop was Grand Master Flash. He was born in Barbados, but at a young age he was moved to the Bronx. He frequently attended the parties where Kool Herc performed. He improved on Kool Herc's techniques so all the beats fit together and he started to "scratch" in songs which became the new style. Grand master Flash formed a new group called the "Furious Five." They became the first big rap group. Their first single dubbed "Super Rappin" became the first big hip-hop success. But, it was Sugar Hills Gang, who released the biggest single called "Rappers Delight" in 1979. It was the first hip-hop single to be in the American top 40.
The original hip-hop culture was made up to three different components. They were Graffitti, in which people would write their names on walls with cans of spray paint, Break Dancing, and music. These major categories were fiercely competitive. Gangs or crews used these components to battle for their territory. DJ's would make live mix tapes, that was a major key in establishing style in their territory.
