A visual guide to the hidden history of hip hop (2024)

FAQs

What are the four pillars of hip-hop? ›

From School Library Journal. K-Gr 4-Award-winners Weatherford and Morrison team up to document the history of hip-hop. The four pillars (graffiti, break dancing, rapping/MCing, and DJing) each play a role in the 16 bars that make up the book.

The 10th Element of hip hop

History has recognized nine core elements of hip hop: break dancing, emceeing, graffiti art, deejaying, beatboxing, street fashion, language, knowledge, and entrepreneurship.

Rap began in 1971, in the Bronx, with Kool Herc, who was from Jamaica. At block parties, Kool Herc would play two turntables by hand and manipulate the sound to create an entirely new sound, while he rapped the lyrics from the song he was playing.

Although not the first hip-hop song, the Sugarhill Gang's “Rapper's Delight” (1979) was considered the first significant single of the genre.

The Five Elements of Hip-Hop: emceeing, deejaying, breakin', graff and beatboxing.

The location of that birthplace was 1520 Sedgwick Avenue, and the man who presided over that historic party was the birthday girl's brother, Clive Campbell—better known to history as DJ Kool Herc, founding father of hip hop.

The most common view is that hip-hop is a cultural movement that emerged in the South Bronx in New York City during the 1970s, with MCing (or rapping) being one of the primary four elements. Hip hop's other three essential elements are graffiti art (or aerosol art), break dancing, and DJing.

Breaking. Breaking (also referred to as b-boying or b-girling) is probably the most well-known element of hip hop dance. Breaking is very unstructured and improvisational, and evolved from a style of dance known as uprock.

One of the first rappers at the beginning of the hip hop period, at the end of the 1970s, was also hip hop's first DJ, DJ Kool Herc. Herc, a Jamaican immigrant, started delivering simple raps at his parties, which some claim were inspired by the Jamaican tradition of toasting.

Who was the first white rapper? ›

While Vanilla Ice may have been the first white rapper to achieve mainstream success, it was the Beastie Boys who helped to lay the foundation for white rappers to follow.

Born Kurtis Walker in 1959, Blow, who turns 60 on Aug. 9, was the first rapper to sign with a major label and the first to become a mainstream star.

Old-school hip hop (also spelled old skool) is the earliest commercially recorded hip hop music and original style of the genre. It typically refers to the music created around 1979 to 1983, as well as any hip hop that does not adhere to contemporary styles.

Sharon Green (born 1962), also known as MC Sha-Rock, is considered the "first female rapper" or emcee. Born in Wilmington, North Carolina, she grew up in the South Bronx, New York City during the earliest years of hip hop culture.

Hip-hop combines two slang terms. Hip, which means “in the know,” has been a part of African American vernacular since the late nineteenth century. Hop represents the hopping movement exhibited by hip-hop performers.

Breaking, also known as breakdancing, b-boying, or b-girling could be the most common element of hip-hop. Breaking is very unstructured and improvisational and is performed at all different levels: toprock (standing), downrock (close to the floor), power moves (acrobatics), and freeze moves (poses).

When the style of hip hop was first created, it had six foundational elements: DJing (aural), MCing (oral), Beatboxing (vocal), Breakdancing (physical), Graffiti (visual), and Fashion.

Since debuting on rap group Main Source's single Live At The BBQ in 1991 and then releasing his seminal debut album Illmatic in 1994, Nas' influence in hip-hop has been undeniable. These novice performances are all it took for Nas to be immediately declared the “Golden Child” of hip-hop by peers and fans alike.

New Delhi: Arpan Kumar Chandel, who's better known by his stage name King, and has become a household name with his rap number, 'Sahi Galat', in the Ajay Devgn-starrer hit movie 'Drishyam 2', is all set to perform at the Wireless Festival at Yas Island, Abu Dhabi.

What is the backbone of hip-hop? ›

As mentioned earlier, the breakbeat is the backbone of hip hop culture, and in the beginning of hip hop the DJ was the focus.

The elements of hip hop came together in the Bronx borough of New York City. It was the early 1970s and times were tougher than usual for the poorer parts of urban America. From a whole lot of nothing—and a whole lot of imagination—hip hop took form.

The standard answer is that hip-hop is a culture with four elements* – deejaying, MCing, graffiti, and dance – and rap is a form of popular music that grew out of Hip-Hop culture.

Dr.

Dre found massive success as a solo artist and producer and became a major influence in the development of West Coast hip-hop.

DJ Kool Herc (AKA the “Father of Hip Hop”) used to start block parties in the West Bronx (AKA the “birthplace of Hip Hop"). He played music on his turntables and the community would come out to mingle and dance.

The Sugar Hill Gang's 12-inch single "Rapper's Delight" - released in 1979 - became the first rap song to be played on the radio.

DJ Kool Herc, Bambaataa and Grandmaster Flash are also recognized as hip-hop's founding "holy trinity," according to The Guardian.

Some classic hip hop dance moves include the running man, the humpty dance, and the cabbage patch, and techniques often involve body isolations and other unique movements, like popping, locking, and krumping.

MC Hammer was the First Rapper to Have a Diamond Album.

22, 1989. D.J. Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince's “Parents Just Don't Understand” becomes the first hip-hop recording to win a Grammy (best rap performance).

Who was the first Mexican rapper? ›

The first widely recognized Chicano rap artist was former electro musician Kid Frost. His 1990 debut album Hispanic Causing Panic was driven by the hit single "La Raza", which combined Latin and Tex-Mex influences, to bring new attention to Chicano rappers on the West Coast.

Tairrie B, known as the first white female rapper to release an album on a major label, was signed to Eazy E's Ruthless Records in 1990 with her debut “The Power of a Woman”.

1. Eminem. Probably one of the most well-known white rappers in the industry, and they made a movie of his life as well. Real name Marshall Bruce Mathers III, Eminem to his fans, the Detroit rapper has a well-established reputation as one of the most prolific rappers and producers.

Run-D.M.C. Run-D.M.C. peaked at number 53 on the Billboard 200, and number 14 on the Top R&B/Hip Hop Albums chart. The album became the first rap album which was certified as Gold by the RIAA (December 17, 1984).

The rapper took the title over Lil Wayne, Jay-Z and Kanye West.

Mumble rap

Mumble rap is somewhat of a derogatory term for some artists. But, in many ways, it's a fair description of a certain rap style that's popular right now.

DJ Kool Herc developed the style that was the blueprint for hip hop music.

Through its three main styles of popping, locking, and breaking, hip-hop dance has evolved into one of the most popular and influential styles of dance.

Who is the biggest female rapper? ›

Some classic hip hop dance moves include the running man, the humpty dance, and the cabbage patch, and techniques often involve body isolations and other unique movements, like popping, locking, and krumping.

Hip Hop`s four main elements are emceeing (MCing) ( often called rapping), DJing, graffiti writing and breakdancing.

There are four pillars or elements of dance: Time, Space, Shape, and Energy.

Dance elements

There are four primary elements that form breakdancing: toprock, downrock, power moves, and freezes.

The most common street-dance styles are: locking, hip-hop (aka hip-hop freestyle or new style), popping, house (aka house dance) and breaking (aka B-Boying or its media-created name breakdancing). Below we will briefly introduce those five styles and show a videoclip to understand how they look.

Through its three main styles of popping, locking, and breaking, hip-hop dance has evolved into one of the most popular and influential styles of dance.

So while hip hop was built on five core elements—MCing (oral), DJing (aural), Breakdancing (physical), Graffiti (visual), and Knowledge (mental)—it has an overlooked sixth element of Philanthropy (community). This element connects hip hop's contributions to the social sector.

When the style of hip hop was first created, it had six foundational elements: DJing (aural), MCing (oral), Beatboxing (vocal), Breakdancing (physical), Graffiti (visual), and Fashion. Today's true hip hop legends continue to create using some or all these foundations.

What are the major element of hip hop culture? ›

Hip hop culture is characterized by four key elements: rapping, DJing and turntablism, breakdancing, and graffiti. Other elements include historical knowledge of the movement, beatboxing, street entrepreneurship, hip hop language, and hip hop fashion.

These are known as the seven movements in dancing. These are plier (to bend), etendre (to stretch), relever (to rise), sauter (to jump), tourner (to turn), glisser (to glide), and elancer (to dart).

The Principles of Hip Hop: Peace, Love, Unity, and Having Fun.

Locking is a style of funk dance, which is today also associated with hip hop. The name is based on the concept of locking movements, which means freezing from a fast movement and "locking" in a certain position, holding that position for a short while and then continuing at the same speed as before.

DJ Kool Herc (AKA the “Father of Hip Hop”) used to start block parties in the West Bronx (AKA the “birthplace of Hip Hop"). He played music on his turntables and the community would come out to mingle and dance.

Tutting - A hip hop dance style that emphasizes the body's ability to create geometric shapes (such as boxes) and movements; predominantly with the use of 90 degree angles. It generally focuses on the body's extremeties such as arms, hands and fingers.