Shannon Jack UK
Uk hiphop producer
Hip-hop is an original American musical style that originated primarily among African Americans in New York City. The music is characterized by a rhythmic vocal delivery over electronic beats, often sampled directly from recorded songs. Increasingly, life music has been incorporated into hip-hop, and the style has been expanded by many innovators since its fairly humble origins in the 1970s. Today, according to Billboard magazine, hip-hop music accounts for 10 to 13 percent of all music sales.
1520 Sedgwick Avenue.
It is said by some that hip-hop was born on Aug. 11, 1973, in the first floor recreation room of 1520 Sedgwick Avenue, pictured above, in the Bronx neighborhood of New York. This is where Jamaican-born turntablist Clive Campbell, performing under the name DJ Kool Herc, threw the first of his break-dance parties. Like disco DJs, Campbell used two turntables. But Campbell originated the technique of using two copies of the same record to prolong the instrumental "break" portion of a song, allowing dancers (whom Campbell termed break-boys and break-girls) an opportunity to take the spotlight. Campbell's rhythmic announcements and Jamaican-accented toasting over the breaks inspired early rapping.
Hip-Hop.
Campbell's technique was soon adopted and expanded by other DJs, including Joseph Saddler (Grandmaster Flash) and Afrika Bambaataa. Robert Wiggins (Keith Cowboy), a rapper in Saddler's outfit, the Furious Five, is credited with coining the term "hip-hop," which he used as the basis for a scat portion of his stage routine. Cowboy was imitated by other artists, notably by Michael Anthony Wright (Wonder Mike) of the Sugarhill Gang, whose "Rapper's Delight" became the first hip-hop Top 40 single. Afrika Bambaataa is credited with first using the term "hip-hop" in reference to the culture surrounding the music. Melle Mel, of the Furious Five, is the first rapper to call himself an MC.
Musical Influences.
Early hip-hop sprang directly from funk and disco music, but was in some ways a reaction against it. As DJ Kool Herc, Campbell emphasized the instrumental portions of Jamaican records, gradually shifting to funk, soul and disco. Grandmaster Flash and Afrika Bambaataa moved further from these influences, focusing on more complex original beats and fast rhythmic rapping. These and other early hip-hop artists incorporated elements of African American culture stretching back through blues and jazz to the griots of West Africa. Turntablists evolved their skill to involve complex scratching and sampling techniques. By 1980, hip-hop was well known among African Americans and had spread beyond New York to other major urban centers.
New School.
Kurtis Walker started as a break-dancer at New York block parties and as Kool DJ Kurtis. He joined a group called "The Force," which included Russell Simmons. Simmons turned from performing to promoting hip-hop acts, establishing Walker as a rapper in Queens, New York, called Kurtis Blow. With "The Breaks," from his 1980 debut album, Walker scored the first gold record for hip-hop. Walker became a mentor to Simmons' younger brother Joseph, who performed under the name DJ Run and later formed iconic rap group Run-D.M.C, leaders of the "New School." The sense of street fashion today associated with hip-hop is credited to the early work of Run-D.M.C. The group's third record, "Raising Hell," is one of the best-selling hip-hop records of all time. LL Cool J and the Beastie Boys, whose "Licensed to Ill" was the first hip-hop album to reach No. 1 on the Billboard charts, are other exemplars of the New
School period.
Golden Age and Gangsta Rap.
The late 1980s and early 1990s are said to be the Golden Age of hip-hop. This is a period when the creative approach of rap and hip-hop was applied to jazz aesthetics. Lyrical themes ranged from black militancy and Afrocentrism to the inspirational and spiritual. Among the influential acts to rise from this inventive period are De La Soul, Public Enemy, Tribe Called Quest and KRS-One. The release of N.W.A.'s "Straight Outta Compton" marked the emergence of both West Coast hip-hop and "gangsta rap." Owing much to the tongue-in-cheek boasting on "License to Ill," N.W.A. went further by evoking images of explicit violence and frequent profanity. The group's Andre Young (Dr. Dre) would later bring the world Snoop Dogg, Tupac Shakur and Eminem. Meanwhile, in New York, the Wu-Tang Clan and Christopher Wallace (Notorious B.I.G.) updated the East Coast sound for the gangsta rap era.
1520 Sedgwick Avenue.
It is said by some that hip-hop was born on Aug. 11, 1973, in the first floor recreation room of 1520 Sedgwick Avenue, pictured above, in the Bronx neighborhood of New York. This is where Jamaican-born turntablist Clive Campbell, performing under the name DJ Kool Herc, threw the first of his break-dance parties. Like disco DJs, Campbell used two turntables. But Campbell originated the technique of using two copies of the same record to prolong the instrumental "break" portion of a song, allowing dancers (whom Campbell termed break-boys and break-girls) an opportunity to take the spotlight. Campbell's rhythmic announcements and Jamaican-accented toasting over the breaks inspired early rapping.
Hip-Hop.
Campbell's technique was soon adopted and expanded by other DJs, including Joseph Saddler (Grandmaster Flash) and Afrika Bambaataa. Robert Wiggins (Keith Cowboy), a rapper in Saddler's outfit, the Furious Five, is credited with coining the term "hip-hop," which he used as the basis for a scat portion of his stage routine. Cowboy was imitated by other artists, notably by Michael Anthony Wright (Wonder Mike) of the Sugarhill Gang, whose "Rapper's Delight" became the first hip-hop Top 40 single. Afrika Bambaataa is credited with first using the term "hip-hop" in reference to the culture surrounding the music. Melle Mel, of the Furious Five, is the first rapper to call himself an MC.
Musical Influences.
Early hip-hop sprang directly from funk and disco music, but was in some ways a reaction against it. As DJ Kool Herc, Campbell emphasized the instrumental portions of Jamaican records, gradually shifting to funk, soul and disco. Grandmaster Flash and Afrika Bambaataa moved further from these influences, focusing on more complex original beats and fast rhythmic rapping. These and other early hip-hop artists incorporated elements of African American culture stretching back through blues and jazz to the griots of West Africa. Turntablists evolved their skill to involve complex scratching and sampling techniques. By 1980, hip-hop was well known among African Americans and had spread beyond New York to other major urban centers.
New School.
Kurtis Walker started as a break-dancer at New York block parties and as Kool DJ Kurtis. He joined a group called "The Force," which included Russell Simmons. Simmons turned from performing to promoting hip-hop acts, establishing Walker as a rapper in Queens, New York, called Kurtis Blow. With "The Breaks," from his 1980 debut album, Walker scored the first gold record for hip-hop. Walker became a mentor to Simmons' younger brother Joseph, who performed under the name DJ Run and later formed iconic rap group Run-D.M.C, leaders of the "New School." The sense of street fashion today associated with hip-hop is credited to the early work of Run-D.M.C. The group's third record, "Raising Hell," is one of the best-selling hip-hop records of all time. LL Cool J and the Beastie Boys, whose "Licensed to Ill" was the first hip-hop album to reach No. 1 on the Billboard charts, are other exemplars of the New
School period.
Golden Age and Gangsta Rap.
The late 1980s and early 1990s are said to be the Golden Age of hip-hop. This is a period when the creative approach of rap and hip-hop was applied to jazz aesthetics. Lyrical themes ranged from black militancy and Afrocentrism to the inspirational and spiritual. Among the influential acts to rise from this inventive period are De La Soul, Public Enemy, Tribe Called Quest and KRS-One. The release of N.W.A.'s "Straight Outta Compton" marked the emergence of both West Coast hip-hop and "gangsta rap." Owing much to the tongue-in-cheek boasting on "License to Ill," N.W.A. went further by evoking images of explicit violence and frequent profanity. The group's Andre Young (Dr. Dre) would later bring the world Snoop Dogg, Tupac Shakur and Eminem. Meanwhile, in New York, the Wu-Tang Clan and Christopher Wallace (Notorious B.I.G.) updated the East Coast sound for the gangsta rap era.
