In the 1970s, hip hop emerged as a cultural movement among Latino Americans and African Americans who were living in the City of New York. Its popularity reached greater heights in the early parts of 2000s. Despite its decline in the latter parts of the decade, it remains one of the highly influential cultures today. Here is a closer look at what this culture is really all about including who invented hip hop.
The Invention of Hip Hop
Who invented hip hop? After he outlined the five fundamental aspects of the hip hop culture, many people referred to DJ Afrika Bambaataa as the pioneer and inventor of this highly influential social movement. According to him, the pillars of this culture are knowledge, graffiti writing, breaking, DJing and MCing. In addition, there are other key elements such as slang, hip hop fashion and beatboxing.
Another influential figure in the culture’s development was DJ Clive Campbell, also known as Kool Herc. He introduced the Jamaican tradition referred to as toasting, which he used to create one of the most important foundations of hip hop. Toasting is primarily the act of making impromptu sayings and poetry while a certain musical beat is being played.
Additional Facts and Other Important Information
Hip hop received a much-needed media attention in the closing parts of the 1970s. By 1982, American hip hop ensemble the Soulsonic Force, a member of which is Afrika Bambaataa, released the music single entitled “Planet Rock.” That particular single was characterized by electro-funk music, which made use of key factors such as improved synthesizer technology as well as enhanced drum machine.
After that, the music video of “Planet Rock” was released, which greatly advertised the beautiful aspects of hip hop. This particular video featured graffiti artists and hip hop musicians. From 1982 to 1985, hip hop-related films were released including “Krush Groove,” “Beat Street” and “Wild Style.” In the 1980s, pioneers like the Fat Boys, Biz Markie and Doug E. Fresh introduced the world to beatboxing. This vocal percussion technique made use of various body parts including tongue, lips and mouth to create pleasant sounding beats and rhythms.
DJing is one of the cultural pillars of hip hop. Major innovations in DJing led to the development of turntablism, wherein extended techniques and boundaries are used. Later on, performers such as Grandmaster Caz, Grand Wizard Theodore and Grandmaster Flowers introduced scratching. Another major aspect of this highly influential movement is rapping. It is also referred to as rhyming, spitting and emceeing. In addition, other aspects like breaking and graffiti are just as important in the development of hip hop.