BLOG 2 - The 1980s (Hip-Hop)

Origins:

Hip-hop started in the late 70s. One of the most popular music genres of the 70s was Disco but it was mainly seen as music for white people. Black youths at that time never really had a music genre they could call their own. Events called ‘block parties’ rapidly became popular in New York, specifically in the Bronx. These parties originally began with just one DJ operating both a single turntable and one microphone. Their role was to play the records and talk in between tracks to keep the crowd hyped. This developed into the DJ having 2 turntables enabling him to mix the end of one track into the start of the next. DJs began to talk over the tracks, often featuring simple rhymes or call and response chants to interact with the crowd. After a while DJs began playing tracks with a "break". A break is a part of a song featuring just a drum beat. This beat was often looped to provide a steady backbone for the MC-ing. Now a seperate performer would MC over the top of the music while the DJ concentrated on mixing the music. As there was now a single MC, rhymes and mc-ing became more frequent and complex. Here are 2 songs that were often used for their percussive breaks:

Billy Squier - The Big Beat
(Taken from youtube)



The Honeydrippers - Impeach the President
(Taken from youtube)


Lyrical Content and Themes:

The lyrical content of early Hip-Hop music was mainly about Partying and having a good time. In 1982, Grandmaster Flash and The Furious Five released the track 'The Message'. The rapping in the song features social commentary about the ghetto and how it was hard for young people growing up there and older people living there. The line "Rats in the front room, rodents in the back. Junkies in the alley with the their baseball bats" from the first verse is just one example of the lyrics in the track painting a picture of the dirty and dangerous surroundings people in the ghetto faced. The song remains a classic to this day and is one of the most well known Hip Hop songs all over the world. Another theme in Hip Hop songs is "Diss Tracks". This means songs that diss other artists, most of the time this is other hip hop artists. The first case of this was in the second half of the 80's. This was "The Bridge Wars" between The South Bronx's Boogie Down Productions, (mainly KRS-One) and Marley Marl's Juice Crew (Mainly MC Shan) from Queensbridge.





Influences:

Hip Hop is very diverse taking influence from a wide selection of musical genres and culture. Specific genres of music were sampled more than others. These were Soul, Funk, early Electro and even Disco (the genre Hip Hop was a response to.) One of the most influential artists that Hip Hop was inspired by was James Brown. The way he interacted with the crowd made a big impact on the first wave of Hip Hop MCs and DJs. Many of his tracks have been sampled in hip hop records and still are to this day. His most sampled track is "Funky Drummer" More specifically, the drum break at five and half minutes into the song.

(Taken from youtube)

Important Records:

"Rappers Delight" by The Sugarhill Gang was released in 1979. It was the first song made by a Hip Hop group. It is a very important record as it is generally recognized as the first true Hip Hop release. It is one of the best known Hip Hop songs and helped Hip Hop as a genre to be brought to the masses.

Run DMC's cover of Aerosmiths "Walk This Way" (with Steven Tyler and Joe Perry guesting on vocals and guitars) was a massive hit when it came out in 1986. It was a revolutionary song in many ways. First of all it was extremely beneficial to both Run DMC's and Aerosmith's career. It was also the first Hip Hop song to make it into the Top 5. On top of this is was the first "crossover" within the Hip Hop genre as it mixed with Rock style of the Aerosmith original. This meant the song appealed to a wider range of people and also after this single was released more pop acts started to mix raps into their music.

Public Enemy's 2nd album "It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back" was released in 1988. It is widely regarded as a classic and many fans of the group believe it is their best work. In its first month, It Takes a Nation... sold 500,000 copies without significant promotion by Columbia Records, its distributing label. Chuck D's intelligent lyrics, often about political and racial issues, caused some controversy when it was released. His rapping style was very gritty and delivered with an almost punk-like edge. The album features sample heavy production and sounds far more complex than most other 80s Hip Hop albums.