Hip-Hop Music
Taylor Mortimer
Artists
The first known hip-hop artist was called DJ Kool Herc. His real name is Clive Campbell. He used a turntable to take beats and sounds from already made songs which would create a unique sound that he would sing or rap to. This is when hip-hop was first created and used by future artist. Another early artist was Afrika Bambaataa who was a former gang member before he started this career. (Williams 5) According to Bambaataa "the four elements of hip-hop" are Djing, Breaking, Graf artist, and Mcing.(Williams 5). As time progressed new people started to make their careers in hip-hop. People like Eminem, Jay z, Lil Wayne, and Kid Cudi are known artist today. Bambaataa stated "I am one of the founders of Hip-Hop along with my brothers Kool DJ Herc and Grandmaster Flash".
Turntable example
"Images - Google Search." Images - Google Search. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Nov. 2013.
DJ Kool Herc
"Images - Google Search." Images - Google Search. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Nov. 2013.
Afrika Bambaataa
"Images - Google Search." Images - Google Search. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Nov. 2013.
History of hip-hop
When it started, hip-hop was a mix of sample pieces taken from music used on a turntable to create a sort of remix like flow that was made into a beat. The artist(s) would sing rhythmically along side the beat to create the music. Hip-hop started out as something derived from disco music. Early artist used many disco songs to create their beats because it gave it a funky sound. It was also uncommon in the early days of hip-hop to be a solo artist. Most people began as a group of rappers or hip-hop groups.
Barack Obama stated "The thing about hip-hop today is it's smart, it's insightful. The way they can communicate a complex message in a very short space is remarkable".
Instruments/technology
The most basic hip-hop instrument was the turntable because it allows the DJ to skew and change beats to make many different sounds. Others used are samplers and sequencers. With these the artist could create their own beats and sounds. Nowadays a really important component is the drum machine. It easily could create a base beat for the song and gives it a constant flow that can be added to. Instruments like guitar are rarely used in this type of music but if an artist wanted to use it in his song he could to add a different type of sound to it.
Gender Issues
The genre of hip-hop music has always been mostly dominated by the male gender. There have only been a few noticed female hip-hop artist even now today. Many of them get criticized because people believe them to be not very good at this type of genre. Women are also demeaned in music videos for a lot of this type of music and are shown as more of a lesser person compared to the rich artist that rides around in expensive cars with women while throwing cash everywhere. Not all hip-hop music is this way but a good majority is. There are some artist who care more about their lyrics and message they are sending to their fans instead of just the flashy perks in their videos. Bambaataa said "They allow us to disrespect our Black woman. A lot of these things would be considered criminal if it were to be carried out in the streets. That's like when they tell you after you buy your VHS and you rent movies they tell you not to copy the movies".
Works cited
"Rap & Hiphop Music." Rap and Hiphop History @ Rapworld.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Nov. 2013.
"Hip-Hop/Rap Music Genres | Music Genres List." Music Genres List RSS2. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Nov. 2013.