Subject: HIP HOP'S HISTORY: LEARN!!!
From: Infinite <jdesi@erols.com>
Date: 1997/10/28
Message-ID: <345589C7.36CF@erols.com>
Newsgroups: rec.music.hip-hop

History of rap, huh??? Well, let me give you a quick rundown...

It all started in the summer of 1973 in New York City... A young man
named Kool Herc, having come from Jamaica three years earlier, began spinning in the
parks in the South Bronx... What made Herc different from most DJs was his "looping" of
certain parts of records... What he would do is take the phattest part of a song
(callded a "break") and replay it back and forth using two turntables and a mixer... A new
song of sorts was created -- a repeating groove -- that kids in the parks would dance to...

It spread, and along with Kool Herc, Afrika Bambaataa and Grandmaster
Flash began pumping this new sound... They primarily spun in parks concentrated
in the Bronx, but began to expand into the other boroughs (i.e. Queens, Brooklyn,
etc...), DJing at public schools, fire halls, and whatever other spots could be rented out...

In Manhattan, you had a whole other set of DJs... The likes of DJ
Hollywood, Eddie Cheba, and DJ Pete Jones who played more "disco"... They incorporated
elements of hip hop into their sets, however, they lacked the raw feel of Herc, Bam,
and Flash... The crowds at their shows had more money and were usually older than the
kids in the parks who couldn't afford or were too young for the upscale club scene...

Invariably, MCs (Master Of Ceremonies or Mic Controller) began to
sprout up... The title of "first MC" has been widely debated... Some say it was DJ
Hollywood, but most die-hard historians of hip hop point to a man in Kool Herc's crew named Coke
La Rock... Rapping started simply as getting on the microphone and "shouting out" kids
at the party -- thanking them for coming out... Eventually, it evolved into saying
catch phrases to excite the crowd, such as "Now throw ya hands in the air / And wave
em like you just don't care / And if you got on clean underwear / Let me hear you say
'Oh Yeah'"... At which point, the crowd would yell, "Oh yeah"... This type of
interaction with the audience, while the DJ was spinning breaks, led to a more evolved
form of MCing where rappers would brag about themselves (i.e. how fly they were, their
sexual prowess, their lyrical skills, etc...) or just talk about the party...

Breakdancers were also a vital part of the hip hop culture, as they
represented the innovative dancing segment of the crowds... Their steps were composed
of both fluid and sporadic movements... It started as "b-boying" with little dance
sequences, then incorporated the "popping", "locking", "freezing", and "spinning"
most people recognize today... The Rock Steady Crew exemplified the breakdancer... Other
crews set their sites on taking their throne, but none were successful... On a side note,
the term, "B-Boy", was coined by Kool Herc to describe those in the crowd "b-boying" or
rocking the b-boy look (Lee jeans, mockneck shirts, name plates, etc...) ... Among the
first of these b-boys were the Nigger Twins who came to just about every jam Herc spun at...

The importance of graffiti can not be overlooked, as a lot of graf
heads went to jams and depicted the hip hop culture visually... They added a new
dimension to the music, spray painting as an expression of hip hop on walls and subway cars
throughout NYC... Some "old school" artists of note include Zephyr, Phase2, Dondi,
Future2000, and Lee (of "WildStyle" fame)...

Most of these events took place from 1973 - 1979 or so, spilling into
the early 80s... And although I failed to mention numerous pioneers such as Grandwizard Theodore
(invented "scratching"), the Cold Crush Brothers, and many more, you
must forgive me... I only have so much room for a brief overview... I could write a book
on each of hip hop's four aspects (MCing, DJing, Breakdancing, and Aerosol Art or
"graffiti"), however, this post simply serves as an introduction to the origins of our culture...

If anyone has any comments or would like to add onto this cipher, I
encourage your participation... If you have read this for the first time, please
share this knowledge with the deaf, dumb, and blind... Each one, teach one...

Stay up...

J - Decibel