Hip Hop History

Words: 1817
Pages: 8

Hip-hop history started back in the 70s as the concept of DJing and MCing arose out of South Bronx: the New York ghetto neighbourhood gave birth to what has gradually evolved into an international art-form that has changed for better business. Some would argue that the birthplace of hip-hop was when DJ Kool Herc hosted a ‘back to school jam’ in a recreation room at 1520 Sedgwick Avenue, where he prolonged the instrumental break through looping the vinyl. Hip-hop was shaped by the four pillars: the MC, the DJ, the B-boy, and the graffiti artist. The culture slowly found its way out of the ghettoes and eventually to the radio, where the first hip-hop commercial hit “The Message” by Grandmaster Flash was broadcasted to the world. The song would …show more content…
Any artist making art wants people to see their work and know who made it. Every painting has a signature, and every invention has an inventor accredited in the brand or its legacy. Due to the non-vocal nature and role of a producer, a listener will know who’s rapping on the track before they know who produced it. Although rappers do a fair share of the work, producers are undervalued and underestimated in the music industry as they are the one’s who set-up the process for a rapper to express themselves to the highest degree. One could argue back then that a rapper trying to come out of New York would need very clever and through lyrics, but due to commercialization and predictability of hip-hop, an engineer becomes more important and necessary than the artist. A producer is the cherry on top of a rapper’s sundae; and they just never did get enough sweet …show more content…
For example, RZA start producing at the age of nine, Pete Rock’s father was a DJ, and DJ Premier was a DJ before he was a producer. In other words, these old-school producers have had a reason to be a producer since they were born; they entered the field of hip-hop with previous musical intelligence. They did not have access to forums, or the internet to inquire and learn more about their art. The closest thing to help a producer had before the internet was a book, which takes a lot longer to review than googling. Furthermore, producers simply relied on their musical intelligence and continued practicing making beats for rappers to pour their stories over. They slowly evolved into the producers they are today, in which they’ve pioneered a sound that has slowly grown into what rap is today. They’ve laid the path out for new producers to stomp all over and re-format. The path also includes a lot of new connections, found