The roots of hip hop lay at the intersection of the political protest movements of
Black Nationalism of the early 1970s and the impoverished ghettoes of urban America.3
How to define hip hop is somewhat problematic.4
Hip hop is used as a noun or an
adjective. It is often used interchangeably with the word “rap” to describe urban spokenword
music. It is also used to describe clothing, language, attitude, and customs. In short,
hip hop is a culture. However, hip hop was not always such a broadly defined term.
Originally, hip hop referred to the culture of the Latin and African-American youths
centered around the Bronx, New York who were graffiti artists, break-dancers,
turntablists, and emcees.5
In the early years of hip hop, the actual participants (or
creators) of the arts were referred to by the medium in which they were involved (i.e.
taggers, DJs, break-dancers, breakers, or b-boys, and rappers or MCs). As these arts
became more and more popular around New York, the term hip hop came to define the
overall culture related to all four of the mediums.6
One of the most important aspects of
hip-hop culture is being authentic. There are three main ways in which hip hop artist
establish authenticity: being true to themselves (i.e. being original and not trying to fit
in), reflecting the community from which they are coming, and having an understanding
and respect for the styles and origins of early hip hop.