African American Culture

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] “Hip-hop is understood as a culture that includes three mains forms of expression: musical, verbal, and visual.” (Durand, Lecture 1) Hip-hop has been expressed through many decades and many generations. The first, tell-tale sign of hip-hop evolving in the United States was during the slavery period when black families in the south would speak or recite a poem over music or a beat of music. This act could be referred to as “toasting”, “playing the Dozens”, or more commonly “rapping. These “toasts” have evolved into more insulting and depreciating poems such as; during World War I when African American veterans would be call “monkey.”(Xxii, Anthology of Rap) People on the streets would practice their “toasting” or “playing the Dozens” verses…show more content…
In this new era of music, Disc Jockeys would take tracks from recognized musicians and mess around on a turn table, people would “play the dozens” on the streets or rap battle back and forth, express themselves with art on the walls and sidewalk, or individuals would try to create sounds and musical beats out of anything they could…show more content…
Hip-hop was a new sound, unlike disco, that fuel innovation and imagination. DJs such as; Afrika Bambaataa, Kool Herc, and Grandmaster Flash were trailblazing their way into history by doing something no one has done before; creating a new sound. Then, new musicians and artists fueled off of each others energy and produced more music and stories. Grandmaster Flash’s era evolved into something more like the Beastie Boys, then NWA and Public Enemy, Run-DMC, Salt-N-Pepa, next was Busta Rhymes, DMX, 2Pac, Notorious B.I.G, and Jay-Z, and more. Each artist inspired and made new moves into the music world that would go down in history. Hip-hop many waves in giving a voice to urban culture; however in recent decades it has turned more into music about sex, drugs, and money. It goes without saying that hip-hop is forever evolving into a new and upcoming generation of sounds, raps, and
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