Hiphop
From OneBuckWiki
Hiphop
Part 1: The Status Quo
Believe it or not, rap has been around for over 23 years. In fact the first ever rap tune to be pressed on vinyl was "Rapper's Delight", by the Sugarhill Gang in the late 70s. Since then rap has evolved from a fad to a street party. Rap music is an element of a larger culture that encompasses rap, baggy clothing, break-dancing, graffiti, vocabulary and a general lifestyle. This popular culture is generally referred to as hip-hop. Rap made its way to our shores in the early 1980s, as early as 1983. DJ Blaze, one of the best known hip-hop DJs in South Africa, first got into it in 1983 when a movie called Beat Street was showing in his neighbourhood. "I began DJing in 1990," he states. "I liked the scratching and the mixing you know, the sound that DJs made when they were playing."
Part 2: The Way-To-Go
Hip-hop is the way of portraying skills, creativeness, teaching righteousness and feeding the listeners with knowledge of self.
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 than most DJs was his "looping" of certain parts of records... What he would do is take the phattest part of a song (called 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 or fire halls as well...
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 would 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 here you say 'Oh Yeah' "... At which point, the crowd would yell, "Oh yeah"... This type of interaction, 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 crowd, so-to-speak... Their moves were composed of both fluid and sporadic body movements... It started as "b-boying" with little dance steps, then incorporated the "popping", "locking", "freezing", and "spinning" most people recognize today... The Rock Steady Crew represented the pinnacle... Other crews set their sites on RSC, but none could take their throne... On a side note, the term, "B-Boy", was created by Kool Herc to describe those in the crowd "b-boying" or those in the crowd rocking the b-boy look (Lee jeans, mockneck shirts, name plates,etc...) ... Among the first 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 represented the hip hop culture visually... They added a dimension to the music... They spray painted hip hop on walls and subway cars... Some of note include Zephyr, Lee, Phase2, Dondi, and Futura2000...
Sources: http://mysite.mweb.co.za/residents/tlhame/rap411gp/hip.htm
Hiphop Fashion
Looking back into the history of streetwear we traced the beginning back to Shawn Stussy, the local surfboard shaper of Laguna Beach. His logo began of the surfboards that he shaped until 1980 when he translated it to T-shirts. These became instantly popular with all the local skaters and grew to worldwide fame from there. Perhaps the most amazing thing that came of Stussy is what makes streetwear what it is today, which is even as the popularity grows is seems to remain as something underground. Many have attributed this to how streetwear has became a subculture, one that emphasizes that the independents rule. The most popular streetwear sites, stores, and brands have steered away from being bought out by million dollar corporations making it mainstream. Even numerous botiques are phasing out the large corporate brands, while keeping their support to the independent brands.
Shawn Stussy started the movement of the surfer from California expressing himself through his clothes, which led to the hip-hop culture getting involved. In that time period the African Americans had no voice in the media nor were they being marketed to. Fashion was used as a from of art, expression, and communication. Without mainstream media, this underground movement marketed itself through the droves of individuals with their street clothes. Hip-Hop encouraged all to self expression and that is what streetwear has become, the clothing maker expresses something they feel but when you put it on it becomes you. Something that you have to say.
All though the surf, skate, and hip-hop community all had their roots in streetwear. Japan emerged on the scene in the 1980's as well. The Japanese youth wanted everthing American, however, by the early 1990's they were helping pioneer the way to what Streetwear has become. Brands like BAPE and Real Mad Hectic became trendsetters by coming out with limited edition apparel, with background stories, and very high pricepoints. These factors led to obsessive followings, where many claim Asia/Japan get all the great sneakers and apparel.
These three movements have continued to progress into what streetwear is today but streetwear finds its roots in these movements. Movements that have been led by a non-mainstream subculture of self expression and individuality. Huge numbers of people find brands that are not even marketed heavily, creating the streetwear phenomenon that we live in today.
Check out our other pages: Streetwear, Style, Clothing, Hiphop.
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The best fashion news sources on the web are Mens Fashion News, Womens Fashion News, Independent Fashion News, Indie Fashion News, Streetwear Daily Freshism Blog.
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