Hip-hop is not an easy trend in the youth subculture, but a certain life credo of the young generation, a peculiar way of expressing it. We will tell more about its appearance and features later in the article.
Subculture development
A modern fashion trend has appeared in America. The first dancers and performers in this style were African Americans.
Speaking about what hip-hop is like the musical and dance movement of youth culture, it must be borne in mind that initially this style had a very vivid social orientation. He was a kind of challenge to wealthy goodies and corrupt officials. Later, hip-hop became a fashionable trend, which means that they began to support it commercially.
The word "hip" was borrowed from the dialect of African Americans, it meant moving parts of the body. Its other meaning is “the pursuit of improvement”. “Hop” means a jump. When these two words are combined, it turns out - development, movement forward, rethinking of life and so on.
In 1974, DJ Africa Bambaata identified 5 components of hip-hop, and the benchmark Keith Wiggins and Grandmaster Flash since 1978 began to develop the direction further. It all started with an ordinary joke. When the young men escorted a friend to the service, they laughed, marched and sang, echoing the rhythm, the word "hip-hop". So the musical rhythm of the described music was born.
One of the founders of this subculture is Kul-Herk. At his parties, he accompanied sounding music with a recitative, later such a manner of performance would be called Rap. So that dancers could show their talents, Cool-Herk between his performances took musical breaks (breaks). Thanks to this, interested persons went out into the circle and demonstrated their abilities in dance.
Kinds
Hip-hop, being a direction of youth culture, calls for self-expression. Girls and boys in dance or music show their personality. This course includes five areas:
- musical (rap);
- dance (break dance);
- art (graffiti);
- sports (basketball and streetball).
In the 90s, another direction developed - the gangster rap, which was saturated with aggression and cruelty. It was a kind of propaganda of the criminal world and its values.
Dancing
What is hip hop dance? Today it is a dynamic style. Hip-hop dances include elements such as movement, rotation, jumping, body roll, and so on. Hip-hop dancers can demonstrate their swagger, ostentatious relaxation, softness and so on.
The origin of hip-hop dance was in the 70s, and its basis is African-American jazz (translated as "improvisation"). It was conceived by the Americans as a confrontation with the outside world, a struggle for freedom. Hip-hop dancing involves freedom in everything: in movements, clothing, emotions.
Now Afro-jazz is a separate direction. But if you look at it as a special dance of black tribes, you can see a lot in common with modern hip-hop dance.
African-American youth dancing around the fire revealed their feelings and emotions. There was some relaxation in their movements. According to local tribes, God dwells in the earth. This religious moment was also reflected in Afro-jazz: many movements in the dance turned to the floor. This explains the low landing of the dancers, and slightly relaxed knees. All this allows us to talk about hip-hop as a street dance based on improvisation and freedom of movement.
Today new directions are appearing, numerous dance schools are opening, and competitive hip-hop is one of the most popular dance styles in the whole world.
Music
What is hip hop music? This direction, which is based on two main elements: rap (recitative) and rhythm, which sets the DJ. Artists of the named music call themselves "em-si". A rapper must be proficient in rhyme art. That rap is considered the ancestor of the described youth culture.
At first, hip-hop songs were the singer’s own speeches, the purpose of which was to appeal to the listener and to the surrounding society with a certain question (usually on social topics). Public Enemy is a previously known hip-hop group, thanks to which this direction began to develop.
Hip-hop became popular in the 90s, when this area is moving to the commercial level, more and more new trends appear in it. But the basis for them all is the same - recitation of a rhythmic recitative (turnip) on melody and rhythm.
Features
Originating in America among ordinary African Americans, hip-hop has stirred up numerous problems at the social and political level. Therefore, this culture also involves extraordinary attributes:
- Performers ’clothing is loose trousers or trousers, sweatshirts with hoods, baseball caps, ski hats, etc .;
- accessories - bright wide laces, massive chains, wristbands and so on.
Talking about what hip-hop is today is simple - this is an incredibly popular trend in the youth culture of our time. Before you master this musical or dance style, you need not only to master the basic movements, but also to understand the true meaning and foundation of modern subculture.