{"id":18474,"date":"2023-10-03T09:09:50","date_gmt":"2023-10-03T13:09:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/news\/?p=18474"},"modified":"2024-09-18T13:24:26","modified_gmt":"2024-09-18T17:24:26","slug":"50-years-of-hip-hop-its-social-and-political-power-resonates-far-beyond-its-new-york-birthplace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/news\/2023\/10\/03\/50-years-of-hip-hop-its-social-and-political-power-resonates-far-beyond-its-new-york-birthplace\/","title":{"rendered":"50 years of hip-hop: Its social and political power resonates far beyond its New York birthplace"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Some historians say hip-hop culture all started at a party one hot August night in the South Bronx in 1973<\/a>. DJ Kool Herc plugged his parents\u2019 record gear into a street lamp and began creating what is known as breaks \u2014 longer instrumentals in records created by replaying the musical interludes over and over.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1980, the first commercial rap record<\/a>, Rapper\u2019s Delight<\/em>, was recorded<\/a>. With its large distribution network and popularity, this song reached the Billboard Top 40.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Soon hip-hop culture and rap music became a global phenomenon \u2014 leading to this year marking the 50th anniversary of hip-hop<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, hip-hop culture, and its four main elements<\/a> \u2014 MCing (rap) DJing, breaking (dance) and graffiti, are staples of youth culture all over the globe<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beyond being a billboard sensation and generating celebrity artists, hip-hop culture and art are still as youthful and popular as ever<\/a> far beyond where they originated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Social and political power of hip-hop<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Scholars of hip-hop and popular culture, such as Tricia Rose and Richard Iton, have highlighted the important social and political power of hip-hop<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, Iton examines how through extra-political means, such as mass movements, uprisings and protests, Black people both today and historically have used popular culture and art to ignite calls for social and political change<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Created as an art of resistance<\/a> by young Black people struggling against oppression, hip-hop culture has found a home in resistance struggles globally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As is commemorated in a radio documentary about the rap group Public Enemy, Chuck D, Public Enemy\u2019s leader, once famously stated rap music is \u201cthe Black CNN<\/a>.\u201d He believed rap functioned similarly to news channels through \u201cinforming people, connecting people, being a direct source of information.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Connecting people, exposing issues<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

For decades hip-hop artists have used their power as<\/a> popular culture stars to influence the political sphere<\/a>. As academics have begun to take notice<\/a> of the power of hip-hop to inspire youth and impact social change, more and more research on the history and power of hip-hop has developed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hip-hop is being used for therapeutic purposes<\/a> and can help provide young people with a sense of self and community<\/a>. Young people have been using hip-hop in their respective communities to shed light on important social issues and demand change<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Youth all over the world are using hip-hop both as the means and the fuel to fight for social and political change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking up<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

There are many Indigenous artists using rap music<\/a> to engage in Indigenous resurgence as well as speak up about colonialism and racism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Artists such as Snotty Nose Rez Kids<\/a>, the rap duo from the Haisla Nation<\/a> in British Columbia, combine socially conscious rap lyrics with music and dancing from their culture, often to question colonial Canadian policies and demand change for social problems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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