"Hip-hop is a way of life," according to rapper Busta Rhymes. Encompassing so much more than music, hip-hop is a culture, a style, a society, an art form. During the 1970s, New York City led the country down a musical road... [more]

"Hip-hop is a way of life," according to rapper Busta Rhymes. Encompassing so much more than music, hip-hop is a culture, a style, a society, an art form. During the 1970s, New York City led the country down a musical road that would reshape the meaning of urban American culture and give millions of young people a chance to develop their own sense of entertainment, dress, and expression. MCs, B-boys, graffitists, and DJs control the shifting conception of hip-hop. Jamaican DJ Kool Herc came to New York in the early '70s armed with reggae records and an itch to rhyme. MCs emerged from DJs like Kool Herc who began to improvise with verbal tricks over manipulated beats on the turntables. From the Sugarhill Gang to the Beastie Boys, rappers challenge the DJs beats and breaks with clever rhymes and thoughtful urban commentaries. B-boys and breakdancers (those who dance during the break of a song) depend on the DJs vinyl skills, including the scratch, which spawned a movement of experimental turntablism. Graffiti artists depend on their urban landscape to create visual companions to hip-hop music. In the '90s, hip-hop music and style emerged as the artistic movement for mainstream audiences. However, as a lasting American identity, hip-hop continues to evolve -- as evidenced by new underground movements on both coasts -- and morph into different forms of expression and lifestyles. [show less]