187-525: West Coast hip hop is a regional genre of hip hop music that encompasses any artists or music that originated in the West Coast of the United States . West Coast hip hop began to dominate from a radio play and sales standpoint during the early to-mid 1990s with the birth of G-funk and the emergence of record labels such as Suge Knight and Dr. Dre 's Death Row Records , Ice Cube 's Lench Mob Records ,
374-713: A DJ controller device to mix audio files on a computer instead of a console mixer. DJs may also use a microphone to speak to the audience; effects units such as reverb to create sound effects and electronic musical instruments such as drum machines and synthesizers . Some of the most popular DJs are Skrillex , David Guetta , Porter Robinson , deadmau5 , Avicii , Calvin Harris , Martin Garrix , Marshmello , Zedd , Alan Walker , Eric Prydz , DJ Snake , R3HAB , Timmy Trumpet , Tiësto , Steve Aoki , Diplo , Nicky Romero , Lost Frequencies , Daft Punk . The term "disc jockey"
561-557: A DJ controller . Modern media players have the ability to stream music from online music providers such as Beatport, Beatsource, Tidal and SoundCloud GO. DJ mixers are small audio mixing consoles specialized for DJing. Most DJ mixers have far fewer channels than a mixer used by a record producer or audio engineer ; whereas standard live sound mixers in small venues have 12 to 24 channels, and standard recording studio mixers have even more (as many as 72 on large boards), basic DJ mixers may have only two channels. While DJ mixers have many of
748-521: A microphone , effects units such as reverb , and electronic musical instruments such as drum machines and synthesizers. As music technology has progressed, DJs have adopted different types of equipment to play and mix music, all of which are still commonly used. Traditionally, DJs used two turntables plugged into a DJ mixer to mix music on vinyl records. As compact discs became popular media for publishing music, specialized high-quality CD players known as CDJs were developed for DJs. CDJs can take
935-465: A producer . They also incorporate synthesizers, drum machines, and live bands. Rappers may write, memorize, or improvise their lyrics and perform their works a cappella or to a beat. Hip hop music predates the introduction of rapping into hip hop culture, and rap vocals are absent from many hip hop tracks, such as " Hip Hop, Be Bop (Don't Stop) " by Man Parrish ; " Chinese Arithmetic " by Eric B. & Rakim ; "Al-Naafiysh (The Soul)" and "We're Rocking
1122-566: A "voice" for the disenfranchised youth of low-income and marginalized economic areas, as the hip hop culture reflected the social, economic and political realities of their lives. Hip hop's early evolution occurred around the time that sampling technology and drum-machines became widely available to the general public at a cost that was affordable to the average consumer—not just professional studios. Drum-machines and samplers were combined in machines that came to be known as MPC 's or ' Music Production Centers ', early examples of which would include
1309-625: A 1984 history of hip hop. Hip hop and rap music are often used interchangeably but the term "hip hop" has also been historically used to describe a culture of which music is a part. Historically hip hop is a cultural movement that emerged in the South Bronx in New York City during the 1970s which included MCing (or rapping), graffiti art (or aerosol art), break dancing, DJing and knowledge. Musical genres from which hip hop developed include funk , blues , jazz and rhythm and blues recordings from
1496-416: A DJ mixer. Prior to 1979, recorded hip hop music consisted mainly of PA system soundboard recordings of live party shows and early hip hop mixtapes by DJs. Puerto Rican DJ Disco Wiz is credited as the first hip hop DJ to create a "mixed plate," or mixed dub recording, when, in 1977, he combined sound bites, special effects and paused beats to technically produce a sound recording. The first hip hop record
1683-444: A New York-based collective and booking agency, describe themselves as "representing and showcasing cis women, trans women and genderqueer [ sic ] talent." In Japan, the newest Bushiroad franchise: D4DJ focuses on an all-women DJ unit. DJs use equipment that enables them to play multiple sources of recorded music and mix them to create seamless transitions and unique arrangements of songs. An important tool for DJs
1870-552: A Roland 808. Later, samplers such as the E-mu SP-1200 allowed not only more memory but more flexibility for creative production. This allowed the filtration and layering different hits, and with a possibility of re-sequencing them into a single piece. With the emergence of a new generation of samplers such as the AKAI S900 in the late 1980s, producers did not have to create complex, time-consuming tape loops. Public Enemy 's first album
2057-463: A basic chorus, to allow the performer to gather his thoughts (e.g. "one, two, three, y'all, to the beat"). Later, the MCs grew more varied in their vocal and rhythmic delivery, incorporating brief rhymes, often with a sexual or scatological theme, in an effort to differentiate themselves and to entertain the audience. These early raps incorporated the dozens, a product of African American culture. Kool Herc &
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#17330929212852244-636: A best-selling genre in the mid-1990s and the top-selling music genre by 1999. Hip hop became a category at the Grammy Awards in 1989 with the addition of the Best Rap Performance award and was given to DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince for their song "Parents Just Don't Understand". In 1990, they became the first hip hop act to perform at the Grammys. The popularity of hip hop music continued through
2431-733: A black D.J., as were other white DJ's at the station. Dr. Hep Cat's rhymes were published in a dictionary of jive talk, The Jives of Dr. Hepcat , in 1953. Jockey jack is the infamous Jack the Rapper of Family Affair fame, after his radio convention that was a must attend for every rap artist in the 1980s and 1990s These jive talking rappers of the 1950s black appeal radio format were the source and inspiration of Soul singer James Brown , and musical 'comedy' acts such as Rudy Ray Moore , Pigmeat Markham and Blowfly that are often considered "godfathers" of hip hop music. Within New York City, performances of spoken-word poetry and music by artists such as
2618-626: A celebration of the West Coast. Hip hop music African Asian Middle Eastern European North American Oceanic South American Hip hop or hip-hop , formerly known as disco rap , is a genre of popular music that originated in the early 1970s from the African American community. Hip-hop music originated as an anti-drug and anti-violence genre consisting of stylized rhythmic music (usually built around drum beats ) that often accompanies rapping ,
2805-482: A computer to fully take advantage of its features. The consumer-grade, regular sound card integrated into most computer motherboards can only output two channels (one stereo pair). However, DJs need to be able to output at least four channels (two stereo pairs, thus Left and Right for input 1 and Left and Right for input 2), either unmixed signals to send to a DJ mixer or the main output plus a headphone output. Additionally, DJ sound cards output higher-quality signals than
2992-624: A creative space in Los Angeles entitled Watts Writers Workshop , intended to help the people of the Watts neighborhood and provide a place for them to express themselves freely; one group to emerge from the workshop was the proto-rap group Watts Prophets . In the late 1970s in Los Angeles, Alonzo Williams , a young disc jockey from Compton, California formed a partnership with another DJ named Rodger Clayton from Los Angeles, California who created
3179-696: A decisive influence on the club or a series of events. Per agreement with the management or company, the DJ would have to perform under agreed times and dates. Typically, DJs perform as residents for two or three times in a week, for example, on Friday and Saturday. DJs who make a steady income from a venue are also considered resident DJs. Examples for resident DJs are: In Western popular music , even though there are relatively few women DJs and turntablists, women musicians have achieved great success in singing and songwriting roles, however, they are given much less representation than men DJs. Part of this may stem from
3366-412: A deejay (DJ) is a reggae or dancehall musician who sings and " toasts " (recites poetry) to an instrumental riddim . Deejays are not to be confused with DJs from other music genres like hip hop, where they select and play music. Dancehall/reggae DJs who select riddims to play are called selectors. Deejays whose style is nearer to singing are sometimes called singjays . The term deejay originated in
3553-480: A demographic distinct from teenagers in the Bronx, Herc's parties had a ready-made audience. DJ Kool Herc developed the style that was the blueprint for hip hop music . Herc used the record to focus on a short, heavily percussive part in it: the " break ". Since this part of the record was the one the dancers liked best, Herc isolated the break and prolonged it by changing between two record players. As one record reached
3740-411: A feature commonly labelled "sync". Most DJ mixers now include a beat counter which analyzes the tempo of an incoming sound source and displays its tempo in beats per minute (BPM), which may assist with beatmatching analog sound sources. In the past, being a DJ has largely been a self-taught craft but with the complexities of new technologies and the convergence with music production methods, there are
3927-423: A feature known as "keylock". Some software analyzes the loudness of the music for automatic normalization with ReplayGain and detects the musical key. Additionally, DJ software can store cue points, set loops, and apply effects . As tablet computers and smartphones became widespread, DJ software was written to run on these devices in addition to laptops. DJ software requires specialized hardware in addition to
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#17330929212854114-427: A form of empowerment and self-expression has solidified its significance beyond mere entertainment, making it a significant cultural force worldwide. The origin of the phrase "hip-hop" is unknown but a very old example of the phrase appears in scene II of an anonymously written satirical play from 1671 called The Rehearsal , thought to be written by George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham and others. A character in
4301-489: A generally low percentage of women in audio technology-related jobs. A 2013 Sound on Sound article by Rosina Ncube stated that there are "... few women in record production and sound engineering ." Ncube states that "[n]inety-five percent of music producers are male, and although there are women producers achieving great things in music, they are less well-known than their counterparts." The vast majority of students in music technology programs are male. In hip hop music ,
4488-414: A growing number of schools and organizations that offer instruction on the techniques. In DJ culture, miming refers to the practice of DJ's pantomiming the actions of live-mixing a set on stage while a pre-recorded mix plays over the sound system. Miming mixing in a live performance is considered to be controversial within DJ culture. Some within the DJ community say that miming is increasingly used as
4675-461: A hardware mixer. Turntables allow DJs to play vinyl records. By adjusting the playback speed of the turntable, either by adjusting the speed knob or by manipulating the platter (e.g., by slowing down the platter by putting a finger gently along the side), DJs can match the tempos of different records so their rhythms can be played together at the same time without clashing or make a smooth, seamless transition from one song to another. This technique
4862-415: A hip hop trio signed to Sugar Hill Records , the first all-female group to release a hit rap record, Funk You Up . The roots of rapping are found in African American music and bear similarities to traditional African music , particularly that of the griots of West African culture. The African American traditions of signifyin' , the dozens , and jazz poetry all influence hip hop music, as well as
5049-452: A historic building. The equipment consisted of numerous speakers, turntables, and one or more microphones. By using this technique, DJs could create a variety of music, but according to Rap Attack by David Toop "At its worst the technique could turn the night into one endless and inevitably boring song". KC the Prince of Soul , a rapper-lyricist with Pete DJ Jones, is often credited with being
5236-530: A huge seller and becoming critically acclaimed. 2Pac gained hits California Love" and "Live and Die in LA". Also in the early-to-mid 1990s, the group Cypress Hill made a big impact on the scene with their albums such as their debut studio album of the same name and Black Sunday . They are considered to be among the main progenitors of West Coast rap and hip-hop. Other popular artists and groups from this period include The Pharcyde (known for their albums Bizarre Ride II
5423-417: A laptop as a source of music instead of transporting CDs or vinyl records to gigs. Unlike most music player software designed for regular consumers , DJ software can play at least two audio files simultaneously, display the waveforms of the files on screen and enable the DJ to listen to either source. The waveforms allow the DJ to see what is coming next in the music and how the playback of different files
5610-423: A live audience in a nightclub or dance club or a TV, radio broadcast audience, or an online radio audience. DJs also create mixes, remixes and tracks that are recorded for later sale and distribution. In hip hop music , DJs may create beats, using percussion breaks , basslines and other musical content sampled from pre-existing records. In hip hop, rappers and MCs use these beats to rap over. Some DJs adopt
5797-478: A mark in establishing Long Beach in the hip hop scene. Another artist who helped establish Long Beach was Warren G with his release Regulate... G Funk Era (1994). He founded his record label G-Funk Entertainment in 1995 and helped promote artists also from Long Beach such as the Twinz and The Dove Shack . As for Death Row, success kept coming throughout the 1990s with 2Pac's All Eyez on Me (1996) also becoming
West Coast hip hop - Misplaced Pages Continue
5984-405: A means to better mix and blend recorded music. These techniques primarily include the cueing , equalization and audio mixing of two or more sound sources. The complexity and frequency of special techniques depend largely on the setting in which a DJ is working. Radio DJs are less likely to focus on advanced music-mixing procedures than club DJs, who rely on a smooth transition between songs using
6171-557: A member of the Cold Crush Brothers , stated that "hip hop saved a lot of lives". For inner-city youth, participating in hip hop culture became a way of dealing with the hardships of life as minorities within America, and an outlet to deal with the risk of violence and the rise of gang culture. MC Kid Lucky mentions that "people used to break-dance against each other instead of fighting". Inspired by DJ Kool Herc, Afrika Bambaataa created
6358-658: A more creative manner (although turntablism is often considered a use of the turntable as a musical instrument rather than a tool for blending recorded music). Professional DJs may use harmonic mixing to choose songs that are in compatible musical keys. Other techniques include chopping , screwing and looping . Recent advances in technology in both DJ hardware and software can provide assisted or automatic completion of some traditional DJ techniques and skills. Examples include phrasing and beatmatching , which can be partially or completely automated by using DJ software that performs automatic synchronization of sound recordings,
6545-474: A motor to directly drive a platter on which a vinyl record rests. In 1969, Matsushita released it as the SP-10 , the first direct-drive turntable on the market, and the first in their influential Technics series of turntables. In 1972, Technics started making their SL-1200 turntable , featuring high torque direct drive design. The SL-1200 had a rapid start and its durable direct drive enabled DJs to manipulate
6732-443: A musical instrument. Perhaps the best-known turntablist technique is scratching . Turntablists often participate in DJ contests like DMC World DJ Championships and Red Bull 3Style. A resident DJ performs at a venue on a regular basis or permanently. They would perform regularly (typically under an agreement) in a particular discotheque, a particular club, a particular event, or a particular broadcasting station. Residents have
6919-403: A non-stopping flow of music. Mixing began with hip hop in the 1970s and would subsequently expand to other genres in especially (but not exclusively) dance music. One key technique used for seamlessly transitioning from one song to another is beatmatching . A DJ who mostly plays and mixes one specific music genre is often given the title of that genre; for example, a DJ who plays hip hop music
7106-454: A notoriously rough area which had gained a reputation for gang violence, it was released by group member Eazy-E 's record label Ruthless Records . As well as establishing a basis for the popularity of gangsta rap , the album drew much attention to West Coast hip hop, especially the Los Angeles scene. In particular, the controversial " Fuck tha Police " and the ensuing censorship attracted substantial media coverage and public attention. Following
7293-519: A number of popular artists' singles, including Tyga 's " Rack City ", 2 Chainz 's " I'm Different ", Young Jeezy 's " R.I.P. ", B.o.B 's " HeadBand ", YG 's " My Nigga " and " Who Do You Love? ", Ty Dolla Sign 's " Paranoid ", Kid Ink 's " Show Me " and Trey Songz 's " Na Na ". Mustard also released his debut mixtape, Ketchup , in 2013, further solidifying his ratchet sound, which follows its G-funk and hyphy predecessors. Other more peripheral acts that achieved moderate, cult following success in
7480-426: A number of prominent women DJs: Hannah Wants , Ellen Allien , Miss Kittin , Monika Kruse , Nicole Moudaber , B.Traits , Magda , Nina Kraviz , Nervo , and Annie Mac . Two years later, another article brings out a list with world-famous women DJs including Nastia, tINY, Nora En Pure , Anja Schneider, Peggy Gou , Maya Jane Coles , and Eli & Fur . American DJ The Blessed Madonna has been called "one of
7667-596: A paradigm shift in the development of hip hop, with the introduction of samples from rock music, as demonstrated in the albums King of Rock and Licensed to Ill . Hip hop prior to this shift is characterized as old-school hip hop . In 1980, the Roland Corporation launched the TR-808 Rhythm Composer. It was one of the earliest programmable drum machines, with which users could create their own rhythms rather than having to use preset patterns. Though it
West Coast hip hop - Misplaced Pages Continue
7854-629: A promotion company called Unique Dreams that would hire Williams to DJ at local events. The two eventually went their separate ways: Williams started a group called the World Class Wreckin' Cru and became the house DJs at a local nightclub called Eve's After Dark while Clayton launched what would perhaps be the foremost successful mobile DJ crew in the region by the name of Uncle Jamm's Army that would host parties by top DJs for thousands of people at large venues. Other smaller DJ and party crews emerged around this time, hoping to establish themselves in
8041-436: A range of techniques. However, some radio DJs are experienced club DJs, so they use the same sophisticated mixing techniques. Club DJ turntable techniques include beatmatching , phrasing and slip-cueing to preserve energy on a dance floor. Turntablism embodies the art of cutting, beat juggling , scratching , needle drops , phase shifting , back spinning and more to perform the transitions and overdubs of samples in
8228-509: A reaction against disco and eventually incorporated characteristics of hip hop during the early 1980s. The DJ-based genre of electronic music behaved similarly, eventually evolving into underground styles known as house music in Chicago and techno in Detroit. The 1980s marked the diversification of hip hop as the genre developed more complex styles. New York City became a veritable laboratory for
8415-733: A record label powerhouse throughout the 1990s. In 1992, Dr. Dre released his solo debut, The Chronic ; this marked the birth of the G-funk sound that became a hallmark of the West Coast sound in the 1990s, with the album's lead single " Nuthin' but a 'G' Thang " peaking at #2 on the US Billboard Hot 100 . The city of Long Beach arrived to the hip-hop scene in the early 1990s with artists such as Snoop Doggy Dogg and Tha Dogg Pound , both signed to Death Row, with releases such as Doggystyle (1993) and Dogg Food (1995). Both albums becoming huge sellers and being critically acclaimed and helped make
8602-451: A result, the hip hop genre, barely known outside of the Bronx at the time, grew at an astounding rate from 1977 onward. DJ Kool Herc's house parties gained popularity and later moved to outdoor venues to accommodate more people. Hosted in parks, these outdoor parties became a means of expression and an outlet for teenagers, where "instead of getting into trouble on the streets, teens now had a place to expend their pent-up energy." Tony Tone,
8789-588: A rhythmic delivery of poetic speech. In the early 1990s, a professor of African American studies at Temple University said, "Hip-hop is something that blacks can unequivocally claim as their own." By the 21st century, the field of rappers had diversified by both race and gender. The music developed as part of the broader hip-hop culture , a subculture defined by four key stylistic elements: MCing /rapping, DJing/ scratching with turntables , breakdancing , and graffiti art . While often used to refer solely to rapping and rap music, "hip hop" more properly denotes
8976-627: A significant impact on the American hip hop culture. DJ turntablism has origins in the invention of direct-drive turntables . Early belt-drive turntables were unsuitable for turntablism and mixing, since they had a slow start-up time, and they were prone to wear-and-tear and breakage, as the belt would break from backspinning or scratching. The first direct-drive turntable was invented by engineer Shuichi Obata at Matsushita (now Panasonic ), based in Osaka , Japan. It eliminated belts, and instead employed
9163-417: A special signal, referred to as "timecode", to control DJ software. The DJ software interprets changes in the playback speed, direction, and position of the timecode signal and manipulates the digital files it is playing in the same way that the turntable manipulates the timecode record. This requires a specialized DJ sound card with at least 4 channels (2 stereo pairs) of inputs and outputs. With this setup,
9350-464: A street organization called Universal Zulu Nation , centered on hip hop, as a means to draw teenagers out of gang life, drugs and violence. The lyrical content of many early rap groups focused on social issues, most notably in the seminal track "The Message" by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five , which discussed the realities of life in the housing projects. "Young black Americans coming out of
9537-472: A strong technological tendency such as DJing, sound engineering and producing" are "not necessarily about their dislike of these instruments but relates to the interrupting effect of their dominantly masculine delineations". Despite this, women and girls do increasingly engage in turntable and DJ practices, individually and collectively, and "carve out spaces for themselves in EDM and DJ Culture". A 2015 article cited
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#17330929212859724-560: A technique by celebrity model DJs who may lack mixing skills, but can draw big crowds to a venue. During a DJ tour for the release of the French group Justice 's A Cross the Universe in November 2008, controversy arose when a photograph of Augé DJing with an unplugged Akai MPD24 surfaced. The photograph sparked accusations that Justice's live sets were faked. Augé has since said that the equipment
9911-438: A way that mimicked the rhythmic cadence of soldiers marching. Cowboy later worked "hip hop" into a part of his stage performance saying something along the lines of what was adopted by other artists such as The Sugarhill Gang in 1979 in one of the earliest rap records " Rapper's Delight "I said a hip-hop, a hibbit, hibby-dibby, hip-hip-hop and you don't stop". Universal Zulu Nation founder and music artist Afrika Bambaataa
10098-423: Is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at nightclubs or music festivals ), mobile DJs (who are hired to work at public and private events such as weddings, parties, or festivals), and turntablists (who use record players, usually turntables , to manipulate sounds on phonograph records ). Originally,
10285-645: Is a politically conscious response to Grandmaster Flash's "The Message" arranged by the legendary production duo of Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis and Rich Cason. Clayton's group, Uncle Jamm's Army, released their first single, "Dial-a-Freak", and in 1984 Egyptian Lover released his On the Nile album, which includes the popular 12" single "Egypt Egypt". Members of Uncle Jamm's Army and the World Class Wreckin' Cru, including Dr. Dre , The Unknown DJ , Egyptian Lover , Ice-T and Kid Frost would later go on to help define
10472-399: Is aligned. The software analyzes music files to identify their tempo and where the beats are. The analyzed information can be used by the DJ to help manually beatmatch like with vinyl records or the software can automatically synchronize the beats. Digital signal processing algorithms in software allow DJs to adjust the tempo of recordings independently of their pitch (and musical key ,
10659-400: Is called a hip hop DJ, a DJ who plays house music is a house DJ, a DJ who plays techno is called a techno DJ, and so on. The quality of a DJ performance (often called a DJ mix or DJ set) consists of two main features: technical skills, or how well the DJ can operate the equipment and produce smooth transitions between two or more recordings and a playlist; and the ability of a DJ to select
10846-567: Is credited with first using the term as a five element culture of which the music belonged; although it is also suggested that it was sometimes used as a derogatory term. The term was used in an article of February 24, 1979 by reporter Robert Flipping Jr. in the New Pittsburgh Courier The article is about DJs and discothèque nightclubs in Pittsburgh and does not mention rap music but says this: "D.J. Starsky ( Lovebug Starsky ), one of
11033-403: Is impacted upon by what he defines as "male technophilia ". Historian Ruth Oldenziel concurs in her writing on engineering with this idea of socialization as a central factor in the lack of engagement with technology. She says: an exclusive focus on women's supposed failure to enter the field – is insufficient for understanding how our stereotypical notions have come into being; it tends to put
11220-473: Is known as beatmatching . DJs typically replace the rubber mat on turntables that keep the record moving in sync with the turntable with a slipmat that facilitates manipulating the playback of the record by hand. With the slipmat, the DJ can stop or slow down the record while the turntable is still spinning. Direct-drive turntables are the type preferred by DJs. Belt-drive turntables are less expensive, but they are not suitable for turntablism and DJing, because
11407-630: Is the rhythmic spoken delivery of rhymes and wordplay, delivered at first without accompaniment and later done over a beats . This spoken style was influenced by the African American style of "capping", a performance where men tried to outdo each other in originality of their language and tried to gain the favor of the listeners. The basic elements of hip hop—boasting raps, rival "posses" (groups), uptown "throw-downs", and political and social commentary—were all long present in African American music. MCing and rapping performers moved back and forth between
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#173309292128511594-423: Is the specialized DJ mixer , a small audio mixer with a crossfader and cue functions. The crossfader enables the DJ to blend or transition from one song to another. The cue knobs or switches allow the DJ to "listen" to a source of recorded music in headphones before playing it for the live club or broadcast audience. Previewing the music in headphones helps the DJ pick the next track they want to play, cue up
11781-463: Is this dictionary is: "Hip-hop, adv. [v. hip + hop v.; or re-duplication of hop, with alternation of lighter and heavier vowel : cf. drip-drop, tip-top: With hopping movement; with successive hops." A similar phrase "hippity hop" of unknown origin goes to least back to the 1800s and appears in a poem, "Spring Weather", written by Elizabeth Cummings published in an 1882 children's magazine called Wide Awake . The illustrated poem begins "Hippity hop to
11968-481: Is usually considered new wave and fuses heavy pop music elements, but there is an extended rap by Harry near the end. Boxer Muhammad Ali , as an influential African American celebrity, was widely covered in the media. Ali influenced several elements of hip hop music. Both in the boxing ring and in media interviews, Ali became known in the 1960s for being "rhyming trickster". Ali used a "funky delivery" for his comments, which included "boasts, comical trash talk , [and]
12155-594: Is widely regarded to be the Sugarhill Gang 's " Rapper's Delight ", from 1979. It was the first hip hop record to gain widespread popularity in the mainstream and was where hip hop music got its name from (from the opening bar). However, much controversy surrounds this assertion as some regard the March 1979 single " King Tim III (Personality Jock) " by the Fatback Band , as a rap record. There are various other claimants for
12342-604: The Do It Any Way You Wanna Do rhythm by the People's Choice as re-recorded by Sly and Robbie ), where he even used a New York accent, consciously aiming at the new NYC rap market. The Jamaican DJ dance music was deeply rooted in the sound system tradition that made music available to poor people in a very poor country where live music was only played in clubs and hotels patronized by the middle and upper classes. By 1973 Jamaican sound system enthusiast DJ Kool Herc moved to
12529-741: The Linn 9000 . The first sampler that was broadly adopted to create this new kind of music was the Mellotron used in combination with the TR-808 drum machine. Mellotrons and Linn's were succeeded by the Akai , in the late 1980s. Turntablist techniques – such as rhythmic " scratching " (pushing a record back and forth while the needle is in the groove to create new sounds and sound effects , an approach attributed to Grand Wizzard Theodore ), beat mixing and/or beatmatching , and beat juggling – eventually developed along with
12716-700: The Scotch Club , opened in Aachen and visiting journalist Klaus Quirini (later DJ Heinrich) made comments, conducted audience games, and announced songs while playing records. The first song he played was the hit Ein Schiff wird kommen by Lale Andersen . In the 1960s, Rudy Bozak began making the first DJ mixers , mixing consoles specialized for DJing. In the late 1960s to early 1970s Jamaican sound system culture, producer and sound system operator (DJ), (Jamaican) King Tubby and producer Lee "Scratch" Perry were pioneers of
12903-421: The break section of the song, showing off athleticism, spinning on the stage to 'break-dance' in the distinctive, frenetic style. Although there were some early MCs that recorded solo projects of note, such as DJ Hollywood , Kurtis Blow , and Spoonie Gee , the frequency of solo artists did not increase until later with the rise of soloists with stage presence and drama, such as LL Cool J . Most early hip hop
13090-488: The call and response patterns of African and African American religious ceremonies. Early popular radio disc jockeys of the Black-appeal radio period broke into broadcast announcing by using these techniques under the jive talk of the post WWII swing era in the late 1940s and the 1950s. DJ Nat D. was the M.C. at one of the most pitiless places for any aspiring musician trying to break into show business, Amateur Night at
13277-600: The "Graffiti Capital of the World" in 1971. Philadelphia native DJ Lady B recorded "To the Beat Y'All" in 1979, and became the first female solo hip hop artist to record music. Schoolly D , starting in 1984 and also from Philadelphia, began creating a style that would later be known as gangsta rap . Hip hop music was influenced by disco music, as disco also emphasized the key role of the DJ in creating tracks and mixes for dancers, and old school hip hop often used disco tracks as beats. At
13464-640: The "disc" in "disc jockey" referred to shellac and later vinyl records , but nowadays DJ is used as an all-encompassing term to also describe persons who mix music from other recording media such as cassettes , CDs or digital audio files on a CDJ , controller, or even a laptop. DJs may adopt the title "DJ" in front of their real names, adopted pseudonyms, or stage names. DJs commonly use audio equipment that can play at least two sources of recorded music simultaneously. This enables them to blend tracks together to create transitions between recordings and develop unique mixes of songs. This can involve aligning
13651-436: The 'talking blues' tradition. The first full-length Jamaican DJ record was a duet on a Rastafarian topic by Kingston ghetto dwellers U-Roy and Peter Tosh named Righteous Ruler (produced by Lee "Scratch" Perry in 1969). The first DJ hit record was Fire Corner by Coxsone's Downbeat sound system DJ, King Stitt that same year; 1970 saw a multitude of DJ hit records in the wake of U-Roy's early, massive hits, most famously Wake
13838-564: The 1960s and 1970s when performers such as U-Roy and King Stitt toasted over the instrumental ( dub music ) versions of popular records. These versions were often released on the flip side to the song's 45 record . This gave the deejays the chance to create on-the-fly lyrics to the music. Big Youth , and I-Roy were famous deejays in Jamaica. Turntablists, also called battle DJs, use turntables and DJ mixer to manipulate recorded sounds to produce new music. In essence, they use DJ equipment as
14025-505: The 1960s, 1950s, and earlier, including several records by Bo Diddley and gospel group The Jubalaires , whose 1946 song "Noah" is often named as the first recorded instance of rap . Muhammad Ali 's 1963 spoken-word album I Am the Greatest is regarded by some writers as an early example of hip hop. Pigmeat Markham 's 1968 single " Here Comes the Judge " is one of several songs said to be
14212-419: The 1970s, DJs would have to lug heavy direct-drive turntables and crates of records to clubs and shows. In the 1980s, many DJs transitioned to compact cassettes . In the 1990s and 2000s, many DJs switched to using digital audio such as CDs and MP3 files. As technological advances made it practical to store large collections of digital music files on a laptop computer, DJ software was developed so DJs could use
14399-624: The 1970s, when block parties became increasingly popular in New York City, particularly among African American youth residing in the Bronx . At block parties, DJs played percussive breaks of popular songs using two turntables and a DJ mixer to be able to play breaks from two copies of the same record, alternating from one to the other and extending the " break ". Hip-hop's early evolution occurred as sampling technology and drum machines became widely available and affordable. Turntablist techniques such as scratching and beatmatching developed along with
14586-503: The Bay and slowly saw their rhythmic funky beats slowed down and reused in later hits that would intersect genres. Freestyle samples of electro funky beats provided listeners with a sound that they didn’t know the genre needed. The Bay Area isn’t often viewed as one of the prominent hip-hop hubs in the U.S., but its rich history and extensive range of diverse artists prove that many of the original characteristics of early hip-hop can be traced back to
14773-452: The Bay rap scene doesn’t receive the respect it deserves, this hasn’t prevented its artists and style from influencing hip-hop’s sound and dance. Laid out in the 1960s and 70s through activism and the hybridity of funk music, the Bay Area was able to gain serious traction from the 1980s to mid 90s, which saw local artists popularize Pimp rap. Artists across the region began harnessing the sound of
14960-551: The Bay was a unique style of break dancing that was exhibited at local shows, and a representation of graffiti sprayed along city streets and buildings, similar to what was expressed in The Bronx on subway cars and abandoned structures. From the inspiration of funk music , to the political and social movements that were energized by the Black Panther Party , Hip-Hop in the Bay was a newfound outlet, and proved to be ingrained in
15147-458: The Black community. Old-school hip hop was the first mainstream wave of the genre, marked by its disco influence and party-oriented lyrics. The 1980s marked the diversification of hip hop as the genre developed more complex styles and spread around the world. New-school hip hop was the genre's second wave, marked by its electro sound, and led into golden age hip hop , an innovative period between
15334-422: The Bronx to its global reach today, hip hop has served as a voice for the disenfranchised, shedding light on issues such as racial inequality, poverty, and police brutality. Artists such as Public Enemy , Tupac Shakur , and Kendrick Lamar have used their platforms to address systemic injustices, fostering dialogue and inspiring activism. Hip hop's ability to confront societal issues while simultaneously providing
15521-460: The Bronx, taking with him Jamaica's sound system culture, and teamed up with another Jamaican, Coke La Rock, at the mike. Although other influences, most notably musical sequencer Grandmaster Flowers of Brooklyn and Grandwizard Theodore of the Bronx contributed to the birth of hip hop in New York, and although it was downplayed in most US books about hip hop, the main root of this sound system culture
15708-719: The Caribbean, where Jocko Henderson and Jockey Jack were American DJs who were listened to at night from broadcast transmitters located in Miami, Florida. Jocko came to have an outsized influence on Jamaican Emcees during the '50s as the R&;B music played on the Miami stations was different from that played on JBC , which re-broadcast BBC and local music styles. In Jamaica, DJs would set up large roadside sound systems in towns and villages, playing music for informal gatherings, mostly folks who wandered down from country hills looking for excitement at
15895-431: The DJ software typically outputs unmixed signals from the music files to an external hardware DJ mixer . Some DJ mixers have integrated USB sound cards that allow DJ software to connect directly to the mixer without requiring a separate sound card. A DJ software can be used to mix audio files on the computer instead of a separate hardware mixer. When mixing on a computer, DJs often use a DJ controller device that mimics
16082-404: The Furious Five who is sometimes credited with the term as it relates to Hip Hop as we know it today (although it was not documented). Lovebug Starski , Keef Cowboy, and DJ Hollywood used the term when the music was still known as disco rap . It is believed by some that Cowboy created the term while teasing a friend who had just joined the U.S. Army, by singing the words "hip/hop/hip/hop" in
16269-510: The Herculoids were the first hip hop group to gain recognition in New York, but the number of MC teams increased over time. Often these were collaborations between former gangs , such as Afrikaa Bambaataa 's Universal Zulu Nation —now an international organization. Melle Mel , a rapper with the Furious Five is often credited with being the first rap lyricist to call himself an "MC". During
16456-480: The Hood in 1991. The early 1990s was a period in which Hip-Hop went from strength to strength. Tupac Shakur 's debut album 2Pacalypse Now was released in 1991, demonstrating a social awareness, with attacks on social injustice such as racism , police brutality , poverty , crime, drug and teenage pregnancy . This album featured 3 singles: " Brenda's Got a Baby ", " Trapped " and " If My Homie Calls ". 2Pacalypse Now
16643-455: The Last Poets , Gil Scott-Heron and Jalal Mansur Nuriddin had a significant impact on the post-civil rights era culture of the 1960s and '1970s, and thus the social environment in which hip hop music was created. AM radio at many stations were limited by the 'broadcast Day' as special licenses were required to transmit at night. Those that had such licenses were heard far out to sea and in
16830-434: The Los Angeles music scene some of its earliest credibility outside the region. Further attention came to the West Coast as Uncle Jamm's Army began inviting such well-known East Coast Hip-Hop acts such as Whodini and Run-DMC to their functions. Another early landmark occurred in 1981, when Duffy Hooks launched the first West Coast rap label, Rappers Rapp Records , inspired by Sugar Hill Records in New York. Its first act
17017-568: The Music Play " (1983), Freeez 's "I.O.U." (1983), Midnight Star 's "Freak-a-Zoid" (1983), Chaka Khan 's " I Feel For You " (1984). DJ Pete Jones, Eddie Cheeba, DJ Hollywood , and Love Bug Starski were disco-influenced hip hop DJs. Their styles differed from other hip hop musicians who focused on rapid-fire rhymes and more complex rhythmic schemes. Afrika Bambaataa , Paul Winley, Grandmaster Flash , and Bobby Robinson were all members of third s latter group. In Washington, D.C. go-go emerged as
17204-561: The Palace theatre on Beale Street in Memphis, Tennessee. There he was master of ceremonies from 1935 until 1947 along with his sideman, D.J. Rufus Thomas . It was there he perfected the dozens, signifyin' and the personality jock jive patter that would become his schtick when he became the first black radio announcer on the air south of the Mason–Dixon line. Jive popularized black appeal radio, it
17391-667: The Pharcyde and Labcabincalifornia ), Souls of Mischief (known for their album 93 'til Infinity ), Ahmad (known for his song Back in the Day ), Xzibit (known for his album At the Speed of Life ) and Ras Kass (known for his album Soul on Ice ). West Coast hip hop's position in the mainstream dwindled greatly in the late 1990s and 2000s, with a few notable exceptions such as Dr. Dre's 2001 , Xzibit 's Restless , Snoop Dogg 's No Limit Top Dogg and Tha Last Meal albums. However,
17578-613: The Planet" by Hashim ; and "Destination Earth" by Newcleus . However, the majority of the genre has been accompanied by rap vocals, such as the Sci-fi influenced electro hip hop group Warp 9 . Female rappers appeared on the scene in the late 1970s and early 80s, including Bronx artist MC Sha-Rock , member of the Funky Four Plus One , credited with being the first female MC and the Sequence ,
17765-518: The Town and many others. As the tradition of remix (which also started in Jamaica where it was called 'version' and 'dub') developed, established young Jamaican DJ/rappers from that period, who had already been working for sound systems for years, were suddenly recorded and had many local hit records, widely contributing to the reggae craze triggered by Bob Marley's impact in the 1970s. The main Jamaican DJs of
17952-456: The United States and young immigrants and children of immigrants from countries in the Caribbean. Some were influenced by the vocal style of the earliest African American radio MCs (including Jocko Henderson 's Rocket Ship Show of the 1950s, which rhymed and was influenced by scat singing ), which could be heard over the radio in Jamaica. The first records by Jamaican DJs, including Sir Lord Comic ( The Great Wuga Wuga , 1967) came as part of
18139-472: The West Coast with his double platinum album, The Documentary , as did Xzibit 's platinum certified Restless album, and gold certified albums Man vs. Machine and Weapons of Mass Destruction . Artists from the 1990s such as Snoop Dogg and Ice Cube and groups such as the Tha Dogg Pound and Westside Connection continued to release albums throughout the 2000s and had success but did not garner
18326-525: The area. Unlike their East Coast counterparts, the Hip-Hop sound emerging from Southern California was more fast-paced and influenced by electronic music . This could be largely credited to the fact that the local West Coast hip-hop scene revolved more around DJing than rapping. A localized dance sub-culture later came out of this party scene, which was highlighted on a national scale on such motion pictures as Breakin' . Breakdancing , popping and locking gave
18513-450: The basis of hip hop music. Campbell's announcements and exhortations to dancers would lead to the syncopated, rhymed spoken accompaniment now known as rapping. He dubbed his dancers "break-boys" and "break-girls", or simply "b-boys" and "b-girls". According to Herc, "breaking" was also street slang for "getting excited" and "acting energetically". DJs such as Grand Wizzard Theodore , Grandmaster Flash , and Jazzy Jay refined and developed
18700-470: The beats of the music sources so their rhythms and tempos do not clash when played together and enable a smooth transition from one song to another. DJs often use specialized DJ mixers , small audio mixers with crossfader and cue functions to blend or transition from one song to another. Mixers are also used to pre-listen to sources of recorded music in headphones and adjust upcoming tracks to mix with currently playing music. DJ software can be used with
18887-429: The belt-drive motor can be damaged by this type of manipulation. Some DJs, most commonly those who play hip hop music, go beyond merely mixing records and use turntables as musical instruments for scratching , beat juggling , and other turntablism techniques. CDJs / media players are high-quality digital media players made for DJing. They often have large jog wheels and pitch controls to allow DJs to manipulate
19074-444: The birth of hip hop in the hip hop culture. It is hard to pinpoint the exact musical influences that most affected the sound and culture of early hip hop because of the multicultural nature of New York—hip hop's early pioneers were influenced by a mix of cultures, due to the city's diversity. The city experienced a heavy Jamaican hip hop influence during the 1990s. This influence was brought on by cultural shifts particularly because of
19261-402: The breaks. Rapping developed as a vocal style in which the artist speaks or chants along rhythmically with an instrumental or synthesized beat . Hip hop music was not officially recorded to play on radio or television until 1979, largely due to poverty during the genre's birth and lack of acceptance outside ghetto neighborhoods. The genre of music began spreading through block parties throughout
19448-537: The burden of proof entirely on women and to [unreasonably] blame them for their supposedly inadequate socialization, their lack of aspiration, and their want of masculine values. An equally challenging question is why and how boys have come to love things technical, how boys have historically been socialized as technophiles. Lucy Green has focused on gender in relation to musical performers and creators, and specifically on educational frameworks as they relate to both. She suggests that women's alienation from "areas that have
19635-556: The candy Shop four little men in a row" and the phrase appears a few more times. The hopping depicted in the illustration seems to crossover later to describing dances such as the Lindy Hop , which began in Harlem in the late 1920s. Later dance parties in the 1970s with DJs predated rap music but rap music would evolve out of them. In an article in Medium , Jeff Chang writes: "Father Amde Hamilton of
19822-461: The civil rights movement have used hip hop culture in the 1980s and 1990s to show the limitations of the Hip Hop Movement." Hip hop gave young African Americans a voice to let their issues be heard; "Like rock-and-roll, hip hop is vigorously opposed by conservatives because it romanticises violence, law-breaking, and gangs". It also gave people a chance for financial gain by "reducing the rest of
20009-473: The continued success of Eazy-E 's Ruthless Records , Dr. Dre's Aftermath Entertainment , and others. African American communities of the Bay Area and southern California emerged as new bases of hip hop culture in the 1980s. Hispanics in the Los Angeles area have played a significant role in West Coast hip hop culture. The Bay Area has vastly contributed to the hip-hop genre seen in today's modern music industry. While its significance may be lesser known to
20196-509: The creation of new hip hop sounds. Early examples of the diversification process can be heard in tracks such as Grandmaster Flash's " The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the Wheels of Steel " (1981), a single consisting entirely of sampled tracks as well as Afrika Bambaataa 's " Planet Rock " (1982), and Warp 9 's " Nunk ", (1982) which signified the fusion of hip hop music with electro . In addition, Rammellzee & K-Rob 's "Beat Bop" (1983)
20383-593: The crossfader provides only the channel A sound source. The far right side provides only the channel B sound source (e.g., record player number 2). Positions in between the two extremes provide different mixes of the two channels. Some DJs use a computer with DJ software and a DJ controller instead of an analog DJ mixer to mix music, although DJ software can be used in conjunction with a hardware DJ mixer. DJs generally use higher-quality headphones than those designed for music consumers. DJ headphones have other properties useful for DJs, such as designs that acoustically isolate
20570-413: The crossover success of its artists. During the late 2000s and early 2010s "blog era", rappers were able to build up a following through online methods of music distribution, such as social media and blogs, and mainstream hip hop took on a more melodic, sensitive direction following the commercial decline of gangsta rap. The trap and mumble rap subgenres have become the most popular form of hip hop during
20757-466: The crowd. Eventually, this introducing role developed into longer sessions of spoken, rhythmic wordplay, and rhyming, which became rapping. By 1979, hip hop music had become a mainstream genre. Herc also developed upon break-beat deejaying, where the breaks of funk songs—the part most suited to dance, usually percussion-based—were isolated and repeated for the purpose of all-night dance parties. This form of music playback, using hard funk and rock, formed
20944-465: The dissolution of N.W.A due to in-fighting, the group's members Eazy-E, Dr. Dre, Ice Cube and MC Ren would later become platinum-selling solo artists in the 1990s. Ice Cube released some of the West Coast's most critically acclaimed albums, such as 1990's AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted and 1991's Death Certificate , as well as making film and television appearances such as in John Singleton 's Boyz n
21131-543: The earliest hip hop record. Leading up to hip hop, there were spoken-word artists such as the Last Poets who released their debut album in 1970, and Gil Scott-Heron , who gained a wide audience with his 1971 track " The Revolution Will Not Be Televised ". These artists combined spoken word and music to create a kind of "proto-rap" vibe. Hip hop as music and culture formed during the 1970s in New York City . As expressed by Mark D. Naison of Fordham University , "Hip hop
21318-406: The early 1970s B-boying arose during block parties, as b-boys and b-girls got in front of the audience to dance in a distinctive and frenetic style. The style was documented for release to a worldwide audience for the first time in documentaries and movies such as Style Wars , Wild Style , and Beat Street . The term "B-boy" was coined by DJ Kool Herc to describe the people who would wait for
21505-547: The early 1970s were King Stitt , Samuel the First , Count Machuki, Johnny Lover (who 'versioned' songs by Bob Marley and the Wailers as early as 1971), Dave Barker, Scotty, Lloyd Young, Charlie Ace and others, as well as soon-to-be reggae stars U-Roy , Dennis Alcapone , I-Roy , Prince Jazzbo , Prince Far I , Big Youth and Dillinger . Dillinger scored the first international rap hit record with Cocaine in my Brain in 1976 (based on
21692-403: The early West Coast hip hop sound throughout the 1980s. During this period, one of the most significant factors in the spread of West Coast hip-hop was the radio station 1580 KDAY AM, which was the first radio station in the world to play rap/hip-hop music 24 hours a day because of Assistant Program Director/Music Director and Radio Personality Greg "Mack Attack" Mack. Ice-T is known as one of
21879-420: The early days of hip hop were characterized by divisions between fans and detractors of disco music. Hip hop had largely emerged as "a direct response to the watered down, Europeanised, disco music that permeated the airwaves". The earliest hip hop was mainly based on hard funk loops sourced from vintage funk records. By 1979, disco instrumental loops/tracks had become the basis of much hip hop music. This genre
22066-440: The early to mid-2010s, the West Coast had also seen a resurgence with hyphy as well as a transition to an uptempo and club-oriented type of Pop Rap. Producer DJ Mustard had pioneered the "ratchet" music movement, a production style that has snowballed into the mainstream. DJ Mustard played a role in bringing West Coast hip hop back to national attention through the 2010s. He gained huge popularity throughout 2011 to 2014, producing
22253-621: The end of the break, he cued a second record back to the beginning of the break, which allowed him to extend a relatively short section of music into a "five-minute loop of fury". This innovation had its roots in what Herc called "The Merry-Go-Round", a technique by which the DJ switched from break to break at the height of the party. This technique is specifically called "The Merry-Go-Round" because according to Herc, it takes one "back and forth with no slack." Radio DJs or radio personalities introduce and play music broadcasts on AM , FM , digital or Internet radio stations. In Jamaican music ,
22440-561: The end of the week. There the DJs would allow 'Toasts' by an Emcee, which copied the style of the American DJs listened to on AM transistor radios. It was by this method that Jive talk, rapping and rhyming was transposed to the island and locally the style was transformed by 'Jamaican lyricism', or the local patois . Hip hop as music and culture formed during the 1970s in New York City from the multicultural exchange between African American youth from
22627-434: The endless quotabl[e]" lines. According to Rolling Stone , his " freestyle skills" (a reference to a type of vocal improvisation in which lyrics are recited with no particular subject or structure) and his "rhymes, flow, and braggadocio " would "one day become typical of old-school MCs" like Run-DMC and LL Cool J , the latter citing Ali as an influence. Hip hop music in its infancy has been described as an outlet and
22814-474: The environment of DJ usually tends to be very noisy. Standard headphones have a 3.5mm jack but DJ equipment usually requires ¼ inch jack. Most specialized DJ Headphones have an adapter to switch between a 3.5mm jack and ¼ inch jack. Detachable coiled cables are perfect for DJ Headphones. DJs have changed their equipment as new technologies are introduced. The earliest DJs in pop music, in 1970s discos, used record turntables , vinyl records and audio consoles . In
23001-584: The first rap lyricist to call himself an "MC". Street gangs were prevalent in the poverty of the South Bronx, and much of the graffiti, rapping, and b-boying at these parties were all artistic variations on the competition and one-upmanship of street gangs. Sensing that gang members' often violent urges could be turned into creative ones, Afrika Bambaataa founded the Zulu Nation , a loose confederation of street-dance crews, graffiti artists, and rap musicians. By
23188-518: The first time any West Coast hip hop was nominated for award. In 2014, Schoolboy Q debuted at no.1 on the Billboard 200 with 139,000 copies sold. YG's My Krazy Life debuted at #2 on the US Billboard 200 with 61,000 copies sold. On June 19, 2024, Juneteenth , Kendrick Lamar hosted the impromptu The Pop Out: Ken & Friends concert following his highly publicized feud with Drake , noted as
23375-412: The general public, since the establishment of hip-hop, the Bay solidified itself as an instrumental building block in the genre’s development. Throughout the 1960s and 70s, political and social justice movements put in place a potential blueprint of what local artists could rap about, and showcased how the counter-hegemonic culture of hip-hop was already embedded into the roots of the Bay Area. Coming out of
23562-471: The genre known as dub music . They experimented with tape-based composition ; emphasized repetitive rhythmic structures (often stripped of their harmonic elements); electronically manipulated spatiality; sonically manipulated pre-recorded musical materials from mass media; and remixed music among other innovative techniques. It is widely known that the Jamaican dancehall culture has had and continues to have
23749-471: The heightened immigration of Jamaicans to New York and the American-born Jamaican youth who were coming of age during the 1990s. In the 1970s, block parties became increasingly popular in New York, particularly among African American, Caribbean and Hispanic youth residing in the Bronx . Block parties incorporated DJs, who played popular genres of music, especially funk and soul music . Due to
23936-621: The influential rap precursors the Watts Prophets once told me that, when he was growing up along Central Avenue in 1950s Los Angeles, the older folks used to call teen house parties 'them old hippity hops'." The earliest known instance of "hip hop" as a compound phrase in a song lyric is in a song about dancing by the doo-wop group the Dovells in 1963 called You Can't Sit Down , the lyric is: "...you gotta slop, bop, flip flop, hip hop, never stop". Keef Cowboy , rapper with Grandmaster Flash and
24123-421: The late 1970s, the culture had gained media attention, with Billboard magazine printing an article titled "B Beats Bombarding Bronx", commenting on the local phenomenon and mentioning influential figures such as Kool Herc. The New York City blackout of 1977 saw widespread looting, arson, and other citywide disorders especially in the Bronx where a number of looters stole DJ equipment from electronics stores. As
24310-411: The late 1990s to early-2000s "bling era" with hip hop influences increasingly finding their way into other genres of popular music, such as neo soul , nu metal , and R&B . The United States also saw the success of regional styles such as crunk , a Southern genre that emphasized the beats and music more than the lyrics, and alternative hip hop began to secure a place in the mainstream, due in part to
24497-419: The layout of two turntables plus a DJ mixer to control the software rather than the computer keyboard & touchpad on a laptop, or the touchscreen on a tablet computer or smartphone . Many DJ controllers have an integrated sound card with 4 output channels (2 stereo pairs) that allow the DJ to use headphones to preview music before playing it on the main output. Several techniques are used by DJs as
24684-452: The local dance hall culture, which featured 'specials,' unique mixes or 'versions' pressed on soft discs or acetate discs, and rappers (called DJs) such as King Stitt , Count Machuki, U-Roy , I-Roy , Big Youth and many others. Recordings of talk-over, which is a different style from the dancehall's DJ style, were also made by Jamaican artists such as Prince Buster and Lee "Scratch" Perry ( Judge Dread ) as early as 1967, somehow rooted in
24871-475: The low percentage of women DJs and turntablists may stem from the overall men's domination of the entire hip hop music industry. Most of the top rappers, MCs, DJs, record producers and music executives are men. There are a small number of high-profile women, but they are rare. In 2007, Mark Katz's article "Men, Women, and Turntables: Gender and the DJ Battle", stated that "very few women [do turntablism] battle[s];
25058-486: The mainstream include Lil B , who built a strong fan base via social media outlets such as Twitter , YouTube , and MySpace , and has recorded both solo and with The Pack . That same year, Black Hippy's own Kendrick Lamar 2012 release, Good Kid, M.A.A.D City , was met with rave reviews and was featured on many critics' end-of-year lists. The album was nominated Album of the Year at the 56th Annual Grammy Awards , marking
25245-454: The major metropolitan areas and cities of San Francisco , Oakland , and San Jose . Several events laid the foundations for West Coast hip hop, long before the emergence of West Coast rappers such as Mellow Man Ace , Too Short , Kid Frost , Ice-T and Eazy-E —or even before the emergence of rap itself. According to Syd Caesar, "a cataclysmic event helped give rise to it out West: the Watts riots of 1965." In 1967, Budd Schulberg founded
25432-569: The mass marketing of home phonographs in the late 19th century. British radio disc jockey Jimmy Savile hosted his first live dance party in 1943 using a single turntable and a makeshift sound system. Four years later, Savile began using two turntables welded together to form a single DJ console. In 1947, the Whisky à Gogo opened in Paris as the first discotheque . In 1959, one of the first discos in Germany,
25619-402: The matter has been a topic of conversation among hip-hop DJs for years." In 2010, Rebekah Farrugia said "the male-centricity of electronic dance music (EDM) culture" contributes to "a marginalisation of women in these [EDM] spaces." While turntablism and broader DJ practices should not be conflated, Katz suggests use or lack of use of the turntable broadly by women across genres and disciplines
25806-552: The mid-1980s and mid-1990s that also developed hip hop's own album era . The gangsta rap subgenre , focused on the violent lifestyles and impoverished conditions of inner-city African American youth, gained popularity at this time. West Coast hip hop was dominated by G-funk in the early-mid 1990s, while East Coast hip hop was dominated by jazz rap , alternative hip hop , and hardcore hip hop . Hip hop continued to diversify at this time with other regional styles emerging, such as Southern rap and Atlanta hip hop . Hip hop became
25993-454: The mid-late 2010s and early 2020s. In 2017, rock music was usurped by hip hop as the most popular genre in the United States. In recent years, hip hop's influence has transcended musical boundaries, impacting fashion, language, and cultural trends worldwide. Amidst its evolution, hip hop has also been a vehicle for social commentary and political expression, reflecting the struggles and aspirations of marginalized communities. From its roots in
26180-703: The more prominent based disc jockeys ... He is also responsible for the derivation of the 'Hip-Hop'." Lovebug Starsky is also credited for the term by Afrika Bambaataa in a January 1982 interview by Michael Holman in the East Village Eye . Holman stating "Hip hop: the all inclusive tag for the rapping, breaking, graffiti-writing, crew fashion wearing street sub-culture." The term gained further currency in September of that year in another Bambaataa interview in The Village Voice , by Steven Hager , later author of
26367-614: The most suitable recordings, also known as "reading the crowd". DJ Kool Herc , Grandmaster Flash , and Afrika Bambaataa were members of a block party at South Bronx from 1973 onwards. Kool Herc played records such as James Brown's " Give It Up or Turnit a Loose ", Jimmy Castor's " It's Just Begun ", Booker T. & the M.G.'s' " Melting Pot ", Incredible Bongo Band's " Bongo Rock " and " Apache ", and UK rock band Babe Ruth's " The Mexican ". With Bronx clubs struggling with street gangs, uptown DJs catering to an older disco crowd with different aspirations, and commercial radio also catering to
26554-442: The motor would continue to spin at the correct RPM even if the DJ wiggled the record back and forth on the platter. In 1980, Japanese company Roland released the TR-808 , an analog rhythm/drum machine , which has unique artificial sounds, such as its booming bass and sharp snare , and a metronome -like rhythm . Yellow Magic Orchestra 's use of the instrument in 1980 influenced hip hop pioneer Afrika Bambaataa, after which
26741-400: The music scene outside of New York City; it could be found in cities as diverse as Los Angeles, Atlanta , Chicago, Washington, D.C., Baltimore , Dallas , Kansas City , San Antonio , Miami, Seattle , St. Louis , New Orleans , Houston , and Toronto . Indeed, " Funk You Up " (1979), the first hip hop record released by a female group, and the second single released by Sugar Hill Records ,
26928-406: The people who helped establish hip hop culture, including DJ Kool Herc , DJ Disco Wiz , Grandmaster Flash , and Afrika Bambaataa were of Latin American or Caribbean origin. DJ Kool Herc is widely recognized as the creator of hip hop, credited with pioneering the technique of extending the instrumental "breakbeat" on a record during a party in the Bronx on August 11, 1973, which is considered to be
27115-446: The percussion breaks, creating a musical accompaniment or base that could be rapped over in a manner similar to signifying . Rapping , also referred to as MCing or emceeing, is a vocal style in which the artist speaks lyrically and rhythmically, in rhyme and verse, generally to an instrumental or synthesized beat . Beats, almost always in 4/4 time signature , can be created by sampling and/or sequencing portions of other songs by
27302-507: The pioneers of West Coast hip hop and gangsta rap, with songs such as " 6 in the Mornin ", released in 1986, demonstrating the unique style of the west coast. In 1988, Ice-T released the R&B hit I'm Your Pusher , and Too Short released album Life is... Too Short . In 1988, N.W.A 's landmark album Straight Outta Compton was released. Focusing on life and adversities in Compton, California ,
27489-418: The place of turntables or be used together with turntables. Many CDJs can now play digital music files from USB flash drives or SD cards in addition to CDs. With the spread of portable laptops, tablets , and smartphone computers, DJs began using software together with specialized sound cards and DJ controller hardware. DJ software can be used in conjunction with a hardware DJ mixer or be used instead of
27676-483: The platter, as with scratching techniques. Hip hop DJs began using the Technics SL-1200s as musical instruments to manipulate records with turntablism techniques such as scratching and beat juggling rather than merely mixing records. These techniques were developed in the 1970s by DJ Kool Herc , Grand Wizard Theodore , and Afrika Bambaataa , as they experimented with Technics direct-drive decks, finding that
27863-449: The play named Bayes says: "Ay, is't not, I gad, ha? For, to go off hip hop, hip hop, upon this occasion, is a thousand times better than any conclusion in the world, I gad." This play and two other later sources are mentioned as an entry "Hip-hop" in a multi-volume dictionary from 1901 called A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles , in Volume 5 H to K , on page 296; the definition
28050-400: The playback of digital files for beatmatching similar to how DJs manipulate vinyl records on turntables. CDJs often have features such as loops and waveform displays similar to DJ software. Originally designed to play music from compact discs, they now can play digital music files stored on USB flash drives and SD cards . Some CDJs can also connect to a computer running DJ software to act as
28237-414: The positive reception, DJs began isolating the percussive breaks of popular songs. This technique was common in Jamaican dub music , and was largely introduced into New York by immigrants from the Caribbean, including DJ Kool Herc, one of the pioneers of hip hop. Herc has repeatedly denied any direct connections between Jamaican musical traditions and early hip hop, stating that his own biggest influence
28424-405: The practice of the entire subculture. The term hip hop music is sometimes used synonymously with the term rap music , though rapping is not a required component of hip hop music; the genre may also incorporate other elements of the culture, including DJing , turntablism , scratching , beatboxing , and instrumental tracks . Hip hop as both a musical genre and a culture was formed during
28611-495: The predominance of songs packed with a mix of boasting, 'slackness' and sexual innuendo and a more topical, political, socially conscious style. The role of the MC originally was as a Master of Ceremonies for a DJ dance event. The MC would introduce the DJ and try to pump up the audience. The MC spoke between the DJ's songs, urging everyone to get up and dance. MCs would also tell jokes and use their energetic language and enthusiasm to rev up
28798-563: The region's identity. Founded in Oakland in 1966, the Black Panthers surge for change and alterations of the systemic racism entangled in society resonated with the residents of the blue collar city. Many of the organization’s ideologies became well represented in the area’s rap scene, and triggered an explosion of black identity and frustration with the SFPD . Despite artists like E-40 claiming that
28985-433: The same features found on larger mixers (faders, equalization knobs, gain knobs, effects units , etc.), DJ mixers have a feature that is usually only found on DJ mixers: the crossfader . The crossfader is a type of fader that is mounted horizontally. DJs used the crossfader to mix two or more sound sources. The midpoint of the crossfader's travel is a 50/50 mix of the two channels (on a two-channel mixer). The far left side of
29172-462: The same level of fame as they had experienced in the 1990s. Throughout the 2000s, a number of peripheral West Coast hip hop artists such as Ya Boy , Glasses Malone , Juice , SKG (Suge Knight Girl) Helecia Choyce, Crooked I , 40 Glocc , Slim the Mobster , Bishop Lamont and Mistah F.A.B. collaborated with big-name artists such as Dr. Dre, Kurupt , Daz Dillinger , The Game, E-40 and Snoop Dogg. In
29359-497: The same rhyming, cadence laden rap style. Once the white owned stations realized the new upstarts were grabbing their black market share and that Big Band and swing jazz was no longer 'hip', some white DJ's emulated the southern 'mushmouth' and jive talk, letting their audience think they too were African American, playing the blues and Be-Bop . John R Richbourg had a southern drawl that listeners to Nashville's WLAC nighttime R&B programming were never informed belonged not to
29546-411: The same time however, hip hop music was also a backlash against certain subgenres of late 1970s disco. While the early disco was African American and Italian-American-created underground music developed by DJs and producers for the dance club subculture, by the late 1970s, disco airwaves were dominated by mainstream, expensively recorded music industry -produced disco songs. According to Kurtis Blow ,
29733-506: The song " Tell Me When to Go " in 2006, featuring Oakland rapper Keak da Sneak . Bay area rapper Too Short , already well known for his collaborations with artists such as Tupac Shakur and The Notorious B.I.G , found a new lease on life with the hyphy scene, his 16th studio album Blow the Whistle in 2006 debuting at number 14 on the Billboard 200. The Game also brought attention back to
29920-591: The song that first popularized rap music in the United States and around the world. In 1982, Afrika Bambaataa released the single " Planet Rock ", which incorporated electronica elements from Kraftwerk 's " Trans-Europe Express " and "Numbers" as well as YMO 's "Riot in Lagos". The Planet Rock sound also spawned a hip-hop electronic dance trend, electro music , which included songs such as Planet Patrol 's "Play at Your Own Risk" (1982), C Bank's "One More Shot" (1982), Cerrone 's "Club Underworld" (1984), Shannon 's " Let
30107-404: The sound cards built into consumer-grade computer motherboards. Special vinyl records (or CDs/digital files played with CDJs ) can be used with DJ software to play digital music files with DJ software as if they were pressed onto vinyl, allowing turntablism techniques to be used with digital files. These vinyl records do not have music recordings pressed onto them. Instead, they are pressed with
30294-487: The sounds of the headphones from the outside environment (hard shell headphones), flexible headbands and pivot joints to allow DJs to listen to one side of the headphones while turning the other headphone away (so they can monitor the mix in the club), and replaceable cables. Replaceable cables enable DJs to buy new cables if a cable becomes frayed, worn, or damaged, or if a cable is accidentally cut. Closed-back headphones are highly recommended for DJs to block outside noise as
30481-659: The title "DJ" as part of their names (e.g., DJ Jazzy Jeff , DJ Qbert , DJ Shadow and DJ Yoda ). Professional DJs often specialize in a specific genre of music, such as techno , house or hip hop music. DJs typically have extensive knowledge about the music they specialize in. Many DJs are avid music collectors of vintage, rare or obscure tracks and records. Club DJs, commonly referred to as DJs in general, play music at musical events, such as parties at music venues or bars, clubs, music festivals, corporate and private events. Typically, club DJs mix music recordings from two or more sources using different mixing techniques to produce
30668-427: The title of first hip hop record. By the early 1980s, all the major elements and techniques of the hip hop genre were in place, and by 1982, the electronic (electro) sound had become the trend on the street and in dance clubs. New York City radio station WKTU featured Warp 9 's " Nunk ", in a commercial to promote the station's signature sound of emerging hip hop Though not yet mainstream, hip hop had begun to permeate
30855-435: The track to the desired starting location, and align the two tracks' beats in traditional situations where auto-sync technology is not being used. This process ensures that the selected song will mix well with the currently playing music. DJs may align the beats of the music sources so their rhythms do not clash when they are played together to help create a smooth transition from one song to another. Other equipment may include
31042-412: The trend soon changed. Although gangsta rap was still popular on the West Coast in the 2000s, the West Coast sound became more designed for nightclubs with the rise of the Bay Area's hyphy scene, featuring flamboyant raps and explicit references to sex and drugs. A key artist in the genre was E-40 , who found a substantial audience with his 1995 album In a Major Way ; he found even greater success with
31229-412: The use of breakbeats, including cutting and scratching. As turntable manipulation continued to evolve a new technique that came from it was needle dropping. Needle dropping was created by Grandmaster Flash, it is prolonged short drum breaks by playing two copies of a record simultaneously and moving the needle on one turntable back to the start of the break while the other played. The approach used by Herc
31416-419: The world to consumers of its social concerns." In late 1979, Debbie Harry of Blondie took Nile Rodgers of Chic to such an event, as the main backing track used was the break from Chic's " Good Times ". The new style influenced Harry, and Blondie's later hit single from 1981 " Rapture " became the first single containing hip hop elements to hit number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 —the song itself
31603-562: The world's most exciting turntablists". Her stage name is a tribute to her mother's favorite Catholic saint, Black Madonna . In 2018, The Blessed Madonna played herself as an in-residence DJ for the video game Grand Theft Auto Online , as part of the After Hours DLC . There are various projects dedicated to the promotion and support of these practices such as Female DJs London. Some artists and collectives go beyond these practices to be more gender inclusive. For example, Discwoman ,
31790-431: Was James Brown , from whom he says rap originated. Even before moving to the U.S., Herc says his biggest influences came from American music: I was listening to American music in Jamaica and my favorite artist was James Brown. That's who inspired me. A lot of the records I played were by James Brown. Herc also says that he was not influenced by Jamaican sound system parties, as he was too young to experience them when he
31977-501: Was Jamaican. The roots of rap in Jamaica are explained in detail in Bruno Blum 's book, 'Le Rap'. DJ Kool Herc and Coke La Rock provided an influence on the vocal style of rapping by delivering simple poetry verses over funk music breaks, after party-goers showed little interest in their previous attempts to integrate reggae-infused toasting into musical sets. DJs and MCs would often add call and response chants, often consisting of
32164-525: Was a 'slow jam' which had a dub influence with its use of reverb and echo as texture and playful sound effects. " Light Years Away ", by Warp 9 (1983), (produced and written by Lotti Golden and Richard Scher) described as a "cornerstone of early 80s beatbox afrofuturism," by the UK paper, The Guardian , introduced social commentary from a sci-fi perspective. In the 1970s, hip hop music typically used samples from funk and later, from disco. The mid-1980s marked
32351-493: Was a commercial failure, over the course of the decade the 808 attracted a cult following among underground musicians for its affordability on the used market, ease of use, and idiosyncratic sounds, particularly its deep, "booming" bass drum . It became a cornerstone of the emerging electronic, dance, and hip hop genres, popularized by early hits such as Afrika Bambaataa and the Soulsonic Force 's " Planet Rock ". The 808
32538-430: Was born multicultural", gaining influences from African American and Anglo-Caribbean musical traditions, as well as African American and Latin American dancing traditions. Hip hop music in its infancy has been described as an outlet and a voice for the disenfranchised youth of marginalized backgrounds and low-income areas, as the hip hop culture reflected the social, economic and political realities of their lives. Many of
32725-468: Was called "disco rap". Ironically, the rise of hip hop music also played a role in the eventual decline in disco's popularity. The disco sound had a strong influence on early hip hop music. Most of the early rap/hip-hop songs were created by isolating existing disco bass-guitar bass lines and dubbing over them with MC rhymes. the Sugarhill Gang used Chic 's " Good Times " as the foundation for their 1979 hit " Rapper's Delight ", generally considered to be
32912-532: Was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on April 19, 1995. Shakur's music and philosophy was rooted in various philosophies and approaches, including the Black Panther Party , Black nationalism , egalitarianism and liberty. Tupac sold over 75 million records, being regarded as one of the greatest rappers of all time and a pioneer of West Coast rap. Also in 1991, Suge Knight founded Death Row Records which became
33099-450: Was created with the help of large tape loops. The process of looping a break into a breakbeat now became more commonly done with a sampler, now doing the job which so far had been done manually by the DJs using turntables. In 1989, DJ Mark James, under the moniker "45 King", released "The 900 Number", a breakbeat track created by synchronizing samplers and vinyl records. Disc jockey A disc jockey , more commonly abbreviated as DJ ,
33286-406: Was dominated by groups where collaboration between the members was integral to the show. An example would be the early hip hop group Funky Four Plus One , who performed in such a manner on Saturday Night Live in 1981. The earliest hip hop music was performed live, at house parties and block party events, and it was not recorded. DJs would play breaks from popular songs using two turntables and
33473-576: Was eventually used on more hit records than any other drum machine; its popularity with hip hop in particular has made it one of the most influential inventions in popular music, comparable to the Fender Stratocaster 's influence on rock. Over time sampling technology became more advanced. However, earlier producers such as Marley Marl used drum machines to construct their beats from small excerpts of other beats in synchronisation , in his case, triggering three Korg sampling-delay units through
33660-437: Was in Jamaica. In a 2020 interview, DJ Kool Herc's sister Cindy Campbell said that she wanted Jamaica to reclaim hip hop because, as she put it, "we are the ones who bought the style and the technique to America, which [later] became hip-hop." Because the percussive breaks in funk, soul and disco records were generally short, Herc and other DJs began using two turntables to extend the breaks. On August 11, 1973, DJ Kool Herc
33847-641: Was ostensibly coined by radio gossip commentator Walter Winchell in 1935 to describe the radio work of Martin Block . The phrase first appeared in print in a 1941 Variety magazine. Originally, the word "disc" in "disc jockey" referred to phonograph or gramophone records and was used to describe radio personalities who introduced them on the air. "DJ" is used as an all-encompassing term to describe someone who mixes recorded music from any source, including vinyl records , cassettes , CDs, or digital audio files stored on USB stick or laptop. DJs typically perform for
34034-493: Was performed by the Sequence , a group from Columbia, South Carolina which featured Angie Stone . Despite the genre's growing popularity, Philadelphia was, for many years, the only city whose contributions could be compared to New York City's. Hip hop music became popular in Philadelphia in the late 1970s. The first released record was titled "Rhythm Talk", by Jocko Henderson . The New York Times had dubbed Philadelphia
34221-457: Was soon widely copied, and by the late 1970s, DJs were releasing 12-inch records where they would rap to the beat. Popular tunes included Kurtis Blow 's " The Breaks " and the Sugarhill Gang 's " Rapper's Delight ". Herc and other DJs would connect their equipment to power lines and perform at venues such as public basketball courts and at 1520 Sedgwick Avenue, Bronx, New York, now officially
34408-412: Was the DJ at his sister's back-to-school party. He extended the beat of a record by using two record players, isolating the percussion "breaks" by using a mixer to switch between the two records. Herc's experiments with making music with record players became what we now know as breaking or " scratching ". A second key musical element in hip hop music is emceeing (also called MCing or rapping). Emceeing
34595-539: Was the duo of Disco Daddy and Captain Rapp , whose debut single was "The Gigolo Rapp" which was also released in 1981. The song became a minor success but failed to gain much radio play. Many other Hip-Hop songs recorded in California were released during the early 1980s, but many of them received little or no radio play. Captain Rapp created the classic West Coast song released in 1983 called, "Bad Times (I Can't Stand It)", which
34782-564: Was the language of the black youth, the double entendres and slightly obscene wordplay was a godsend to radio, re-invigorating ratings at flagging outlets that were losing audience share and flipping to the new format of R&B with black announcers . The 10% of African Americans who heard his broadcasts found that the music he promoted on radio in 1949 was also in the jukeboxes up north in the cities. They were also finding other D.J's like Chicago's Al Benson on WJJD , Austin's Doctor Hep Cat on KVET and Atlanta's Jockey Jack on WERD speaking
34969-455: Was unplugged very briefly before being reattached and the band put a three-photo set of the incident on their MySpace page. After a 2013 Disclosure concert, the duo was criticized for pretending to live mix to a playback of a pre-recorded track. Disclosure's Guy Lawrence said they did not deliberately intend to mislead their audience, and cited miming by other DJs such as David Guetta . Playing recorded music for dancing and parties rose with
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