The beginning of Hip Hop

As I am in charge of talking about entertainment in America, this week I will talk about Hip Hop. Hip Hop is not only a form of entertainment but a whole culture and lifestyle that started in the late 1960's in the South Bronx of New York, the Official Birthday of Hip Hop is November 12, 1974.

The origins of Hip Hop are found in African-American culture and music. The griots of West Africa are a group of travelling singers that started hundreds of year ago; their vocal style is similar to rap singers. The term rap was derived in the 1960's, from a slang word that basically meant conversation. The word rap is sometimes used synonimously with hip hop, but we can't forget that Hip Hop is a whole culture.

The history of Hip Hop can be classified into different categories: hip hop music, hip hop dance, hip hop art and hip hop fashion.

Hip Hop music is a vocal style known as rap along with rhythmic backing beats. The history of this music can be divided into two eras, first the old school era (1970-1985) and next the golden age era (1985-1993).

Hip Hop art, also refered as "Tragging" or "Graffiti" was introduced in New York in the 1960's. It's a form of art in which the author usually signs of the wall, since this form of art is generally seen on walls, from streets of subways.

Hip hop fashion became very popular around teenagers around 1960 and in the 1980's Kani started the first hip hop fashion brand. The main characteristic this fashion was baggy clothes and a whole lot of accesories like diamond earings,golden necklaces, multi-fingered rings, baseball caps and custom sneakers.

Hip hop dance or Break dancing is a dance known for its frenetic, distinctive style. The name Break dancing comes from the word "Bboy" which means Bronx boy, beat boy or break boy. Now this style of dancing is all around the world.