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Overview

As both a musical genre and a mass culture movement, hip-hop was developed in the United States by inner-city African American and Latino American youth in the Bronx borough of New York City during the 1970s. Since then, the genre has developed more complex styles and spread around the world.

Be ready to:

Describe the four elements of hip-hop and explain their significance to hip-hop.

Identify members of the holy trinity of hip-hop and understand nonviolent ethos.

Name two individuals responsible for establishing the DJ as an authority figure.

Define gangsta rap, including notable artists and their songs.

Articulate how and why new jack swing and other hybrids emerged during the late 1980s.

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References

New Jack Swing and Other Hybrids

Several trends occurred that undoubtedly contributed to rap's longevity. First, as we have seen, DJs revolutionized sound production concepts to create a break via digital sampling. Second, rap music's ability to merge with pre-existing popular music styles was taken further, most notably by producer-songwriter-musician Teddy Riley. Through creating his group Guy, featuring lead singer Aaron Hall, Riley forged a mix of soul-laden vocal styles over a hip-hop-produced track, leading to a musical hybrid known as "new jack swing." Although the video below is about one hour and twenty minutes, listening to Teddy Riley's influences and inspirations as a child and what led to his idea of a new jack swing is very informative and entertaining.

Teddy Riley on the history of new jack swing, revealing information about Bobby Brown, Guy, and more]

Teddy Riley in 2014

Melle Mel

R & B artists teaming up with rap acts created other hybrids. For example, Chaka Khan's " I Feel for You♫ " (1984) featured Melle Mel of Grandmaster Flash with rapping verses, while new jack swing creator Teddy Riley collaborated with gospel legends The Winans on " It's Time♫ " (1990). With rap music's growing success in the music industry and among a core of young consumers, the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS) established a category for Best Rap Performance in 1988, followed by Billboard magazine's creation of the Hot Rap Singles in March of 1989.

By the end of the 1980s, the record industry had recognized the commercial appeal of rap music. Overall sales of sound recordings, concert ticket sales, television commercials, and the foray of rap into the film industry catapulted it to the realm of a billion-dollar industry.

Rakim

The golden age was when people were starting to understand what hip-hop was and how to use it. I was lucky to come up then. Everybody wanted to be original and have substance; it was somewhat conscious...There was an integrity that people respected.

Russell Simmons

The thing about hip-hop is that it's from the underground, ideas from the underbelly, from people who have mostly been locked out, who have not been recognized.