Hip-hop is not just about music. Hip-hop is about dance, art, expression, pain, love, racism, sexism, broken families, hard times, overcoming adversity, and the search for God. It is a culture, a way of life, a language, a fashion, a set of values and a unique perspective. Hip-hop is about making the American dream come true from the bottom up.
Hip-hop culture is a unique phenomenon because it incorporates and affects many different cultures, ages, and classes. In the early 1970s, the anonymous culture known today as “hip-hop” was forming in the ghettos of New York City. Each element of this culture had its own history and terminology that contributed to the development of a cultural movement. The culture was identified in the early 1980s when DJ Afrika Bambaataa named the dynamic urban movement “hip-hop.” Since then, “hip-hop” has served as a powerful voice and form of expression for young black audiences and has grown into a culture with its own language, dress style, and mindset. Hip hop culture involves not only music, but also fashion and dance.
What makes hip hop evolve is the range of flavor that the culture has to offer and what “hip-hop lovers” thrive on is individuality and creativity, which is never more evident than in hip-hop fashion. . In fact, hip hop fashion is one of the top garment industries in the world today. It is said to have started in the African American community, but has quickly spread to become a truly universal style for people of all ethnicities and genders, and a pin of hip hop culture. Hip hop fashion is preferred by various celebrities such as 50 cent, Puff Daddy, Ja Rule, and Sean Combs. It is often lampooned by comedians like Ali G. Hip hop fashion is a visible element of hip hop culture.
Hip hop dance is evolving in many different directions today, heavily influenced by the evolution of hip hop music and its popularity in the media, surrounded by heated debates about history and authenticity. Modern hip hop music gave birth to new styles of hip hop dance inspired in part by old school styles. Most of those styles focused on upright dancing rather than breakdancing, which is best known for its floor-oriented movements. To express one’s creative talent, hip-hop dance is perhaps the best way that impressions and expressions come from the soul.
Music has always played a key role in shaping minds and attitudes. Hip hop music sheds light on contemporary politics, history, and race. The social influence that hip hop music has on the hip hop cultural movement includes dance activities, associated slang, fashion, and other elements. Hip hop music encompasses the written word, visual art, dance, and rhythmic style with intricate rhythms. Music has no borders or limits; anything worthy should be available through music, especially spirituality and religion. A great influence on the identity of hip hop is its redemptive music.
Culture is the product of a current reality. The identity of a culture is created by the work and thought of human beings. It is the expression of a class or element of a particular class and reflects a certain period. The appeal of Hip Hop culture as an organizing mechanism has arisen mainly because there is no political apparatus that adequately addresses the needs of youth and / or poor and working-class communities; in a political vacuum. Culture, as a general matter, gets to the core of how people articulate their beliefs, values, and customs. Hip Hop culture is the most visible and vocal representative entity of its own identity.