History Of Hip Hop Music In America

American hip hop music can trace its roots back to western Africa and in some foreign cultures. The vocal style of popular rap can be associated with the griot tradition from Africa, where the griots wander from place to place singing their music and telling about history and traditions. Street performers, with their freestyle artform, dramatically influenced the impact of American hip hop music over the years.



American hip hop music had another influence that came, it was from New York during the post civil rights era. More and more people were finding that coming together to celebrate personal events was a worthwhile thing to do, and the legendary block parties were soon created. Disc jockeys, who are usually seen only in underground clubs, were finding their way up the burrows and onto block parties everywhere, unleashing their beat driven creative mixes of soul, funk, and cultural music to entertain the more conventional masses. Their sound gained the attention of many and American hip hop music started to make some noise in the music scene.



The important thing about American hip hop music is that it wasn't always been confined in a definition as other music genres were. The darker influence of rap music was brought to the forefront for a while, because it had gathered its own sense of notoriety, and not in a good way. Meanwhile, DJ made dance mixes was rising in fame and gradually building its own niche in American hip hop music. The underground clubs were hastily making its way to the mainstream, and not long after will a clash between the two sub-cultures will begin.



Street performers, with their DJ mixed tapes of hip hop beats, perform wild break dancing routines that rouses the crowds of larger cities, add their mark to the American hip hop music. Meanwhile, the definition of concert performances during the heyday of American hip hop music took on a whole new dimension of their own, soon devolving into competitions instead of planned exhibitions. Established rapper groups would take on all comers, inciting the audience to decide the winners of such competitions with their cheers.



The vibrant world of American hip hop music soon began to lose its luster, as more rebellious artists became victims of their own lifestyles. Tupac Shakur and the Notorious BIG were murdered, and the world of American hip hop music was thrown into a tailspin. The criminal acts committed by many popular artists came into people's attention and the genre started to suffer the effects.



Now, American hip hop music has begun a resurgence in a more defined and acceptable manner. Gone is the violence and degrading lyrics, replaced with more thoughtful and positive music, with artists once again expressing their creativity with themed albums targeted more to rebuilding the popularity of American hip hop music in today's world, with themes of love and community being the more prevalent topics. Whether this new incarnation will be as welcomed by the people as the former one was remains to be a question, but one thing's for sure, that it definitely is off to a good start.