Evolution of Hip Hop

Throughout African-American history, African Americans have overcome adversity on multiple occasions, but rather than violently protesting, they have often sent their messages and demands through music. By doing so, multiple genres and record labels have become prosperous. Hip Hop music may be arguably the most political and educational genre, in terms of its lyrics, at the end of the twentieth century. The birth of modern Hip Hop music in the early 1980s was a direct result of the literary movement spawned by the Black Power movement who emphasized racial pride, education, and political awareness.

Previous genres of African-American music, similar to Hip Hop, directly showed how African Americans were living. Three movements in American history from the 1920’s through the 1970’s gave birth to three new genres of music. Jazz Music was formed as a result of the Harlem Renaissance. During the Civil Rights era, a record label, Motown, brought new artists, and nearly all of these artists became music legends, such as Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye. A generation later, New York artists began to shift away from Motown and began to MC, a new form of mixing, and “free styling”. In New York City, in parts of Brooklyn and Harlem, new forms of music began, known as DJ-ing and MC-ing. Both of these types of music are elements of modern Hip Hop; they too, like jazz, directly showed African Americans’ political awareness. When many African Americans look back on the 1970's and 80's, music and literature helped unite the African American Race. With the Civil Rights movement ending, African Americans no longer accepted any form of limitation because of their skin color.

In the 1970’s and 80’s, Sugar Hill Records, a New Jersey label that helped propel rap to a mass-market acclaim, helped give rap music a regional sound. One of the most influential artists who was a part of Sugar Hill Records was Grandmaster Flash; he released a song, “The Message” (1982), to show how his poverty stricken town is  “like a jungle sometimes.” He first describes the stairs and floors of his apartment having, “broken glass everywhere,” and how “people pissin’ on the stairs / you know they just don’t care.” He then explains his situation, having “no money to move out / I [Grandmaster Flash] guess I have no choice,” even though he has “rats in the front room, roaches in the back [and] / junkies in the ally with a baseball bat." Later on in the day, his son comes home from school, wanting to drop out, because his “teacher’s a jerk / he must think I’m a fool / and all the kids smoke reefer, [so] / I think it’d be cheaper if I just got a job / learned to be a street sweeper.” From these lyrics, it is obvious that an average African American’s home life is both stressful, and inflexible. All of these forms of music were all incorporated into later Hip Hop, and modern Hip Hop today. Through later movements, the evolution of newer Hip Hop was inspired.

Rap’s later political influences were the Black Power Movement and post-Civil Rights movements. These movements had an impact on African Americans ranging from Afro’s to voting. Some of these political movements are still active today. Through their actions, leaders, and inspirations from the leaders, the Black Power Movement had a large influence in later Hip Hop.