Hip Hop: A Cultural And Art Movement In The Bronx In New York

Hip Hop began as a cultural and art movement in the Bronx in New York during the early 1970s, as an expression against the economic collapse. Beginning from the streets, the youth would turn to block parties for “recreation and self-expression” (Icon Collective, 2023), which became the groundwork for hip-hop.
Back in the 1950s and 1960s, there was an arise of segregated communities between middle-class whites with African-Americans, Puerto Ricans, and Caribbean immigrants. There was an industrial decline and a rapidly changing economy, causing such communities to be prominent in crime, gang violence, and poverty (Icon Collective, 2023). As a result, economic opportunities and sources of entertainment closed causing the youth to lead to Deejaying

Public opinion gradually grew positive as the pioneers started getting featured in mainstream media on national television. There grew an understanding of what “hip-hop” is and where the grooves came from. In the beginning, the original style came from a simple combination of “sweeps, side-to-side steps” and “everyone just having fun” (Old School Cartel, 2015). The old styles specialized in sporadic and wild spirit dancing until the parties became large enough for more nationalities to join in. From there, b-boying became more diversified, with the integration of skills from martial arts and gymnastics into the sequences. Dance moves like locking, hitting, popping, and boogaloo, became more popularized. Personally, these moves are more familiar to me as a 21st-century kid. Some of these were “go to” dances when there are dance-offs, and because they are quite easy to follow through, it is easy to just groove

Initially, hip-hop in the Philipines was popularized from the outfits and gang culture, instead of the dances. Nowadays, hip-hop is a way for people of all ages to express their creativity. From what I have observed from mainstream media, our country has already adapted forms of breakdancing and rap. Although my interests do not directly align with street dancing and rap, I enjoy watching and listening to people who do. It is fun to observe how we adapt our style of hip-hop in our country, but I am divided with regard to graffiti. Although I do enjoy art, and respect the expression of it, I get uncomfortable when I see graffiti on freshly painted walls. Still, from what I learned in the documentary, the diversification of breakdancing and b-boying came from the association of dances or practices from varying cultures. For instance, there is the capoeira or the “fight dance” which inspired some forms of breakdancing. From this, I am curious about what form of breakdancing can be formed if we integrate some of our own traditional