Hip Hop Cultural Movement

Hip Hop was a style of music that originated in New York, specifically The Bronx during the early 1970’s. This cultural and musical movement was introduced by African Americans. This movement was aimed towards people who struggled like the residents of The Bronx. Crime, poverty, and drugs were a huge struggle to these residents and the lyrics of hip hop often reached out to these victims. Hip Hop is not a small genre but rather it's a big one because it includes dancing, fashion, and singing. These elements were what led to the huge recognition of the movement.

Because many people experience struggle like the ones outlined in the lyrics, many people began enjoying hip hop and that led to the popularity and success of this cultural movement.

The evolution of dancing started off with groups that decided to perform to Hip-Hop tracks. Break Dancing was created as it was influenced by earlier types of dancing, which date back to 1905. A major contributor to the break of this type of dancing was Earl “Snake Hips” Tucker. James Brown also introduced the Good Foot Dance in 1969. As Good Foot began to evolve, it became known as B-Boying and then ultimately Break Dancing. Toprock, Downrock, Power Moves, and Freezes, were elements that composed Break Dancing. These specific dance moves contributed to the popularity of Break Dancing and making it, what it is today. Along with Breakdancing, many would create groups or squads to perform in front of live audiences and show off their moves. As time went on, there were even competitions for Breakdancing. Break dancers created a new style of fashion. Usually, a break dancing group would wear matching suits. People who were involved with the Hip Hop movement wore gold chains, hats, colored jackets, colorful sneakers as well as noticeable hairstyles. They turned a music genre into a culture and used it as a way to express themselves. Which made Hip Hop so distinguishable from other

The more Hip-Hop became popular, the more many had ideas to input into Hip-Hop. There are three types of Hip Hop. Old School Hip-Hop was more about that style. To recreate something the way one liked it. Soon Hip Hop became mainstream, it became more about the way people expressed their own struggles. New School Hip Hop focused more on creating your own music and art through street graffiti. Many artists shared their everyday life struggles like In “The Message” by Grandmaster Flash and The Furious Five. The song addressed living in poverty and with no education. The difficult and hostile environment makes it harder for people living there to continue living with positive morals but this movement helped get people’s mind off of everyday struggle and gave people hope because it proved that everyone was struggling in their own way. Old School was more about the dancing and expression with clothing and sound while New School was focused more on the message and lyrical parts of a