An 18 year old black man is on the street corner of the Bronx, you can hear his music ringing in your ears, along with the cheers of excitement. Unfamiliar with the adage? Or is it unique? A kid was able to figure out a new way to abuse vinyl, you hear him talk about the breaks, and scratching, but all you really hear is the beat, the riffs. Grandmaster Flash was one of the favorites to introduce hip-hop to the world, and he could not be forgotten. Context/Background After the Cross Bronx Expressway was built, “white flight” rates skyrocketed in the 70s, and the 80s were filled with dreams of what could be made home. While the nature of the Bronx was in the mud, poverty rates went up to 30% of the population and people of color took over. Hispanic …show more content…
Thesis Statement Worldwide the hip-hop genre connects people with music, the world could not have the same relationship with music today if not for The Bronx and the people who have lived in it. 70s/80s Claim Evidence Reasoning Out of the hardships of The Bronx in the late 70s, the 80s brought a community that birthed the genre hip-hop. Numerous drawbacks in the Bronx, socially and economically, have left residents in disarray. We could see the rubble and litter in the streets and after the Cross Bronx Expressway made this environment get to that state in the early 70s. Statistics show from the 70s alone the Bronx population went from 1.472 million to 1.169 million, and over the years dropped more and more from the White population alone. By the 80s, both Hispanic and Black Americans had about 400,000 citizens living in this borough. In the 80s, the Bronx got louder and the culture roared. The 1980s was the golden age of hip-hop and made a bigger impact than could have been imagined. Hip-hop is very much still alive and is one of the most popular music genres today. The topic of not only hip-hop but where it started and how it is …show more content…
Hip-hop not only made new music, but it created roots with fashion, culture, and a life behind it. Synthesis The hip hop genre through the late 70s and 80s is powerful to say the least, It brought people together in struggling times and now brings people up when listening. Studies have shown that people that listen to hip-hop can connect with themselves more and find an easier time with issues like emotion control, mental health, motivation, motor function, and more (‘found’ organization). "Wherever I go, I bring the culture with me, so that they can understand that it's attainable. I didn't do it any other way than through hip-hop”(Jay-Z). “I like that I'm not typical. I like that I'm called “no-genre hip-hop”(Lizzo). “..hip-hop came from the streets. It's just a different language. It's all borne out of hard times, struggle, and the fight to have equality and things be better”(DJ Premier). “Hip-hop went through different stages, from the beginning in the streets of the Bronx, to the whole Tri-State area and then to the rest of the United States and the rest of the world.”(Afrika