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What Is The Get Down Explain The Social Cohesion And Power Dynamics In The Bronx?

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Hip hop is a global phenomena, with financial, cultural, and political power. Hip hop came from humble origin, and was formed during the Bronx during the 1970s. Elements of hip hop has existed for years, but the 1970s was when hip hop’s elements came together and create a concrete, tangible form of unique music and culture. Hip hop was a product of the cultural and vocal trends of this time, and the TV series The Get Down illustrates this. The Get Down can explain the social cohesion and power dynamics of the Bronx, how hip hop differed and was made from existing musical styles, how the various elements of hip hop interact with each other, and how hiphop affected community. Within the Bronx, most communal powers belonged to gangs and drug …show more content…

This segment was known as the ‘break’. Kool herc had copies of the same record and set the system up so that the break segment can be played continuously. The get down illustrates that concept, as grandmaster flash explains to shaolin. In the TV show, grandmaster flash explain the singer singing as a “void of nothingness” and the instrument part as “life and destiny.” Grandmaster explain the system of the merrygoround, where a DJ uses a turntable system to set 2 discs up so that when the break segment in one disc ends, the break segment in another can begin. What was striking was how Grandmaster flash was able to walk in the room and still stay in tune with the beat, expressing the level of skill it took to be considered a master and pushing back on the idea that hip hop was a non serious form of art. MCing in hip hop was basically when an individual would say words, and partner with the DJ, to increase crowd involvement and make the party better. In the TV show, Grandmaster flash referred to an MC as a wordsmith. In the get down, episode 1, Zeke acts as a hype man for Shaolin after he has a BBoying battle with the competition, and raps only in conjunction with Shaolin. This is ironic, since as hip hop became more popular and commercialized, record companies and the audience began revering the MCs more, with some companies …show more content…

Afrika Bambaataa, for example, created the Zulu nation and tried to get people out of gangs using hip hop as a medium. In the Get Down, Shaolin resigned from the Drug Scene because he wanted to focus on hip hop and creating music, similar to those who left gangs due to Afrika Bambaataa's influence. When Shaolin’s home was burned, he decided to return to the drug game in order to make money to buy records, which shows how arson and the economic situation of the Bronx as a whole affected individual lives. What makes the scene unique is that Zeke tries to tell Shaolin than they should do manual labor, but Shaolin says that in the Bronx, “Either you beat the world or get beat.” This was the predominant mentality at the time, when the government was abandoning the Bronx and businessman were tearing it down. The Get Down ironically shows how hip hop persuaded Shaolin to quit working for drug lords, but because of his lack of access to it, now he goes back to working for them. This is representative of how hip hop was an alternative for the people in the region, and without it they would do violent

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