An Examination of Hip-Hop in Popular Culture - 1 Brittanie...

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Brittanie Langford
Pop culture in 20 th Cent.
April 13, 2010
An Examination of Hip-Hop in Popular Culture
Hip Hop culture can be divided into four elements, rapping
graffiti, djing, and break-dancing
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. These four elements are an
integral part of how hip-hop has come to be defined and how it
is prevalent in present day culture. When reviewing hip-hop I
will look at the history of these four elements, how they
developed, and how they are a part of popular culture.
The rapping element of this culture is born out of the
modernization and combination of music styles like jazz, funk,
and blues
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. The art of rapping began with simple rhyming schemes
produced over beats. It evolved into sending messages to the
listener, some messages were political as with artists like
Grandmaster flash and ‘The Message” a chilling tale about inner
city life. Rapping was also an outlet to show fun times as
illustrated by early artist such as ‘Rappers Delight’ by the
Sugar Hill Gang.
Rapping was made popular through avenues such as TV, and
Radio. A monumental step in introducing rap into popular culture
was the show Yo! MTV Raps . This show was significant because it
was the first avenue to feature hip-hop culture on a major music

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network. Thus far, hip-hop had been secluded to urban areas and
underground. The development of record pressing in hip-hop
allowed for wide distribution, but the immediate affect of hip-
hop on pop culture is seen with this movement from the street to
the television screen. Hip-hop also created a new genre of radio
style that is now known as urban radio. This crossover into
mainstream has seen a new success for rapping and hip-hop
culture. Rap artists are now an important part of the modern day
music industry.
Graffiti, a painting technique using elaborate decorations to
spell out words, was first introduced into hip-hop culture in
the late 1960s. Graffiti had been around for a long but during
the 60s graffiti art was mostly used for political activism in
communities. Artists like Cornbread and Cool Earl dominated the
urban cities of Philadelphia, a place seen as the birthplace of
graffiti art in hip-hop culture. The center for graffiti