The origins of Hip Hop

The young activists that stayed in impoverished communities during the 1950’s through the 1970’s formed families within these same communities who gave birth to a new generation of thinking. The new generation was not only aware but upset by the travesties that their grandparents and parents had to endure during the civil rights and black power movements. The civil rights movement which originally gave the black community hope and a sense of belonging was short lived. While Blacks were no longer segregated, they were still left searching for social equality. In the 1960’s- 70’s, the feeling of disappointment turned into rage; they were tired of the inequality and thus formed the Black Power Movement.  The youth was unionizing to form equality in their community and make political statements against the system. From these two previous generations instilling awareness of social inequalities and the system not caring about you it is here where I’m truly convinced Hip-Hop was born. In 1989 Public Enemy did notrandomly just started rapping about the inequalities of the 911operating service. This was years of frustration in the making, and as absurd as it may have seen to the public that lived in above poverty levels. The youth of this time exactly understood what Public Enemy meant when they sang “911 is a joke in yo town”/. The Hip-Hop movement now gave the youth a voice to come together and form a community and for once feel part of a nurturing family. Using music as a coping mechanism is not a new concept, the civil rights had soul music, the black power movement had James Brown but Hip- Hop was different. Although it also centered on music, unlike the political movements of the past, hip-hop was more than one artist or genre of music representing and associating with your struggles. Hip-Hop was bigger, it became the way you dressed, spoke, danced a subculture the kids of the 1980s created to cope with their harsh reality. As Dj Herc eloquently sates, “Hip-Hop sayscome as you are it is not about me being better than you. It’s about you and me, connecting one on one” (Yang Intro). This “universal appeal” (Yang Intro) became the inner voice and the philosophy in which the youth of this time founded Hip- Hop.And offered Public Enemy and all the rappers of their time a platform to connect with the youth on a one on one basis on the inequalities they were both facing.