The History of Hip-Hop

What do you think of when you think of hip-hop? Fast rhyming lyrics? Insane, gravity-defying dance moves? Incredible graffiti honoring artists that have passed and those currently making moves? Hip-hop embodies all of the above and so much more. Though it may be a relatively new music style, it continues to influence cultures and generations. And while hip-hop is the music of choice for a lot of men of color, many remain unfamiliar with its origins. 

Hip-hop came to life in the Bronx, New York, in the 1970s, and soon became both a music style and a culture. The first instance of spinning records on turntables to keep the beat happened in 1973, unleashing a new wave of DJs desperate to keep up with this trend and develop their own signature styles. Over time, this style of music incorporated art in the forms of rapping, breakdancing, and graffiti, among others. It primarily spread amongst African American and Latino neighborhoods, and men and women alike were drawn to how the music made them feel.

Nowadays, hip-hop has branched out to include many different genres of music, including trap, grime, gangsta rap, rap rock, and crunk among others. Famous hip-hop artists include Tupac Shakur, The Notorious B.I.G., and more recently, Kendrick Lamar, Migos, and Megan Thee Stallion. It’s no longer a New York music style, nor even an exclusively American-based genre. Hip-hop has traveled the world with DJs and artists from across the globe all creating their own take on hip-hop. 

For students of the Male Student Success Initiative (MSSI), they discovered all this and much more through a course about the history of hip-hop. The MSSI is a special initiative designed by CCBC to encourage men of color to continue their education through dedicated programs, activities, and events that support and promote academic excellence, largely in response to the statistics reporting that there has been a sharp decline of men of color continuing higher education in recent years. Participating students heard from guest speakers such as DJs, discussed the music, and visited famous landmarks associated with spreading the love of hip-hop. 

Through the MSSI program and CCBC’s courses overall, we aim to offer our students a diversity of learning opportunities and topics. More importantly, we want to make sure they feel supported with mentors on hand and open access to available resources. If you’d like to learn more about the MSSI program, please click here to learn more.