What Is Hip Hop

The question of “What is Hip Hop” has been up for debate over the last few years. Many feel that the form of art is fading away, similar to disco. Some feel that it is thriving and influencing people at a rate never seen before. The main reason for these differences in opinion is the simple fact that people feel the need to classify everything. Hip-hop breaks every rule of classification however. There is no way to label hip-hop as one thing. It is an abstract mix of music, dancing, fashion, and an overall way of life.

            Hip-hop is fashion. Weather you are obsessed with necklaces, rings, and watches, or a sneaker head, hip-hop has its place in the fashion world. It has completely altered the way people dress, changing what was the norm, but always looking ahead. The fashion in the hip-hop world has always been about standing out, and nothing does it quite like hip-hop does.

 

            Hip-hop is music. The art of music is as old as hills, but hip-hop has taken its own approach on the subject. It is a clever mix of cadencies, styles, rhymes, and lyrics that all blend together over different sounds, rhythms, and breaks in the beat. A unique sound that evolved form spoken word and has flourished into its own sound

            Hip-hop is dancing. Once the beat is on, you feel it pulsating through the body until one cannot help but to get up and move. Hip-hop has that effect on people. It is a string of carefully structured movements, which still seem to be abstract and free spirited. It is about having fun without worries of being judged by others because it does not fit what traditional dance should be. Weather its popping and locking as in break dancing, or snapping and rolling, as in snap dancing, it is all still hip-hop.

           

            Hip-hop is a lifestyle. One can see it in the way a person walks and talks. The verbiage, the hand gestures, the swagger, all of these concepts are touched when living this life. It is waking up in the morning to Mosel beats, walking to class with Lil Ze in your headphones; it is talking to friends about who is better. Luda or Busta. All off these things go into the lifestyle of hip-hop.

            Hip-hop is “fresh”, “dope”, “fly”, “wassup”, and many other things. It’s the walk, talk, look, and sound. It is the way one carries them self and the way one has fun. It is laughing, crying, joy, anger, rage and relaxation all rolled up into one huge ball. Most importantly, hip-hop is whatever one wants or needs it to be.

What Is The Look Of....

In the beginning, hip hop was a thing of fun and excitement. This new art form was used for negroes to express themselves through lyric, dance, and dress. The key that seprerated Hip Hop from the mainstream media was the fact that nothing like it had ever been seen. Colors, rhythems, and style had not been seen with this magnitude since Jazz! As of recently however, most feel the culture is dying. People use the excuse that the artform has been "dumbed down" with bad dancing, sloppy dress, and all around laziness music. They say that hip hop just isent what it used to be.

But is that not the whole point of hip hop? Times have changed and the ways of old are not attractive to this new age of Hip Hoppers. Just because people dont agree with the ways of the new, does not mean the art itself is dying. The whole point of Hip Hop is to stand out of whatever is going on and do what is not being done by others. The expression is still shown through the music and dancing, just not how it used to be. And this is what i plan to show with my video. My goal is to show the paralells between the practicies of the past, and the wave of the future.