Hip-Hop as plural, not linear. Addressing Hip-Hop history.

            I've thought of the subject of "hip-hop" everyday of the last 4 years. I am a BBoy and active in the San Diego Hip-Hop Community, I teach BBoy/BGirl classes for several dance studios, and i am a college student - yet i know that teacher is just a name for a student who has different knowledge than your own. Through my on going adventures in Hip-Hop I've come to meet people of diverse styles, knowledge, wisdom, and opinion. The latter, I must emphasize. Opinion is a big deal in Hip-Hop, especially in the San Diego scene - mostly due to DJ Mane One, Judging of Battles, the concept of footwork and power moves and their defining lines, and history. In this post i would like to address History of Hip-Hop and it's variances.

            The past 8 weeks I've been taking an online History of Jazz class. It's been an enlightening class and recommend it to anyone and everyone - i especially enjoyed Dr. Walton's lecture notes. Jazz has a history that causes much debate and speculation, this is because when people think of history they tend to think that it goes in a straight line - but truly, it doesn't. Especially in Jazz and, i propose, in Hip-Hop. You see, Jazz has a history of about 100 years, and out of jazz came Bebop, hard bop, cool jazz, fusion, smooth jazz, dixieland, New Orleans, Swing, Acid Jazz, and much much more. The above listed have sub-categories that are defined by period, person influenced by, person accredited to, musical complexity, and i can go on and on. You see, in Jazz history events don't happen, people happen. 

            How is this different from the history that we are exposed to everyday? After WW1 happen, it politically ended, the after math faded into the next event, and that event happened, it ended, then it faded into the next and, in this way, history happens in a infinite cycle. But in jazz it's not so easy. It's common to say that bebop came after swing. It's also common to say that bebop came from swing musicians experimenting with music in their repertory - but the misconception here is that after swing had it's place in history, people stopped playing it and forgot it. Actually, after swing had it's popularity taken away and more people began listening to bebop, musicians still played swing - it just so happen that one style of jazz had it's popularity and after a new style of jazz came out it became a little more popular of varying reasons. People still play swing to this day. So you see, history in this case isn't linear but it all happened at the same time as styles evolved through experimentation and talent - plural.

            How does this connect to Hip-Hop and it's history? Well, I suggest that Hip-Hop happened in this exact same way - that it is plural. Before we can expand on this plurality there must be a common starting point that scholars and "Hip-Hoppers" (for a lack of better words) can all agree on. It is common place to say that Hip-Hop started in the Bronx and it's birthday is the day that Dj Kool Herc threw his first ever bloc party at 1520 Sedgwick and Cedar. Now, no one got together and said "Hey, on this specific day at this specific place let's create a cultural phenomena" - as far as we know, that is. It so happened that it happened. During this same time, the cultural phenomenon of Graffiti Art and Breakdancing were evolving from a deviant pass time to a form of cultural and social need. At this infamous bloc party all of these "elements" met and formed an awareness of each other - which encouraged communication, socialization, and networking among each other. Now that we have a common starting date we can say from here on that Hip-Hop history is plural. 

            In Hip-Hop history we find our selfs following DJing, emceeing, Breakdancing, and Graffiti (which some believe is a separate entity and shouldn't be included in the elements of Hip-Hop, but thats a discussion for another day). Now we can't say that djing or any of the other elements was conceived at any one place and time - people experimented with the things available to them whether it be a set of records, their own diction and the sounds they make, their own physical bodies, or a can of old krylon paint - but we can suggest when they became popular, and since the day they became popular we can also say what other events took place after people became aware of that particular "element"; through oral history, pictures, or even video records. I'm not particularly learned in Djing, Graffiti art, nor emceeing but i am in Breakdancing - so from now on i will apply my proposal to breakdancing and it's history. 

            The six-step is one of the first moves and concepts we learn today, but it wasn't an establish form until after Breakdancing was a formidable movement within the bronx. Proto-six-step's were recorded as "spuratic movements" and weren't seen until some time after Kool Herc's bloc party. How many record Breakdancing on begging is at the top rock - indian step, two step, etc. Now, this isn't saying that people weren't playing around with the concept of floor work it just wasn't shown until some time after the Kool Herc bloc party - and in this way we can see this is one of Breakdance histories first plurality. We can apply this concept of plurality through all of Breakdance history. We can see it today with emergences of different styles such as Circus and the ever going distinction between footwork and power and their alternating popularity. 

            Though this is only a suggest, i wish to hear constructive criticism on my essay and hope that everyone has enjoyed reading. Thank you all.