When hip hop broke the barrier of mainstream radio in the late 1970’s with its first classic hit, “Rapper’s Delight” by the Sugarhill Gang, it was tagged as a fad and doomed to failure by its critics. Although this wasn’t the first rap record, it has been the benchmark song, and the popular reference point when discussing rap in music history. Unfortunately, this song also left an indelible stamp on the American psyche as to who would be performing this type of music, further partitioning the real hip hop sub-culture from the mainstream music industry. Similar to Bbreakdancing, hip hop/rap was stamped as “street” music with no valid place alongside “real” entertainment icons such a jazz, soul, or ballroom. How things would change!
Hip hop came up the hard way!
Throughout musical history, certain conventions have been held regarding what constitutes “real” music. In the ’20s & ‘30s, it was the para-orchestral sounds of big bands that hit its zenith during the early and mid ‘40s that set the mark for good music. Traveling forward toward the end of World War II, a new sound began to emerge called jazz, which faced its difficulties in achieving recognition as a musical art form, until some of the more accepted musicians and band leaders began to embrace the new phenomenon.
Later, a form of rock & roll, which developed from soul music, migrated from the South to the Northern and upper Midwest portions of America only to be denigrated as “Jungle Music” by the powers-that-be at the time. It wasn’t until watered down versions of that music, performed by the accepted leaders in the industry, appeared in record stores and on Alan Freed's and Wolfman Jack's radio shows, that the new musical development began to become accepted. The pattern becomes clearer as, through the years, variations of jazz and blues music begin to receive more recognition when certain elements begin to adopt the styling of the originators.
Patterns of acceptance have not changed much from early music history.
Leaping forward once again to the hip hop/breakdance era, we find the patterns established all those years ago in American music history really have not changed. East Coast hip hop luminaries such as Kool Herc, Afrika Bambatta, Big L and KRS One helped to bring on a new movement in music, which was picked up by West Coast greats NWA, Dr. Dre, Lonzo “The Grandmaster” Williams and many others. In the middle United States, the Tom Tom Club on Tommy Boy Records made it cool for urbanites to enjoy the hip hop sound and join in the fun.
The new hip hop champions come from diverse backgrounds.
Present day and the past continues to rear its head. Eminem, Yelawolf, and the Beastie Boys have become the anchors for a movement that began on the street corners of downtrodden boroughs in minority neighborhoods, and of ALL PEOPLE, Justin Bieber has become a universal heartthrob by launching his career using a hip hop base. In my opinion, that is even worse than Pat Boone singing Little Richard’s “Tutti Frutti” and winning a Grammy for the song. Rock and roll stations are changing formats to pop or CHR/rhythmic to stay in business and television stations are producing urban-based dance shows to keep ratings. Question…does anyone remember rapping granny? She was one of the auto industries' biggest accomplishments not too long ago, and had people paying attention to car commercials again!
Still relevant today and impacting the music industry worldwide.
Hip hop did not die as foretold, it is stronger and more relevant than ever, with no end in sight. What used to be a sub-culture is now the mainstream, crossing all boundaries and touching all nations…Long live hip hop!
Jerry Doby - Jerry Doby is a member of the Recording Academy and is a Publicity Consultant specializing in the Urban Music market.
