"Hip hop" redirects here. For its cultural origins, see Hip hop (culture). For other uses, see Hip hop (disambiguation). "Rap music" redirects here. For the form of vocal delivery associated with hip hop music, see Rapping. For the Killer Mike album, see R.A.P. Music.
Hip hop or hip-hop, also known as rap and formerly as disco rap,[7][8] is a genre of popular music that originated in the early 1970s from the African American community. Hip-hop music originated as an anti-drug and anti-violence genre[9] consisting of stylized rhythmic music (usually built around drum beats) that often accompanies rapping, a rhythmic delivery of poetic speech.[10]
In the early 1990s, a professor of African American studies at Temple University said, "Hip-hop is something that blacks can unequivocally claim as their own."[11] By the 21st century, the field of rappers had diversified by both race and gender. The music developed as part of the broader hip-hop culture, a subculture defined by four key stylistic elements: MCing/rapping, DJing/scratching with turntables, breakdancing, and graffiti art.[12][13][14] While often used to refer solely to rapping and rap music, "hip hop" more properly denotes the practice of the entire subculture.[15][16] The term hip hop music is sometimes used synonymously with the term rap music,[10][17] though rapping is not a required component of hip hop music; the genre may also incorporate other elements of the culture, including DJing, turntablism, scratching, beatboxing, and instrumental tracks.[18][19]
The origin of the phrase "hip-hop" is unknown but a very old example of the phrase appears in scene II of an anonymously written satirical play from 1671 called The Rehearsal, thought to be written by George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham and others. A character in the play named Bayes says: "Ay, is’t not, I gad, ha? For, to go off hip hop, hip hop, upon this occasion, is a thousand times better than any conclusion in the world, I gad."[35]
In an article in Medium, Jeff Chang writes: "Father Amde Hamilton of the influential rap precursors the Watts Prophets once told me that, when he was growing up along Central Avenue in 1950s Los Angeles, the older folks used to call teen house parties 'them old hippity hops'."
Hip hop's early evolution occurred around the time that sampling technology and drum-machines became widely available to the general public at a cost that was affordable to the average consumer—not just professional studios.