In 1973, at a community party at 1520 Sedgwick Avenue, a new cultural genre was founded in Bronx, New York. This genre would later include numerous elements, but its dominant elements consisted of disc-jockeying, graffiti art, breakdancing, later emceeing or rapping and knowledge attainment. This genre, with all of its elements, is now called Hip-Hop. In addition, to the inclusion of elements the genre also included cultural influence from Black and Brown youth of multiple ethnicities in New York.
At the Sedgwick Avenue party, the disc-jockey found that people enjoyed the dance breaks of popular songs, and he began mixing and replaying the breaks to continue the dancing and mood of the crowd. This disc-jockey (DJ), Kool Herc, is now known as the father of Hip-Hop.
Additionally, to further express their creative energies, others were creating competitive masterpieces on subway cars in New York. Using aerosol cans, young artists would sneak into train yards to share their masterpieces beyond their communities or to simply tag their name.
Later, we see the creation and expansion of emceeing or rapping, first to incite the crowd, and later taking the creativity of telling stories through rhyming words to battle fellow emcees in attempts to establish their prowess as lyricists. This element of the culture is the most dominant and lucrative element of the culture, but they all continue to exist, advance, and inspire. Taking many aspects of Black and Brown youth culture, the genre would spread beyond the confines of the land boundaries of New York state to become a global phenomenon continuing to expand with each new culture it engages.
This year, the genre celebrates its 50th anniversary as a cultural art form that has transformed the world! Hip-Hop is used in everything from marketing to education to politics and has been a lucrative career for several of the richest people in the world. Join us, in celebrating the culture that has provided a voice and avenue for marginalized communities throughout the world!