Hip Hop & Rap: A Lifestyle and an Entity

Somewhere out there, DJ Kool Herc is saying, “I brought up hip-hop.” One of the truest originators of the movement of hip-hop in the 70s, Kool Herc become known as the one who helped hip-hop emerge onto the scene in the Bronx in New York. Coming from Kingston, Jamaica, Herc brought the rhythm and rhyming lyrics from impromptu and applied them over beats. The movement of hip-hop spread throughout the Bronx and thus a new form of music and lifestyle began.

You can simply say hip-hop is a form of music, where you have musical artists rap over beats, and rhyming to make a song. That is correct, and probably the biggest and most popular part of hip-hop, but that’s only part of the puzzle. Most followers and those who dislike hip-hop, forget the movement and aspects of the lifestyle. Many people don’t realize that the break dancing, graffiti art, DJing and beat boxing are part of hip-hop too.

Like I mentioned before, you can just say that hip-hop is just a form of music where someone is rapping and that it is all the same. I say that if you say that, you are pretty ignorant to see what the truth about what it really is. You can compare the music aspect of hip-hop to vehicles on the road; there are many types such as coupes, sedans, SUVs, convertibles, etc. Hip-hop music is exactly the same; there are genres within the genre. Most rap artists consider their type of rap and compare to their ego and where they’re from. Many examples include “gangsta” rap, West-coast rap, underground rap, etc. The point is, is that what is looked at as simplicity, is really complexity.

To add to the lifestyle of hip-hop, many people bring a sense of disapproval towards the movement till this day. We are all impacted by it an...

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...orms of rap in different languages, which is a sign that hip-hop is spread throughout and everyone is expressing themselves in each and every form. Also, if we didn’t have Disc Jockeys, we wouldn’t have hip-hop. Kool Herc emerged as a DJ and brought up beats and form to release to create rap. One of the huge aspects in music and lifestyle is still clearly around today.

The art that many of us all look as a bad and degenerating form of life is, in reality, could be considered a therapy, because in hip-hop, you release all your form and feelings to gain and be a better you. Like a therapist, they inform you of your bad, and bring out the good, whereas in hip-hop, you are your own therapist and you can create form and life just from the bearing of your own self. In my mind, hip-hop is an expression of freedom; a freedom that can last for a lifetime.