Released on DVD on 14th
September the smash hit TV drama Empire tells the story of a
family dynasty at the pinnacle of a powerful hip hop corporation.
While hip hop culture
encompasses a variety of stylistic components including breakdancing
and graffiti, it is the MCs, rappers and DJs that provide the musical
soundtrack behind this cultural phenomenon and Empire’s first
season is peppered with musical performances and cameo appearances
from some of the genre’s biggest names including Snoop Dogg and
Mary J Blige.
Born out of the Bronx
in the 1970s, hip hop has gained millions of fans and established
cultural significance around the world. We’d like to take you on a
whistle-stop tour of some hip hop’s defining moments from the past
four decades.
The roots of hip hop
can be found in the block parties that took place in the
neighbourhoods of the South Bronx where teenagers would take melodies
and beats from existing records and combine them with their own words
and rhymes, chronicling their lives and battling their peers.
DJ Kool Herc is widely
regarded as the Godfather of hip hop and was one of the first DJs to
use two turntables. He created the blueprint for hip hop culture and
his apartment at 1520 Sedgewick Avenue has even been recognised by
the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic
Preservation as the birthplace of hip hop.
Released in 1979,
Sugarhill Gang’s ‘Rapper’s Delight’ was one of the first rap
records to gain mainstream popularity. Blondie’s ‘Rapture’ was
released the same year and was the first major single by a white
artist to feature elements of hip hop.
Sugarhill
Gang
1980’s
Grand Master Flash is
credited as being the first DJ to use scratching and cutting
techniques. His single ‘The Message’, released in 1982, was one
of the first hip hop songs to address social issues in its lyrics,
paving the way for artists like Run DMC and Public Enemy whose
lyrical content was also firmly rooted in the real world.
Founder of the
Universal Zulu Nation Afrika Bambaataa was another hugely
influential figure in hip hop. His 1982 single ‘Planet Rock’
fused electronic sounds and samples with hip hop, kickstarting the
diversification of hip hop into a whole host of musical sub-genres.
The mid 1980’s to the
early 1990s is regarded by many as hip hop’s golden age with a far
more diverse range of artists emerging, including Public Enemy, Eric
B & Rakim, De La Soul, Gang Starr, Beastie Boys and A Tribe
Called Quest.
Afrika
Bambaataa
1990’s
Hip hop’s popularity
continued to explode with records such as Tone Loc’s ‘Wild Thing’
and Public Enemy’s ‘Fight The Power’ among the standout
singles. The decade also witnessed the birth of one of hip hop’s
most controversial styles, Gangsta Rap, bristling with angry lyrics
that reflected the violent inner-city lifestyles lived by many of the
artists that performed it. The first blockbuster gangsta rap album
was N.W.A’s ‘Straight Outta Compton’. N.W.A. member Dr Dre
went on to create a new style called G-Funk which was popularised by
artists such as Snoop Dogg and Warren G.
The more mainstream
commercial face of hip hop continued to grow with MC Hammer becoming
one of most successful rappers of the 1990s along with Vanilla Ice
whose ‘Ice Ice Baby’ became the first hip hop single to top the
US Billboard Charts.
The latter part of the
decade saw artists such as the Wu-Tang Clan, Diddy and the Fugees
come to prominence and brought continued success for the Beastie
Boys.
MC Hammer
2000’s
The new millennium saw
Dr Dre moving to the other side of the mixing desk to produce some of
hip hop’s most successful albums for artists such as Eminem and 50
Cent.
However it was Jay-Z’s
rise from artist to label president to global brand that underlined
hip hop’s ongoing cultural impact. Jay Z also broke Elvis
Presley’s record for the most number one albums on the Billboard
charts by a solo artist.
No surprise, then, that
Empire writer Danny Strong says that Jay-Z’s story had a strong
influence on the show’s Lucious Lyon character.
Jay-Z
EMPIRE
SEASON 1 IS OUT NOW ON DVD
Buy from Amazon at the following link
