![]() But soon the scholars would enter the picture. There was no need for the lyrics to make sense when they were accoutrement. Like the matrons of the vogue balls of the time, they were the emcees, keeping the dancers energized and giving the people something else to cheer about. With no idea of how far it could go, these groups performed for pure enjoyment. What started with the b-boys and b-girls simply dancing to beat breaks soon became rapping with Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, alongside The Sugarhill Gang. Black people are a constant swath of personalities, values and tastes and the city has always had enough people and perspective to show them all off with braggadocio and aplomb. From its birth the legacy and lineage of American Blackness has always been its backbone, but if the music has done one thing overall it is show the world that Blackness has never been and never will be a monolith. Hip-hop is the story of Blackness in an anti-Black world, quite literally beat breaks using the funk music of the civil rights movement. A city of millions growing ever upward, NYC is the place to stand up and stand out lest you be trampled underfoot by sheer population size. And while it has picked up all the lovely nuances of each region along the way, there is no overstating its influence: The city gave rap its personality and attitude.įrom then until now, New York has always been full of characters. It has become the story of the streets, the voice of the marginalized and the mainstream sound for entertainment. Decades later, hip-hop has gone from Sedgwick Avenue to di world, breaking borders and language barriers in a never-ending storm of cultural exchange. Even if you haven't seen the famous DJ Kool Herc party flyer from 1973, rarely is the genre spoken about without giving the city its due. If you've been around for any of the past 50 years of hip-hop, you're already well aware of New York's place in the pantheon. ![]()
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