From the Bronx to the Bay and Beyond:
A GeoUaphy of Rap Music and Hip-Hop Culture
Rob Morris
Ph.D. Program
University of Tennessee
Department of Geography
I
Submitted for Student Honors Program
(Carousel Projector Required)
From the Bronx to the Bay and Beyond:
A Geography of Rap Music and Hip Hop Culture
Rob Morris
University of Tennessee
Department of Geography
This paper examines the origins and diffusion of the Hip-Hop subculture,
concentrating especially on rap music. It explores the four major elements
of Hip-Hop -- Graffiti, Deejaying, Breakdance, and Rap Music. Then it
will explore in detail the origins of and precursors to rapping -- from West
Africa to the Mriean-American South to the Bronx in New York City to
Suburban America and beyond. Since rap music has achieved a degree of
notoriety in recent years, the presentation will conclude by assessing and
critiquing the social consequences of rap music.
From the Bronx to the Bay and Beyond:
A Geouaphy of Rap Music and Hip-Hop Culture
Paper to be Presented at the Annual Meeting of the
Southeast Division of the Association of American Geographers
Asheville, North Carolina -- November 1991
Rob Morris
University of Tennessee
(SLIDE 1: TIlLE)
Before we get started, let me make one observation -Grab onto your chairs -- for I'll be rapping this presentation.
If you think that a geography rap is not that academic,
Let me advance to you a well-grounded polemic.
Geographers from Donald Meinig to John Fraser Hart,
Have expressed a desire to see geography as art.
While this might not be what they had in mind,
Sit back for a while and I think that you'll find
That this mode of expression is in the right vein,
After all, what good is education if it cannot entertain?
I apologize in advance, for what might be some rotten rhymes,
But at least I didn't do a geography of mimes.
What I'd like to do for fifteen minutes or so,
Is present Hip Hop culture as a rich row to hoe
For geographers in the field who are interested in "pop",
There seem to be few topics that are as vibrant as Hip Hop.
This paper's an introduction to the Hip Hop culture scene,
A topic, of course, on which I'm kinda keen.
(SLIDE 2: EXPRESSIONS OF HIP-HOP)
The Hip Hop subculture emerged from gang activities
Prevalent in the Bronx in the late 60's and early 70's (Hager, 1984),
Hip Hop appears in graffiti and breakdance,
And rap music and rapping, which consists of rhyming chants (Hager, 1984; Toop, 1984).
As we will all see later, rapping has early ties
To the traditions of West Africa, where the source of Hip-Hop lies.
This paper looks at Hip Hop in its four major stages,
Graffiti, DJing, breakdancing and the rap music rages.
Then we'll look a little closer at rap music for awhile,
From its origins and its methods to its controversial style.
(SLIDE 3: GRAFFITI)
Graffiti was Hip Hop's first major innovation,
Moving from random scrawling to artful illustration (Hager, 1984).
Although it had been around for quite a long time,
It really came to prominence in 1969.
Graffiti had long been used as a means for marking space,
But in 1969 a more mischievous motive took its place.
(SliDE 4: GRAFFITI 1)
The "new" graffiti placed one's "tag" in most unusual locations
As graffiti, like most HH, became a competitive vocation (Hager, 1984; Toop, 1984).
Graffiti emerged with its very own rules and regulations
As more and more graffiti artists formed graffiti associations.
By the mid-70's graffiti was accepted as a type of urban art
Just when another form of Hip Hop began to get its start.
(SLIDE 5: DEEJA YING)
Each summer from 1969 to 1974,
Gang violence in the Bronx got worse than the year before
In the summer of 1975 the gangs all failed to show
As a new form of social contact was just beginning to grow (Hager, 1984).
In partial replacement of the Savage Skulls and Black Spades,
Dancing at nightclubs became the new craze (Toop, 1984; Hager, 1984).
In the Bronx, dancing took place at a less formal site,
It occured in "house parties", lasting well into the night.
These parties had disk jockeys, or "deejays", as is their label,
Who played dance record collections as fast as they were able,
These DJ's used sound systems that had two turntables,
Hooked up to one another by virtue of cables.
This two-turntable setup allowed easier progression
From record to record to record, in rapid fire succession (Hager, 1984).
In 1975, a DJ named Kool Here,
Invented a DJ method that he then put to work.
Kool Here didn't waste his time playing an entire song,
He simply played the most "danceable" parts, about 30 seconds long.
By taking these "breaks", as they're called, and playing them back to back,
Here played good music so long, his house parties were packed (Hager, 1984; Toop,
1984).
About a year or so later, a DJ named Grandmaster Flash
Came up with a new innovation, and turned it into cash.
He pre-cued his breaks through headphones, while keeping the beat going,
This technique allowed him to keep the music smoothly flowing (Hager, 1984; Adler,
1991).
A protoge of Flash's, Grand Wizard Theodore,
Came up with a new technique, never tried before.
He found that by rotating records in the opposite direction,
He could produce a percussive sound, that he called scratching.
Scratching became another Hip Hop innovation,
It caught on really fast, a new DJing sensation (Hager, 1984).
(SUDE 6: DJ TERRITORIES)
For the next two years or so, there were three major Bronx DJ's,
They were the major performers in Hip Hop's DJ phase.
Grandmaster Flash was in the middle while Kool Here was in the west,
With Afrika Bambaataa in the east, these three DJ's were the best (Toop, 1984)
Each DJ played first at house parties, then at local parks,
and then at larger nightclubs, which is where they left their marks (Hager, 1984).
(SLIDE 7: BREAKDANCE)
While DJ's at these parties were spinning their dancing disks,
The dancers in the crowd took greater dancing risks.
The dancing they did was more aggressive in its form,
And competitive break-dancing soon became the norm (Hager, 1984).
Much of breakdance has its roots throughout the hemisphere,
With precursors to breakdance in places far and near,
From the combat dance of the Amazon to the form of the Bronx b-boys,
Breakdance pulled on many different styles which it now employs.
Breakdancers combined many different fashions from Latin to robotic,
In frenetic displays of spins and jolts, spontaneous yet methodic (Hager, 1984).
(SUDE 8: RAPPING/EMCEEING)
By 1978, a new Hip Hop form had originated
When DJ's simply playing breaks began to become dated.
Speaking in time along with the beat soon gained a higher status,
As this rapping by Me's rose in the Hip Hop apparatus (Adler, 1991; Toop, 1984).
As Me's grew more prominent in the Hip Hop domain,
Rapping became competitive, in the true Hip Hop vein.
Rappers engaged in titanic battles of wit and slang and rhyme
That many think came from the ghetto, but really came from an older time.
(SUDE 9: PRECURSERS
OF RAP)
Linguists and Anthropologists have traced the rapping style,
And have proven rather conclusively that rap's been around a while.
It's called playing the dozens and signifying and toasting (Abrahams, 1970; Kochman,
1977),
But whatever its name, it embodies lots of mocking and boasting.
This ritual can be traced to the black American South,
Where stories and histories were maintained by word of mouth.
This oral legacy can be traced back even more,
With origins in West Africa, as I said once before (Finnegan, 1970; Abrahams, 1970,
1969).
West African linguistic impacts abound in American lingo,
From languages such as Hausa, Wolof, and Mandingo (Dalby, 1977).
(SLIDE 8 AGAIN: RAPPING/EMCEEING)
Early on in rap, boasting and toasting still remained,
As this vast historical heritage was reliably maintained (Hager, 1984).
In 1979, the first rap record was released,
And ever since that time, rap's acceptance has increased (Adler, 1991; Hager, 1984).
In 1982, rap assumed a new direction,
As its focus took on a socially relevant inflection (National Urban League, 1990).
A rap entitled "The Message" brought this trend alive,
It was from Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five (Adler, 1991; Hager, 1984; Toop,
1984).
"The Message" was considered by many to be a sound critique
Of the urban condition -- that's why it was unique.
It's portrayal of junkies and prison struck social chords,
It's rap music backdrop helped it spread its words.
Around 1983, rap emerged in "pop" (Adler, 1991; Wilder, 1991),
As popular culture adopted the spirit of Hip-Hop.
In order to accomplish this, rap music had to change
And become less internalized, and thus increase its range.
Rap increased it listening base by becoming more benign
By focusing on things suburban, instead of things like crime.
If you don't comprehend this statement, let me give you a hand,
These raps come with middle-class titles like "Parents Just Don't Understand".
(SUDE 10: MAJOR RAP STYLES)
As a response to "lite" rap growth, making everything seem alright,
Two counter-styles recently formed and have come into the light.
"Glad" rappers send a message promoting harmony,
They preach against greed and violence, as the way to be truly free (Sheehy, 1991).
"Gangsta" rappers oppose oppression promoting aggressive defiance,
Taking relavent rap to the extreme, right to the edge of violence (Adler, 1991).
(SLIDE 11: DIFFUSION OF RAP)
As with the other forms of Hip-Hop, rap got its early start
In the southern reaches of the Bronx -- The Hip-Hop culture hearth (Hager, 1984; Toop,
1984).
From there it spread to Harlem, and maybe to Brooklyn and Queens (Toop, 1984;
Wilder, 1991)
And definitely to Philadelphia, in the downtown scene (Wilder, 1991).
In 1981, after a Village Voice report,
Rap spread to Manhattan, where it began to cavort (Hager, 1984; Toop, 1984).
Rappers in LA began around this time
Spreading to the West Coast rap music's wit and rhyme (Wilder, 1991; Light, 1991).
By 1983, rap had begun to do battle
In San Francisco Bay, Miami, Houston, and Seattle (Wilder, 1991; Light, 1991).
In the last few years, rap has gone beyond the U.S.A,
And can now be found around the world today.
From Toronto to London to Brussels and Berlin
(SLIDE 12: GRAFFm
2)
The remnants of Hip-Hop can be viewed in Paris from the Seine.
(SLIDE 13: GRAFFITI 3)
From these urban centers, rap rapidly did spread
Into the popular culture, as I've already said (Sheehy, 1991; Adler, 1991).
Along with rap's and Hip-Hop's worldwide musical reach,
There are dozens of musical styles, and rap has merged with each.
Early rap usually used music that's called "funk",
But now rap uses different styles from jazz to rock to "punk".
From the rhythm-and-blues of the Delta to international beats,
Rap seems to incorporate each new musical form it meets.
Rap's growing popularity may result from its variety of styles
Forming musical "mosaics" from a multitude of "tiles".
Pop culture's co-opting of rap music is really very extensive,
Its absorption into this commercial realm is often quite offensive.
The audacity of Madison Avenue yields truly obnoxious crap,
Such as the Pillsbury Doughboy and his "Cinnamon Roll Rap".
What is it about rap music that makes it so easily adopted?
And what's to prevent rap music from becoming thusly co-opted?
(SLIDE 14: THEODOR ADORNO)
Theodor Adorno, a noted social critic,
Often listened to music, and then waxed analytic.
Adorno seemed to feel, when he looked at song,
That something in "pop" music had gone all wrong (Adorno, 1938; Held, 1980).
Adorno felt that challenge is what makes life worth living,
And he felt that challenge was what "pop" music wasn't giving.
"Pop" music is chopped up, repetitive, predigested,
"Pop" music is chopped up, repetitive, predigested.
The pre-packaged nature of pop music requires little consideration,
Subtleties of sounds and rhythms go by without much contemplation.
"Serious" music requires that the listener be immersed,
Thinking about the music, instead of the reverse.
(SLIDE 15: SOCIAL CRITIQUE OF RAP)
When we look at rap, using this critique
We must realize that rap is definitely unique.
Rap music and its lyrics seem divergent in many ways,
Which may help us to explain the current Hip-Hop craze.
As rap music has emerged into current popular culture,
Record industry executives have begun circling like vultures.
With this craze to sign young acts has come a loss of Hip-Hop skill,
As talent and technique are less important than "looks that kill".
Rap music involves condensation of already condensed tunes,
Repeating them over and over, as if the listeners are buffoons.
Rap lyrics, on the other hand, often challenge our contentment,
Making us ill at ease, and even creating a resentment
Of problems that exist in the world that no one's willing to solve,
Rap lyrics can force us to think, and make us get involved.
Well, enough of this philosophy, I think it's time to stop
I hope that you enjoyed this paper on the virtues of Hip-Hop.
This paper introduces a unique subculture class
I hope the mode of presentation really kicked your
brain into gear.
Source Material
Abrahams, Roger D. (1969). Talking Black. Rowley, Mass.: Newbury House.
Abrahams, Roger D. (1970). deep down in the jungle ...: Negro Narrative Folklore from
the Streets of Philadelphia. Chicago: Aldine Publishing.
Adler, B. (1991). Rap: Portraits and Lyrics of a Generation of Black Rockers. New
York:
St. Martin's Press.
Adorno, Theodor W. (1938). "On the Fetish-Character in Music and the Regression of
Listening," in Andrew Arato and Eike Gebhardt (eds.), The Essential Frankfurt
School Reader, pp. 270-299. (1982). New York: Continuum Publishing.
Dalby, David. (1977). "The African Element in American English," in Thomas
Kochman
(ed.), Rappin' and Stylin' Out: Communication in Urban Black America,
pp. 170-188. Urbana: University of Illinois Press.
Finnegan, Ruth. (1970). Oral Literature in Africa. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Hager, Steven. (1984). Hip Hop: The ll1ustrated History of Breakdancing. Rap Music,
Graffiti. New York: St. Martin's Press.
.aruL
Held, David. (1980). Introduction to Critical Theory: Horkheimer to Habermas.
Berkeley:
University of California Press.
Horkheimer, Max and Theodor W. Adorno. (1972). Dialectic of Enlightenment.
by John Cumming. New York: Seabury Press.
Trans.
Kochman, Thomas (ed.). (1977). Rappin' and Stylin' Out: Communication in Urban
Black
America. Urbana: University of lllinois Press.
Light, Alan. (1991, Interview). Rap Music Writer, Rolling Stone.
National Urban League. (1990). Stop the Violence: Overcoming Self-Destruction (Rap
Speaks Out). Nelson George (ed.). New York: Pantheon.
Sheehy, Maura. (1991). "Rap Nation: Hip-Hop Takes the Malls," in Details, January,
pp.
60-71.
Toop, David. (1984). The Rap Attack. Boston: South End Press.
Wilder, Chris. (1991, Interview). Managing Editor, The Source, (Rap chronicle).
(SliDE 2: EXPRESSIONS OF HIP-HOP)
MAJOR EXPRESSIONS OF HIP-HOP CULTURE
GRAFFITI
DEEJAYING
BREAKDANCING
RAPPING (EMCEEING)
CHARACTERISTICS OF FOLK CULTURES
SHARED BY HIP-HOP
SMALL AND ISOLATED
HOMOGENEOUS
STRONG CLAN STRUCTURE
INTERNALLY ORIENTED
(SUDE 3: GRAFFITI)
GRAFFITI PHASE OF HIP-HOP
Dominant in Hip-Hop c.1969 - c.1975
FORMERLY USED TO MARK TERRITORY FOR GANGS
HIP-HOP GRAFFm:
INNOVATORS:
INDIVIDUAL EXPRESSION OF THE ARTIST
INCREASING ARTISTIC CONTENT
OFTEN USED NUMBERS OF HOME STREET AS SUFFIX
TAKI 183 - BROUGHT HIP-HOP GRAFFID INTO LIMELIGHT
Top Cat 1-2-6 - INVENTED "BROADWAY ELEGANT" STYLE
LEE 163d - LETTER "STACKING"
SuperKool 223 - BUBBLE LETTERING
TRACY 168 - ARTISTIC LETTERING
PEAKED IN 1973
GRAFFm ARTISTS OFTEN BANDED TOGETHER IN FORMALIZING ASSOCIATIONS
(SLIDE 5: DEFJA YING)
DEEJAY (OJ) PHASE OF HIP-HOP
Dominant in Hip-Hop c.1975 - 1978
TERMS:
BREAKS - MOST "DANCEABLE" SECTIONS OF PARTY RECORDS
SCRATCHING - PERCUSSIVE, IRRITATING SOUND CREATED BY
ROTATING RECORD IN "WRONG" DIRECTION
INNOVATORS:
KOOL HERC - PLAYING BREAKS - 1974-5
GRANDMASTER FLASH - PRE-CUING BREAKS THROUGH
HEADPHONES - 1976
GRAND WIZARD THEODORE - "SCRATCHING" - 1977
PE,OGRESSION:
HOUSE PARTIES to LOCAL PARKS to NIGHTCLUBS
(SliDE 6: DJ TERRITORIES)
EARLY DEEJAY "TERRITORIES" IN THE SOUTH BRONX
KOOL HERe - WEST
GRANDMASTER
FLASH - CENTER
AFRIKA BAMBAAT AA - EAST
(SI.lDE 7: BREAKDANCE)
BREAKDANCE PHASE OF HIP-HOP
Dominant in Hip-Hop 1975-1979
MIXTURE OF MANY DANCE FORMS
TECHNIQUES:
HEADSPINS
BACKSPINS
ROBOT-LIKE MOTIONS
RESURGENCE IN 1981-84 FOLLOWING COVER STORY BY VILLAGE VOICE IN 1981
AND RELEASE OF THE MOVIE "BREAKDANCE" IN 1983
(SI.lDE 8: RAPPING/EMCEEING)
RAPPING/EMCEE (MC) PHASE OF HIP-HOP
Dominant in Hip-Hop 1978-Present
RAPPING - SPEAKING AND RHYMING ALONG WITH THE BEAT OF "BREAKS"
MAJOR EARLY RAP RECORDINGS
"KING TIM m" - THE FATBACK BAND - 1979
FIRST RAP RELEASE
"RAPPER'S DELIGHT" - THE SUGARHILL GANG - 1979
FIRST COMMERCIALLY SUCCESSFUL RAP RELEASE
"THE MESSAGE" - GRANDMASTER FLASH AND THE FURIOUS FIVE - 1982
FIRST MAJOR "SOCIALLY ORIENTED" RAP RELEASE
"SUCKER MC'S" - RUN-D.M.C. - 1983
FIRST RAP RELEASE TO GAIN ACCEPTANCE FROM "POP" CULTURE
(SliDE 9: PRECURSERS OF RAP)
PRECURSORS
SIGNIFYINGITOASTING/PLA
OF RAP
YING THE DOZENS
TRADING INSULTS AND BOASTS BACK AND FORTH
FOUND IN CITIES OF THE URBAN-INDUSTRIAL NORTH
ORIGINATED IN PLANTATION SOUTH
ORAL TRADITIONS
TRANSPLANTED FROM WESTERN AFRICA TO SOUTH TO URBAN NORTH
PROBABLE AFRICANISMS USED IN AMERICAN ENGLISH
~ BANJO
• DIG
JITTER·
POOP
BOGUS
GOOSE
liVE
RAP
BOOGIE
HIP/HEP
OKAY
UH-HUH
CHICK
JAZZ
PHONEY
ZOMBIE
CONTEXTUAL USES OF AMERICAN SLANG ATTRIBUTABLE TO WEST AFRICA
"BAD", "WICKED" TO MEAN VERY GOOD
"COOL" TO MEAN CALM AND CONTROLLED, GOOD
"MOTHER" ,"YO MAMA" AS TERMS OF ABUSE
WEST AFRICAN LANGUAGES THAT OFTEN INFLUENCE AMERICAN IDIOMS
HAUSA
VAl
MANDINGO*
WOLOF*
*Especially Prevalent Usages
(SlIDE
11: DIFFUSION OF RAP)
ORIGIN AND DIFFUSION OF RAP MUSIC AMONG URBAN CENTERS
DATE
URBAN CENTERS
1977
1978
BRONX (pRIMARILY SOUTH BRONX)
HARLEM
QUEENS?
BROOKLYN?
DOWNTOWN PHILADELPHIA
DOWNTOWN MANHATTAN
LOS ANGELES
MIAMI
HOUSTON
SEATTLE
SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA
1978-79
1981
1982-83
TYPICALLY, 2-3 YEARS AFTER THE INITIAL INTRODUCTION OF RAP (ABOVE),
LOCAL RECORD LABELS WOULD SIGN ACTS FROM THESE AREAS. 5-6 YEARS
AFTER INTRODUCTION OF RAP, LOCAL ACTS WOULD SIGN WITH NATIONAL
RECORD LABELS.
(SLIDE 10: MAJOR RAP STYLES)
MAJOR RAP "STYLES"
BOAST RAP - ORIGINAL RAP FORM, DERIVATIVE OF TOASTING,
ETC.
SOCIALLY ORIENTED RAP - ADDRESSES SOCIAL ISSUES AND PROBLEMS
"LITE" RAP - HAS FUN WITH EVERYDAY SITUATIONS
"GLAD" RAP - PREACHES NON-MATERIALISTIC
CONFRONTATIONAL STYLE
VALUES, USES NON-
"GANGSTA" RAP - A DERIVATIVE OF SOCIALLY ORIENTED RAP, PROMOTES
AGGRESSIVE RESISTANCE TO ANY FORM OF OPPESSION
(SliDE 14: TIIEODOR ADORNO)
THEODOR ADORNO
FRANKFORT SCHOOL SOCIAL CRITIC
OFfEN CONCERNED WITH ROLE OF MUSIC IN MODERN CULTURE
TRANsmON FROM "SERIOUS" MUSIC TO "POPULAR" MUSIC INVOLVES
THE LOSS OF "ENGAGEMENT" - BEING CHALLENGED BY THE
ACTIVITIES WE UNDERTAKE - A DE-SKILLING OF THE MUSIC
LISTENER TAKES PLACE
"PACKAGING" PROCESS OF POPULAR MUSIC - LONG, INVOLVED MUSIC
WORKS ARE REDUCED TO HIGHLY CONSUMABLE, PREDIGESTED,
THREE MINUTE CHUNKS OF REPETmVE BEATS AND PHRASES.
ARGUES THAT ENGAGEMENT PROCESS IS WHAT MAKES LIFE MOST
WORTH LIVING
(SLIDE 15: SOCIAL CRITIQUE OF RAP)
SOCIAL CRITIQUE OF RAP
RAP MUSIC LISTENERS
DE-SKILLING AND DISENGAGEMENT PROCESS OCCURS WITH RAP MUSIC
BECAUSE RAP INVOLVES EXTRACTING THE MOST CONSUMABLE
PORTIONS OF ALREADY CONDENSED POPULAR MUSIC.
RAP MUSIC PRACTITIONERS
DE-SKILLING PROCESS TAKES PLACE AMONG PRACTITIONERS OF RAP
AS WELL, BECAUSE KNOWLEDGE OF TURNTABLE OPERATION AND
LYRIC WRITING SEEMS TO BE DIMINISHING AS MORE AND MORE
RAPPERS ARE BEING GIVEN PRE-MANUFACTURED MUSIC AND LYRICS
BY RECORD COMPANY "MACHINES".
RAP LYRICS
RAP LYRICS SEEM TO PROVIDE THE MOST IMPORTANT POSSIBILITIES
FOR RAP. MANY OF RAP'S SOCIALLY RELEVANT LYRICS DO ENGAGE
US AND MAKE US THINK ABOUT OUR SOCIETY. THE EASILY
CONSUMMABLE MUSIC AIDS IN DISSEMINATING THESE MESSAGES.