1980's Subcultures

Hip-Hop



 

 

DJ Kool Herc

Hip-Hop was a well known subculture of the 80's and is still to this day a way of life for some. The origin of Hip-Hop came to exist because of Jamaican born DJ Kool Herc who would loop and sample music for people to dance to. Above is a flyer for one of the first Hip-Hop  basement party's.





Hip-Hop was a response to the violence that was plaguing the NY Bronx the idea behind it was that gang violence could be turned into creative energy and it did as gangs began to break dance instead of attacking each other. The lyrics of Early Hip-Hop was a way for the rapper to focus on social issues that they faced a good example of this is a song called "The Message" by Grand Master Flash & The Furious 5

Hip-Hop became more internationally know through various films such as "Do the right thing" which focused on the lifestyle of people in the Hip-Hop subculture, "Wild Style"which shows figures from the early hip hop culture, and activities such as MCing, Djing, graffiti and breaking.

 

 As well as DJing Beat boxing was another emerging style in the Hip-Hop Scene which involves making a percussive sound with your mouth. One of the early known Beat boxers was Biz Markie

DJ Afrika Bambata

Biz Markie

The fashion for the 1980s Hip-Hop follower was an Adidas tack suit shell toe ,trainers a rope chain, and kangol hats the group above known as Run DMC were probably the best known for this style.