Can't Stop Won't Stop (Young Adult Edition): A Hip-Hop History

“Youthful energies had turned. Gangs had begun dissolving, turfs were disintegrating. The new kids coming up were obsessed with flash, style, sabor. If the gangs once had made people afraid of being on the street, a new generation would find their release in block parties under the afternoon sun or evening moonlight. Give them an apocalypse, and they would dance.”

As hip-hop music began to develop in the Bronx led by various crews, such as DJ Kool Herc and Afrika Bambaataa, youth in gangs began turning their attention away from gang life and toward the music. Rather than competing for turf or using violence, kids found new ways to compete with each other through MCing and b-boying/b-girling. The block parties that birthed the hip-hop culture would do more than that—they would unite a divided youth.

“Herc had stripped down and let go of everything, save the most powerful basic elements—the rhythm, the motion, the voice, the name. Hip-hop was on its way.”

DJ Kool Herc is credited with being the man who created hip-hop in its original form. He and his sister Cindy Campbell hosted a block party in their apartment complex, and DJ Kool Herc noticed the crowd seemed to become more energized during the breaks of the songs he would play. He manipulated the records to play in succession, one break after another, and hip-hop, a simple yet energetic and powerful musical style, was born.

“He mixed up breaks from Grand Funk Railroad and the Monkees with Sly and James and Malcolm X speeches. He played salsa, rock, and soca with the same enthusiasm as soul and funk. He eclipsed the other DJs as the most renowned programmer in the borough. He became known as the Master of Records, a sound shaman who had hundreds of hard-rocks dancing to his global musical mash-up of Kraftwerk, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, the Pink Panther theme, the Rolling Stones, and the Magic Disco Machine. The party was a place to move the body, the mind, and the soul.”

Afrika Bambaataa grew up in the Bronx like DJ Kool Herc and was inspired by Herc to create his own hip-hop crew The Zulu Nation. Bambaataa’s hip-hop brought new techniques to the genre as he mixed all different kinds of music together. His music also united Black and white youth, as both the punk rockers and hip-hoppers could identify with and enjoy it. Bambaataa’s parties were all about uniting the youth of the Bronx and, hopefully, the world. He wanted to break down the barriers between gangs and invited rival gangs to his parties, insisting they remain peaceful while attending. His parties became a place where youth could let go of their worries and rivalries.

“But invisibility was its own kind of reward; it meant you had to answer to no one except the others who were down. It meant you became obsessed with showing and proving, distinguishing yourself and your originality above the crowd. It put you on a relentless quest to prove to them that you were bigger, wilder, and bolder than the circumstances dictated you should ever be, to try to generate something from nothing, something no one else had, until everyone around you had to admit that you had something they might never have, something that might even make other people—big, important people—stand up and take notice themselves, offer you money, give you power, or try to crush your very soul. That was the key to having style.”

In the Bronx, the youth who created hip-hop were not doing it for the world stage. They were not doing it for anyone on the outside. They were doing it for themselves. In the 1970s, the world had not yet heard of hip-hop, and the kids of the Bronx had a sort of exclusive culture that was free from outside rules and established norms. Kids had new ways of proving themselves and establishing who they were. Creativity and originality were celebrated, which drove youth to shift their focus away from gangs and toward music. Eventually, this sheer originality did get noticed by people with money and power, and hip-hop took over the world.

“Homely letters grew outlines, colors, patterns, highlights, depth, shadows, arrows. Names were bubblized, gangsterized, mechanized. Letters dissected, bisected, cross-sected, fused, bulged, curved, dipped, clipped, chipped, and disintegrated. They filled with shooting stars, blood drips, energy fields, polygons. They floated on clouds, zipped with motion lines, shot forward on flames. And they got bigger and bigger. Expanding from window-downs to top-to-bottom to end-to-ends, the pieces began appearing as dazzling thematic murals by 1974, covering entire sides of twelve-foot-high, sixty-foot-long cars.”

The creative spirit of hip-hop culture shone through in other ways beyond music. Graffiti art was a way for artists to build a reputation, show how daring and artistic they were, and to spread beauty. All sorts of new writing styles emerged out of graffiti that are still in use today. The most well-known of these is bubble lettering. Eventually, graffiti evolved beyond tagging into full-blown works of art, many of which spanned entire buildings.

“Style would make you friends, inspire loyalty and devotion, spawn a hundred imitators. It would make you enemies, unleash jealousy and fear, bring down the brute force of authority. The one thing style would never leave you was neutral.”

Style was and still is a major aspect of hip-hop culture. It came out in infinite forms, from dress to b-boying/b-girling to graffiti to music. Style was a way of being in hip-hop—a way of expressing oneself and gaining admiration. This focus on style shifted competition away from violence and turf wars to one of who could move the fastest or come up with the most original lettering. Someone with the best style would also have people who were jealous and wanted to tear them down. Ultimately, style made life interesting.

“Rapping evolved quickly. It could be practiced any place at any time. It was portable with endless possibilities. It was the perfect art form for a generation of youths who had found traditional societal avenues for self-expression all but cut off.”

Black and Latinx youth in the Bronx were invisible to the rest of the country, especially the government, during the 1970s and early 1980s. The neighborhood was half-destroyed during highway development, leaving many people without a home and many more jobless. Youth unemployment was disastrously high. Yet, neither Jimmy Carter nor Ronald Reagan seemed to care or want to act. In fact, Reagan’s policies worsened conditions for Black people in America. Rap was created out of this destruction and evolved and changed almost every day as it developed into a full art form. The youth of the Bronx, who had long been ignored, were finally finding a way to be heard.

“In fifteen minutes, clearly, the whole world had changed.”

With the release of “Rapper’s Delight” by the Sugarhill Gang in 1980, hip-hop was heard by the world. Nothing would be the same from this point on, and hip-hop would only continue to grow in popularity until it surpassed all other musical genres by the end of the 20th century. Although this song was manufactured and the group who sang it did not come from the usual hip-hop background, it served as the catalyst for hip-hop to be thrust into the mainstream due to its catchy and pop-like sound.

“It was morning in Reagan’s America, but as hip-hop spread around the world, it would become the way that millions of young people would express themselves.”

Under President Ronald Reagan, many economic policies were introduced to provide tax cuts to the wealthy, reduce social programs, and inevitably segregate the rich from the poor. Black and Latinx people felt the brunt of these policies and many of the communities were torn apart by gang violence. Despite all these difficulties, hip-hop served as a way for youth to rise above, tell their stories, and express how life in America felt as a Black or Latinx youth.

“FAB 5 FREDDY says, “I once read somewhere that for a culture to really be a complete culture, it should have a music, a dance, and a visual art. And then I realized, wow, all these things are going on. You got the graffiti happening over here, you got the breakdancing, and you got the DJ and MCing thing. In my head, they were all one thing.” FAB understood the history of artistic movements, and he realized that he was right in the middle of and at the start of a big one.”

FAB 5 FREDDY, one of the pioneers of hip-hop culture, began as a graffiti artist in New York in the 1970s. Looking back on his life at that time, he realized he was bearing witness to the creation of an entirely new culture. He did not yet know how big that culture would become, but all the pieces were there. With hip-hop’s breakdancing, DJ/MCing, and graffiti, it was clear that it was in fact its own unique culture.

“Violence was death. Creativity was life. Regardless of what the outsiders thought they saw when they looked at Black youth—and to an extent, many of those in the generation for whom hip-hop spoke—hip-hop was about choosing life in the struggle against oppression and death.”

Through all the destruction caused by gang violence in Black communities across the United States arose a highly creative and empowering culture. Being forced into this life through a lack of social support and employment meant that Black youth had to actively choose to fight against it. Hip-hop made this choice easier because it served as a motivation and a source of life in a dying community. From the time hip-hop went global, it has been a focus of judgment and racism, but the culture itself is quite the opposite.

“Chuck said, ‘Where’s the news about our lives in this country? Whether or not radio plays us, millions of people listen to rap because rap is America’s TV station. Rap gives you the news on all phases of life, good and bad, pretty and ugly: drugs, sex, education, love, money, war, peace—you name it.’”

Chuck D of Public Enemy has always been very outspoken about oppression, racism, and police brutality in America. He noticed that the lives of Black people are rarely if ever discussed or covered by the media unless it is something negative. There was a lack of honesty in the media in its portrayal of Black people, and rap music sought to combat those misconceptions. Public Enemy was banned from several radio stations being considered too controversial, but they knew kids would find a way to listen to it anyway because the music was honest. It showcased the real, everyday lives and struggles of Black youth in America.

“Cube was proud of his rhyme. It was raw and vivid—and it represented the suppressed story of Black Los Angeles, in which generations of migrants from the South had been condemned to segregated neighborhoods, being harassed by police, and having their creativity met with violence.”

When Ice Cube went solo, he worked with Dr. Dre to produce several albums. One of these included the track “The Boyz-N-the Hood,” which they collaborated with Eazy-E on after others refused to rap for it. The track was paired with the movie, and both were highly successful. This song about life in the ghettos of Los Angeles spoke to many people at the time. Black people in Los Angeles were and still are regular victims of police brutality and violence.

“Daude Sherrills added a United Black Community Code, a code of conduct for gang members. It began, “I accept the duty to honor, uphold and defend the spirit of the red, blue and purple, to teach the Black family its legacy and protracted struggle for freedom and justice.” It warned against alcohol and drug abuse and use of the “N-word and B-word,” and even laid down rules of etiquette for flagging and sign-throwing. It called for literacy, school attendance, and voter registration programs, and for community investment.”

In 1990, the Crips and Bloods of Los Angeles, who had long since been at war, decided to sign a peace treaty and end the violence. One of the leaders of this movement, Daude Sherrills, spelled out the new code of conduct for Black youth living in Los Angeles. This new code promised to honor both gangs’ indominable spirit and unite them with purpose. It encouraged youth to avoid drugs and alcohol and to treat each other with respect rather than calling each other derogatory names. The code also encouraged youth to attend school, vote, and invest back into their communities.

“The truth was at stake. Rappers who wanted to make statements about racism and police violence realized that they faced a difficult choice: make money for the big corporations in ways that wouldn’t provoke powerful enemies or fight to protect their freedom of speech.”

By the 1990s, hip-hop was sweeping the world. This was having both positive and negative effects on Black communities, as many saw it as reinforcing stereotypes and misunderstood the messages of the lyrics. Several radio stations, TV networks, and clubs banned rap tracks containing explicit lyrics, and rappers of the era had to decide between staying true to themselves and being honest about where they came from or succumbing to the pressures the people in power were placing on them.

“With their around-the-way-girl vibe and their insistence on expressing their flair, their desires, and their power, they became one of the biggest rap groups of all time. Just as important, Salt-N-Pepa would inspire millions of girls and women with their message of independence, empowerment, and consciousness.”

Salt-N-Pepa were the first female hip-hop group to achieve countrywide popularity and break into the charts. They presented themselves as intelligent, strong, smooth, and stylish, sending the message that women can embrace who they are and be free to express themselves honestly. After managerial abuse, Salt-N-Pepa began producing their own music and became the true example of female independence in hip-hop. They inspired virtually every female hip-hop artist who succeeded them.

“American pop culture was shifting from focusing on the middle-aged to youth, from suburban to urban, from whiteness to Blackness. Hip-hop artists defined the new cool.”

Hip-hop functioned as a voice for the youth at a time when they had none. This was particularly true of Black and Latinx youth, but it can be said for all youth of America. In a country that once placed priority on older white people who live in suburbs, attention was now shifting focus to minorities and young people. Young people, especially those who are minorities, historically are not taken seriously or given political power by those older than them. Hip-hop served as that political power. Rather than waiting for it to be given to them, they created it for themselves.

“Throughout the twentieth century, Black artists made spaces to overcome the legacies of slavery and racial segregation through artistic excellence and cultural expression. They built artistic movements—from the ferment of Harlem Renaissance to the rise of the Southern churches and cultural centers that fueled the Civil Rights Movement to the jazz clubs of New Orleans, Kansas City, and New York City, and the Black Arts theaters, salons, and galleries of Los Angeles, St. Louis, and Chicago. By the 1990s, a new generation had many historical models to create institutions that might advance hip-hop.”

After slavery was abolished, Black people began working to build their own communities and livelihoods. They were forced into segregated neighborhoods and segregated everywhere else as well. When segregation officially ended in the 1960s, it did not mean that Black neighborhoods instantly mixed back with white neighborhoods. Instead, these neighborhoods continue to be segregated and largely neglected. Throughout the past 120 years, Black people have used art and music, including blues, jazz, soul, funk, and hip-hop to break the barriers of segregation, keep themselves in good spirits, and speak up against oppression.

“As time went on, some fans began to express their own identity, sporting leather medallions with Puerto Rican, Mexican, Filipino, or Irish flags. That was hip-hop’s power at its best. Black freedom culture could give voice to those who needed it, that was why it had the power to transform people and society.”

Giving a voice and a source of power to those who are oppressed is the way societies move forward and experience dramatic change. The people who are in power and maintain the status quo do what they can to keep other groups down and themselves at the top. As a result, when minorities finally have an opportunity and a means of speaking up and fighting back, dramatic changes will follow. Hip-hop served as the mechanism for moving toward freedom, and with it came an entire culture that represented freedom, empowerment, and unity. Hip-hop was also not just to give Black people a voice; it was for anyone who felt that they had long been unheard.

“Hip-hop took over the world in three phases. In the first phase, from 1979 through the mid-1980s, the old school pioneers ignited hip-hop scenes with their first records and tours to countries like the United Kingdom, France, and Japan. Then movies like Wild Style and Beat Street sparked more hip-hop outbreaks, even in Communist countries like East Germany. In the second phase, from the late 1980s through the early 1990s, Public Enemy’s tours, especially to Black countries in Africa and South America, started the flowering of hip-hop educational programs and hip-hop activism. By the turn of the millennium, hip-hop was the most influential popular youth culture around the world, fueled both by a global market and a network of vibrant local underground scenes.”

The author summarizes the phases in which hip-hop evolved from a culture in the Bronx to a worldwide youth culture. When it began in the late 1970s, the original masters toured the world and spread the catchy, energetic sounds of hip-hop. This inspired youth in those countries to begin making their own unique hip-hop music. Hip-hop movies came next and showcased rap music in a new way. Because hip-hop was always intertwined with political activism, it also inspired the creation of hip-hop education and many political movements. Today, hip-hop is the most powerful and prominent youth culture that persists both globally and locally.

“Hip-hop was now at the center of global youth culture. For millions of young people, it had gone beyond just music. Hip-hop influenced the way they dressed, talked, even thought about politics. Young people clung to hip-hop as a pure method of expression and began to connect with each other like they never had before. They came to understand themselves through hip-hop as citizens of the world.”

Hip-hop was always more than the music. It was a style of dance, a visual artform, a language, and a way of dressing and being. Through the years, more and more youth around the world identified with and adopted this culture as their own because it seemed to provide something that nothing else could or ever had. Hip-hop also forged many unlikely connections between gangs and individuals who were once foes. Finally, hip-hop in the modern day connects youth to the world scene and gives them a place there.

“Even as hip-hop became mainstream, it remained a voice for the oppressed, and something scary to those in power.”

Hip-hop never lost its original mantra, even after it had been taken advantage of by people in power, changed, criticized, and banned. By the end of the 20th century, hip-hop was the top-selling musical genre, and many of its consumers were white youth. It was officially mainstream, but its edge and its soul remained. In the 2020s, hip-hop has acted as a voice for the oppressed once again in the wake of Black Lives Matter, the death of George Floyd, and violence in schools. It remains a way for young people to say, “We are here, and we will be heard.”

“Rentie’s idea of alrightness described the power of Black freedom culture to move people together, whether to words and beats or for a social cause. In the moment, that feeling of alrightness connected and sustained a community.”

Jerry Rentie invented a dance called The Worm in the late 1960s when he witnessed a Black Panther march and was so inspired by their passion and activism that he just had to dance. This dance evolved into the Boogaloo, a popular style of dance to accompany funk and later hip-hop. This style of dance also helped inspire b-boying/b-girling. There was a certain energy and mood to Jerry’s dance, and it was one of calm, cool, collection in the face of injustice. Jerry’s dance symbolized the power of music to unite people to achieve goals and conquer oppression.