![]() ![]() And so when you can't use your hands, you use your mouth, and we can't use your mouth, you use your body.Īnd that's the beauty of hip-hop. The best form of expression is creative expression. And we can't forget that because there's a group of people who have been historically suppressed. Holler.īut call and response is really important. So if you love us or you like what we say and talk back to us, this is a part of the culture. Oh, and also it's really beautiful because in hip-hop, the call and response, we're a call and response culture. You have The Prophets who come out of Watts. What do you think about that?īOYD-PATES: That's completely true. Because in 1967, a man named Budd Schulberg founded a creative space titled the Watts Writers Workshop.Īnd that was supposed to help folks from the neighborhood have a place where they could express themselves. This is from another historian who said the thing that helped give rise to hip-hop in the West were the Watts riots in 1965. But, I was trying to think back about, how could we define the beginning of hip-hop in the West coast?Īnd one thing came up, Tyree, I want you to tell me what you think about this. Some breaking, some locking.ĬHAKRABARTI: But I keep raising the fact that popularly, we're acknowledging East Coast. Now, I don't wanna make a thing out of this, but East Coast, West Coast.īOYD-PATES: (LAUGHS) We do a locking battle in the middle of the room.įREEMAN: Yes. The anniversary date is coming out in New York.īy the way, I think someone told me that there's some folks, or maybe at least one kind of important person in this audience who's really serious about New York hip-hop. This event is pegged to the 50th anniversary of hip-hop. And dancing was changing, music was changing, like it all happened at once.ĬHAKRABARTI: Yeah. I would say it's one of the most important American stories of the 20th century.ĭAMITA JO FREEMAN: And it was this time when everything was changing. Someone asked me why a while ago, why I was so excited to do this event tonight, and my automatic first answer is that hip-hop is the American story. To why you rap, to why you DJ.īOYD-PATES: No, it's deep, y'all. Because for Black youth, especially out of the '70s and the '80s, when they're coming into their own, after the Civil Rights movement and the Black Power Movement, knowledge of self is the most critical aspect to why you b-boy. ![]() And the emphasis on knowledge is probably the most key. And those five elements comprise of hip-hop culture. ![]() And then the last one, of course, KRS-One would kill me if I didn't say this: is knowledge. Locking is b-boying, MC'ing, DJ'ing, Graffiti. TYREE BOYD-PATES: So there's five points of hip-hop. And our conversation took place before an audience at the Crawford, LAist’s live event venue in Pasadena.Īnd I began by asking Tyree Boyd-Pates to define the most important aspects of hip-hop culture. We partnered with LAist, public radio for Southern California. She helped popularize locking, one of hip-hop’s signature dance styles. Tyree Boyd-Pates is an historian of Black culture, and associate curator at the Autry Museum of the American West.ĭamita Jo Freeman is a groundbreaking dancer, who began her career in 1973 on the legendary television show, Soul Train. So today, on hip-hop’s 50th anniversary, we’re going to bring you a special conversation focusing on the influence of West Coast hip-hop. And now, hip-hop culture is so dominant in American culture, it’s hard to remember a time before the beat was king. Rapping, dancing and DJ'ing gave voice to a new generation of political consciousness in the Black community. He spun top hits from Aretha Franklin and James Brown, but he moved between records in a way that mixed one percussive break into another, removing the lyrics and chorus. Herc stood behind a pair of turn tables and a mixer. They set up in the rec room of a Bronx apartment block.ġ8-year-old Clive was better known as DJ Kool Herc. She asked her older brother, Clive, to provide the music. MEGHNA CHAKRABARTI: On August 11, 1973, Cindy Campbell threw a back-to-school party. Her new memoir is titled, “ Are You that Girl from Soul Train?” Transcript ![]() Associate curator at the Autry Museum of the American West.ĭamita Jo Freeman, original Soul Train dancer and hip-hop pioneer. Tyree Boyd-Pates, historian of Black culture. Today, On Point: How West Coast hip-hop helped shape what's become one of the most dominant cultural forces in the world. This conversation, in partnership with LAist, took place before a live audience at the Crawford, LAist’s live event venue in Pasadena, California.īorn in the Bronx, New York, hip-hop culture soon found some of its most talented, controversial, and politically influential rappers in Los Angeles. ![]()
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