Study Notes on Chapter 20: Underground Hip Hop

CHAPTER 20: Underground Hip Hop: A Critical Consideration of Subgenre and Scene(s)

Author: Anthony Kwame Harrison
Context: This chapter captures a historical moment in hip-hop where there was ambition to return to its original roots as a culturally centered and community-oriented movement. It discusses the emergence of underground hip hop and its significance within the broader spectrum of hip-hop culture.

Introduction

  • The chapter outlines a specific period within the 50-year history of hip-hop, where advocates envisioned a revival of hip-hop’s culturally centered and community-driven essence.
  • The rise of underground hip hop is presented as a technologically enhanced movement still echoing in contemporary hip-hop through:
    • “Dusty but digital” sonic decisions of producers.
    • Ubiquitous artist-released mixtapes flooding the market.
    • Countless tributaries and scenes within the hip-hop community.
  • Underground hip hop embodies a collection of expressive practices, attitudes, and political inclinations layered within the term "hip hop."
  • The origins of hip hop stem from African diasporic communities, often outside mainstream cultural paradigms.

Roots of Hip-Hop

  • Commonly believed to have originated at Cindy Campbell’s back-to-school party in the South Bronx in 1973, featuring DJ Kool Herc.
  • Four primary elements form the foundation of hip-hop culture:
    • Emceeing: Spoken-word aspect.
    • Deejaying: The musical element.
    • Break(danc)ing: The bodily movement aspect, often preferred to be referred to as breaking or b-boying/b-girling.
    • Graffiti writing: The visual arts component.
  • DJ Kool Herc is credited for introducing the “merry-go-round” technique in deejaying, emphasizing the playing of breakdown sections of records, which became foundational to hip-hop music.

Hip Hop's Mainstreaming and Crossover

  • Exact timelines for hip hop's crossover from subculture to mainstream vary. Key milestones include:
    • 1979: Sugarhill Gang's Rappers Delight marked an entry point into the music industry.
    • 1980s: Development of hip-hop’s visibility through daytime talk shows, commercials, and notable performances in Super Bowl halftime shows.
    • The Golden Age of hip hop is commonly cited as spanning the late 1980s to early 1990s, characterized by rich diversity and creativity in musical aesthetics.
  • 1988 is deemed a pivotal year in hip hop history due to significant album releases and the premiere of regular rap programming on MTV.
  • By the early 1990s, rap music became commonplace on commercial radio and Billboard charts.

Emergence of Underground Hip Hop

  • With hip hop's commercial success, the concept of “underground hip hop” began emerging as a distinct subgenre.
  • Key areas of focus in the chapter:
    • Reasons for the emergence of underground hip hop in the mid-to-late 1990s.
    • The self-definition of underground communities in contrast to mainstream hip hop.
    • Factors contributing to the movement's eventual dissipation.
  • Local, translocal, and virtual music scenes fostered the rise of underground hip hop.

Understanding "The Underground"

  • The term underground serves as a metaphor to contrast with mainstream cultural narratives, suggesting marginality, alternative identities, and a clandestine existence.
  • Historical roots of underground music stretch back to the post-war proliferation of popular culture, often linked with anti-establishment and nonconformity movements of the 1960s.
  • The availability of affordable music production technologies in the 1970s significantly empowered artists to create independently, fostering a sense of underground spirit.
  • The growing presence of college radio offered a platform for emerging musical expressions, creating a significant alternative subculture.

Punk Rock as a Model

  • Punk rock serves as a model for understanding underground scenes, characterized by:
    • A Do-It-Yourself (DIY) ethic.
    • Rejection of mainstream accolades in favor of independence and self-reliance.
  • The interplay of race, class, and power dynamics within punk reflects similar characteristics in underground hip hop.

Cultural and Historical Contexts

  • The roots/routes metaphor links underground music with themes of migration and cultural agencies prominent in the African American experience and diaspora.
  • Sampling practices within hip hop exemplify how underground hip hop connects with its cultural roots, leading to musical poly-rhythms and influences.
  • Imani Perry's insight indicates that hip hop's identity as Black music is informed by America's complex relationship with it, revealing contradictions between commercial success and underground origins.
  • Defining underground hip hop becomes complex, often subject to individual interpretations and socio-political contexts.

Arrival and Evolution of Underground Hip Hop

  • Scholars suggest underground hip hop as a subgenre emerged in the mid-1990s, with increasing discourse around authenticity in hip hop culture.
  • The Golden Age, characterized by creativity and diversity, highlighted the emergence of varied styles of rap, yet it was followed by significant transformations as commercial pressures influenced hip hop's direction.
  • This transition resulted in the popularity of alternative styles coexisting alongside original hip-hop aesthetics, ultimately fostering underground tendencies.

Underground's Tenets and Authenticity Claims

  • Authenticity plays a critical role in delineating underground from commercial hip hop. Characteristics of authenticity include:
    • Emphasizing lyrical and performance integrity over market-driven imagery.
    • Prioritization of conscious content against mainstream violence and materialism.
    • Increasing importance of community and grassroots participation.
  • Notable compilations released in 1997 served to galvanize underground hip hop and educate listeners about its existence, cultivating interest amid hip-hop's mainstream trajectory.
  • Freestyling and improvisational performance became pivotal measures of talent, differentiating underground artist practices.
  • Recognition of all four hip-hop elements helped reinforce connections to hip hop’s original cultural community.

Trends in Underground Hip Hop

  • The internet played a monumental role in the fan-to-artist pipeline in underground hip hop, allowing fans to transition into artists, thereby expanding production roles.
  • Local bases of production and the DIY aspect contributed to underground's grassroots origins.
  • Key local scenes emerged in:
    • New York,
    • Bay Area,
    • Los Angeles, with each community's unique contributions enriching the underground movement.

Challenges and Oversaturation

  • As underground hip hop proliferated, so did the number of artists, leading to significant challenges in visibility and quality control.
  • Simplex structures emerged, where established groups monopolized resources and visibility, hindering access for new artists.
  • Competing for space in retail, radio, and promotional mediums became increasingly complex and competitive.

Legacy of Underground Hip Hop

  • The legacy of underground hip hop remains contested, with some arguing its essence has diminished in the face of digital accessibility and oversaturation of music.
  • While underground spaces evolved with the digital age, the core principles of grassroots independence and community connection began to fade.
  • Scholars reflect on whether the perceived decline of the underground effectually correlates with changes in the music industry and artists' identities amidst institutional pressures.
  • A gradual attitudinal shift within the music landscape posed challenges to maintaining the unique characteristics that garnered underground hip hop its original allure.

References

  • The chapter references a broad array of sources shedding light on hip hop's evolution, subcultural dynamics, and socio-political commentary relating to race and genre, including seminal texts spanning musicology and cultural studies.