Jazz Roots of Hip Hop

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Alex Faultersack History of Jazz 4/16/12 Jazz Roots in Hip Hop In the 1980’s, after decades of being the premium of American music, the jazz community experienced a rapid decline and split. Passing its prime during the 70’s, jazz began to divide into sub genres. By the 1990’s the music scene was introduced to jazz-fusion, smooth jazz, acid jazz, nu jazz, and jazz rap. Purists regarded the sub genres as a watered down form of their classic music. This fall from American attention also led to a new form of music that was just developing in the streets of New York City during the same time period, a new form of music that derives from the same culture, spirit, and same principles as jazz music. A form of music that in time became accepted and integrated into the jazz community. This form of music was Hip Hop. Growing up amidst terrible discrimination within society, many African American’s channeled their pain and suffering into a musical movement. In the 20’s this music was Jazz. In the 80’s America saw the same urban African American culture embrace the hip hop movement. Similar in many respects with their secular themes, improvisation, polyrhythm, and use of call-and-response, hip hop became the new way to express the struggles while carrying on the tradition style of African American music. One of the most visible examples of hip hop’s roots in jazz is the basis of the art form, the beat. Hip hop originated when New York DJ’s began isolating the percussion breaks on funk and rock records. Pioneering DJ’s such as Grand Master Flash, Africa Bambataa, DJ Jazzy J started scratching jazz and jazz funk records creating a new sound with immense energy. DJ’s and hip hop producers have always gravitated to jazz records for their richness and flexibility due majorly to jazz’s instrumental based structure. This makes a song ideal for sampling. In its early days

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