Hip Hop Celebration Day in the United States Date in the current year: August 11, 2024

Hip hop music is the most popular genre of music in the United States. It originated in the Bronx borough of New York City in the 1970s. Inner-city African Americans and Latin Americans were the driving force behind the development of the genre.

August 11, 1973 is generally considered the birthday of hip hop music. On this day, Jamaican-American DJ Kool Herc threw a block party in Bronx to raise money to buy back-to-school clothes for his sister. During the party, the used two record players to extend an instrumental beat of a record to let people dance longer. He also began emceeing (rapping) during these extended breaks. His performance at the party was what laid the foundation of hip hop music.

The terms “hip hop” and “rap” are sometimes used interchangeably. However, “hip hop” is a broader term; it refers to hip hop music and a wider culture and art movement that includes hip hop music, DJing, breakdancing, graffiti, fashion, and other elements. Whereas “rap” or “rapping” is one the key elements of hip hop.

For the first two years, hip hop music was performed live at house and block parties, but it was not officially recorded, largely due to the poverty of the neighborhoods it originated in. The Sugarhill Gang’s “Rapper’s Delight”, recorded and released in 1979, is widely regarded as the first hip hop song to reach a mainstream audience. However, some regard the Flatback Band’s “King Tim III (Personality Jock)”, released several months earlier, as the first rap record.

The subgenre of hip hop music now known as old school hip hop developed between 1979 and 1983. Then it began to diversify under the influence of other music genres such as disco, electro and dub. The second wave of hip hop music, known as new school hip hop, was at its peak in 1983-1986.

The period between the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s is considered the golden age of hip hop. During that decade, hip hop music became mainstream and was noted for its quality, diversity, innovation and influence. It was then that hardcore rap, gangsta rap, G-funk and other prominent genres of rap music originated. The golden are of hip hop is also remembered for the East Coast vs West Coast rivalry.

Although the golden era of hip hop is long gone, hip hop music is as popular as ever. Since the late 1990s, the genre has gone through commercialization, the rise of alternative hip hop, and development of new styles. The rise of streaming platforms in the late 2010s helped launch the careers of a huge number of talented hip hop artists.

During the first five decades of its existence, hip hop has come a long way, transforming form an underdog genre of poor neighborhoods into the most popular musical genre in the United States. Given its important role in American culture and art, it is nor surprising that the Senate unanimously proclaimed the birthday of hip hop — August 11 — Hip Hop Celebration Day.