"50th Anniversary of Hip Hop Music" (Introduction of 5 decades and counting)

 

 

 

Female hip hop artist Megan The Stallion, Nicki Minaj, Doja Cat, Cardi B, Trina, Latto new generation of hip hop artists 

 

If it weren't for hip-hop music these artists wouldn't have been able to make a contribution to their city (New York City) and leave a legacy. Create awareness in society

Dreams come true 3 young men from Hollis, Queens would become international stars and recognized where they came from too.

Just a few artists who paved the way from the West Coast

June is Black Music Appreciation Month so celebrating this month and the anniversary of hip-hop

5 boroughs in NYC then crossover control and world takeover

Five boroughs in New York City started a musical genre that transformed and took over the entire world and would affect the 7 continents, affect all people, musical sounds, even the instruments themselves around the world. Influencing fashion, business, real estate, jewelry trends, car trends, even language how we communicate to each other. For example, “What’s up my G?”, “Oh you a playa hater”, “That’s Stupid”, “That’s Fire”, “That’s Wassup”, “That’s the Bomb”, “No Cappin’”, “Cuffin’”, “That’s aThirst Trap”, or “That’s LIT”. 5 melting pots called boroughs in New York City led to storytellers, rappers, songwriters, producers to define an entire generation of hip-hop. 

The first borough “The Bronx” is the borough where hip hop was found and born 50 years ago, August 1973 when one dee-jay took out a boombox and a musical moment in history started. Do you remember that movie, “Brown Sugar”? It came out back in 2002 it starred Taye Diggs and Sanaa Lathan…do you remember the main character, Sidney “Syd” Shaw she was a young journalist who later became the female editor in chief of “XXL Magazine” who fell in love with hip-hop as a little girl along with her childhood friend “Dre”. 

 I would consider myself similar and the real life “Sidney Shaw” my name is Chloe Riccardo a young girl who fell in love with not just hip-hop but music in general. “Sidney Shaw” went to all of the forefathers, the pioneers of deejaying of the late 70s, the 80s, 90s, and 2000s. She asked them all “When did you fall in love with hip-hop?” 

 That’s the question I am asking everyone including myself…I remember vividly that time. My generation got so lucky we didn’t just hear hip-hop music on the radio, buying tapes, CDs, or eventually later streaming. We also had the opportunity to see music videos, to watch the songwriter’s lives, to see how they started from the very beginning then watch the transformation of where they were currently in their lives. If you had three networks in your house BET, VH1, and MTV in your house growing up in the 1980s you were able to see all of the hip-hop recording artists influence and begin the hip-hop generation. So when did I fall in love with hip-hop music. I had to be around five or six years old probably listening to MC Hammer first, then later TLC one of the biggest international groups actually was one of the first groups who had both R&B and hip-hop influences in their song lyrics in the early 1990s I heard on the radio where R&B was also infused with hip-hop music. 

I grew up with my mom taking me to work with her as a young woman in her late twenties, thirties, and so forth. My mom exposed me to the world of R&B and hip-hop even further. I didn’t just get to listen to the music on the radio. I got to see the actual artists in person at live concerts, I got to see how the business was ran behind the scenes too. I witnessed the people in one of the number one radio markets, New York City take hip-hop from its infancy to a full-grown beast ready to take over the entire world. I remember sitting in the lobby waiting for my mother to come meet me at the front receptionist’s desk at Hot 97’s office in down New York on Hudson Street. 

When my mother told me, she got the job offer this was around September 1998 I was in Catholic school in seventh grade and she called me to tell me she was going to go in a new direction. She was going to leave WBLS 107.5 and a new station Hot 97 was calling her to start a new senior account executive role in the promotional, sales, and accounting department. That time while she was there from (1998-2004). 

I loved going up there as a child because I would get a chance to see Hip-Hop music the chameleon, the evolving temptress that continues to evolve he started out and went through some dark stages, like all of us he started out fun, innocent, sweet, naïve in a positive way. I was literally watching the behind the scenes journey of the music industry. 

 

Then he took a change, he went through some transformations in the 1970s, the 1980s he became edgier, more rock & roll influence, pop based, gold chains, Adidas sneakers, dancers maneuvering the bodies on the floor to beats being scratched by deejays. 

The 1990s he became bolder in his ‘twenties’ experimenting with harder, thumping, rugged, beats. Sampling from past heroes from generations before him to create hits, become more evolved, telling stories that would make you more introspective, conscious, tales of struggle, hurt, disappointment, harm, even stories where you rise from the ashes and become something greater again. 

Hip Hop has what we all resonate with as a whole society and can gain a connection, healing, teach you about strife and fight, survival, encouragement, uplift, heal, we feel love, joy, sadness, but then we bounce back and celebrate where we all come from. Some of my favorite hit songs over the years you might be surprised gave me a boost of confidence, of course I wanted to always have a good time, dance, party, emulate the artists, but they taught me not only about the recording artist’s journey, their life story, the time period, the issues they faced, it made me feel a sense of hope about the present time and where we could progress in the future too. 

It inspired me that you can make a way in life out of any difficult situation too. I remember when I officially moved and came to live in Jersey City with my mom in the summer of 1997. The very first album I started blasting was “No Way Out” by Puff Daddy & The Family, my father is a huge Notorious BIG fan, him being originally from “Bed-Stuy” Brooklyn it was engrained in me. 

It just so happened that my stepfather who worked in the music industry bought home the album. He bought home music frequently one of the perks of being a part of Sony/Columbia/Epic Records. This became my musical education early. One of the first gifts of music he gave me was a Sony CD Walkman player. I fell in love with it always blasting my music everywhere. Imagine a skinny 5 feet 4 inch 10 year old girl with glasses walking to her Catholic school blasting her hip-hop music.  This was the fall of 1997 when I first started really diving into the music itself. I remember attending one of my first concerts the Bad Boy and the Family World Tour. I developed my passion not only for hip-hop music but all music. 

I was that girl walking around my neighborhood with my music blasting. I learned to love hip-hop hearing stories from Biggie, Tupac, Diddy, Eminem, Snoop Dogg, Dre, and so many. I was always in love with hip hop but this took everything to a new level for me as a kid. Especially when I got into my middle school and high school years. I was able to connect with more people who shared that same of love music too. I realized a lot of my classmates, people my age, and my peers did too. The late nineties took a huge role for me when it came to hip-hop music. I think this is also the time when hip-hop music went to a different level. They were influencing pop culture and crossing over into different music genres but also branching off into different business opportunities. Hip-hop as a whole was taking over influencing people to branch off into films, television as actors/actresses, merchandise was expanding, and hip-hop was expanding itself. I saw a shift in hip-hop people went from wearing Kangol hats, Adidas, gold chains to shiny suits, diamond encrusted chains that can spin, people dancing on yachts, in huge mansions, high tech images. Hip Hop grew up in the nineties elevating taking us on a full-fledged transformation. I remember my stepdad joking saying at one point as a kid I wanted a Chanel purse. 

He realized I had been listening to a lot of hip hop and Lil’Kim lyrics. He saw the influence on me,  his own children and his family as well. During the time people had so much to discuss not only about material wealth. Hip hop artists evolving into activism, creating conscious rap music, telling their own personal stories from childhood to adulthood. Activism created awareness for listeners because it allowed them to decipher on how their neighborhood, how they wanted their world to make changes for progression. 

 I also want to discuss the political side/controversial side of hip-hop music affected censorship, even the white house was affected, this when in the nineties, “Parental Advisory” label was created in the late 1980s but it wasn’t just hip-hop music that was affected so was pop, rock & roll music was impacted. It was beneficial for all people, lifestyles, and different point of views. This was created as a way to protect and block mainly children from seeing the images parents/guardians to expose their children and teens at an early age. Hip-hop has always had a controversial side with many social groups because they often don’t just see it as a form of artistic expression. 

They also can see an impact on people it can have on a younger generation, it can change their mentality, viewpoint as well. Nonetheless, in the end it’s really about broadening the view and perspective for all people when they listen to hip-hop/rap music and view videos online streaming and television. Hip-Hop has affected business not just the music and entertainment industry. It has affected every single industry. Real estate you ever notice those large houses in music videos with the poolside pool in the backyard and the "Lambo" (Lamborghini) sitting in the garage? Shout out to the real estate agents and lenders who allow hip-hop/rap artists to shoot their videos with some of these rentals. 

So yes if it wasn’t for hip-hop elevating and going to the next level. We wouldn’t see it reach the highest potential. 50 years it’s elevated all the way up. The jewelry industry was impacted with people buying “grillz” which is big in the south, the long chains, the earrings, and more. People shouting out “Jacob the Jeweler” in every other rap song or him appearing in a cameo of a music video. Hip Hop has gone through a glamorized phase, but also a huge entrepreneurial phase now too. It has evolved where every recording artist has expanded themselves into full-fledged business men and women. They are now moguls, CEOs, owning production companies, their own record labels becoming independent, passing down the torch to their children, appearing on reality television series like Reverend Run on “Run’s House”, One of Master P’s son, Romeo Miller who has appeared in films and reality television series, Brother Love/Diddy/Puff Daddy passing down the torch creating groups, “Da Band”, “Day 26, “Danity Kane”, and “Dirty Money”.

 Or watching artist like Lil'Kim on reality television series and films. Or Cardi B appearing on reality television shows blowing up as a social media personality, and then making her mark in hip-hop. You cannot deny the way that hip hop has gone on to this incredible evolution that has changed millions of lives. It didn’t just change the life of the recording artist, the solo artist, or group. It also impacted five decades of the music business, the television industry, interns (me and the other interns included), it affects the crew of people they work with even those they first started with or were discovered by too. Hip Hop is so massive and global I may have to split my blog posts into 6 parts just to commemorate the entire impact all around the world even in other countries just to really showcase the love of the music genre to the listeners and viewers. So, this will be my formal introduction and then I will dive in deeper going by decades of the beginning in the 1970s to its current state in 2023. I am going to divide this into 6 parts until the actual anniversary celebration in August. I hope all of you will enjoy this journey and of course I have some music for you to go back down memory lane. For the younger generations get ready to learn something new, some new music, the stories behind the songs, and the artist.