Hip-Hop remains controversial. Its emergence onto the music scene reminded me of reactions to gospel, the blues as well as jazz when they exploded into Western culture. Ironically, each of these genres like Hip-Hop is grounded in the African oral tradition. The drums, an essential instrument in African music resonate in each of these musical genres. In Hip-Hop the drums, i.e. the "drum" or "sound" machine known as an 808 is a "must have" for most.
provides a detailed narrative of surrounding environments. So, as we journey along with this montage of folks who have identified contributions as well as hear from some of the originators of hip-hop, I'd like to know - what have you learned that you didn't know?
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