The connection between hip hop and punk music may come as a surprise to some, but it is one that runs deep. Both movements were a reaction to commercialised music and the social climate of the time and embody the same anti-establishment ideals; championing free-thought, rejection of the corporate mass culture, and non-conformity. So when punk rock merged with hip hop in early 1980’s New York, it was a natural progression.
By the mid 1970’s, rock and roll had lost touch with the people. It had become commercially-oriented, radio friendly and increasingly inaccessible to the masses. Successful rock bands were playing at larger venues to tens of thousands of fans with increasingly elaborate set ups and ‘arena rock’ became the norm. The backlash to this began in Britain with the pub rock movement and was led by musicians like Elvis Costello, Joe Strummer and Nick Lowe, who played in bands at small pubs, reverting back to a raw sound that rejected commercialism and spoke to the disaffected youth. Punk rock came soon after.
Times were tough in Britain. Unemployment among young people was high, and dissent among the working class was rife. A number of protest marches and strikes lead to clashes with police, and police racism seemed to be at an all-time high, which lead to rioting and a widening class divide. From this social climate, punk rock was born. Bands like the Sex Pistols and The Clash played in small, poorly lit clubs to crowds who became less like spectators and more like active participants.
Hip hop also stems from a ‘DIY’ culture. It began as an African-American movement in the economically depressed inner city South Bronx neighbourhood in New York City in the late 1970’s. Hip hop music was only one element of the movement, which also encompassed graffiti art and ‘B-Boying’ also known as breakdancing. Like punk music, hip hop music was a reaction to the creeping opulence in popular music; the disco scene particularly. Disco had infiltrated the mainstream by the late 1970’s and was playing in all the New York nightclubs. Studio 54 had opened in Manhattan and was the place to be seen for celebrities. It was a subculture characterised by extravagance and decadence and discotheque-goers often wore expensive, extravagant and sexy fashions.
The disco scene was a contrast to the reality of life in the Bronx. Property values were at a record low, crime and unemployment were high and poverty was widespread. DJs began to play at block parties, sampling percussive breaks of popular songs using two turntables and a DJ Mixer to create ‘breakbeats’. Soon afterwards, rapping developed and MCs would accompany DJs with their lyrical stylings. Artists like DJ Kool Herc, Grandmaster Flash and Afrika Bambaataa were some of the pioneers of hip hop.
The similarities between hip hop and punk did not go unnoticed. In the late 70’s/early 80’s, ‘b-boys’ from the South Bronx were rubbing shoulders with new wave/punk kids in downtown Manhattan. Acts like Grandmaster Flash and Afrika Bambaataa started playing at clubs like the Mudd Club or the Roxy, which were popular with new wave and punk kids. There was a cultural exchange going on. While hip hop was starting to get played in the punk/new wave clubs, punks were given safe passage to the Bronx. This was a big deal and marked the mutual respect between members of both subcultures.
The influence of both subcultures on each other was beginning to be heard in the music. In 1980, while The Clash were in New York recording their fourth album ‘Sandinista!’, Mick Jones and Joe Strummer caught the hip hop bug. The album’s third single ‘The Magnificent Seven,’ with its funky beats and Strummer’s rap about the human machinery of capitalism was one of the first rap songs produced by a rock band, and one of the first instances of a hip hop song with socio-political content.
Blondie’s ‘Rapture,’ which debuted in 1981 and is featured on their album Autoamerican, was ground-breaking for being the first rap video ever broadcast on MTV. Set in the East Village section of Manhattan, the video portrays Blondie frontwoman, Debbie Harry, at a ‘b-boy’ party where Grandmaster Flash is playing. In the song she performs a rap in which she expresses respect for Grandmaster Flash and rapper Fab 5 Freddy, another of hip hop’s pioneers.
Soon afterwards, Afrika Bambaataa collaborated with John Lydon (of the Sex Pistols and Public Image Ltd) on the socio politically charged ‘World Destruction’ and Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five were opening shows for The Clash. After hip hop group Run-D.M.C. broke into the mainstream in 1984, things really took off. Ex punk band Beastie Boys released the first rap album to hit number one on the Billboard album charts with ‘Licensed to Ill.’
Meanwhile, on urban radio and in the hip-hop clubs of New York, new wave hits like Thomas Dolby’s ‘She Blinded me with Science,’ David Bowie’s ‘Let’s Dance,’ and Devo’s ‘Whip It’ were getting plenty of play. Producers from the new wave and punk scenes like Thomas Dolby and Rick Rubin were trying their hand at hip hop production. Both the hip hop and punk/new wave scenes were mixing in a big way, which would break ground for the ongoing influence each would continue to have on the other.
Examples of the fusion of hip hop and punk can be seen going forward. The band Bad Brains mixed reggae, rap and punk to become one of the most influential punk bands of the 1980’s. In 1990, hip hop group A Tribe Called Quest sampled proto-punk Lou Reed’s 1972 classic ‘Walk on the Wild Side,’ for their breakthrough hit, ‘Can I Kick It?’ Most notably, Rage Against the Machine has combined punk and rap to produce some of the most prominent politically charged music of the 1990’s-2000’s. We saw the rise and fall of nu-metal, which combined elements of heavy metal music with hip hop, alternative rock, funk and grunge. It was popular in the late 1990’s, but petered out by the mid 2000’s due to the oversaturation of nu metal bands. More recently we’ve seen bands like Death Grips, who’s experimental brand of hip hop blends elements of punk rock, electronic, noise and industrial music.
The commercialisation of hip hop has led to the overshadowing of its original message by a money hungry, capitalist system. It has become the very thing it began as a reaction against. The richest hip hop stars in 2016, Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs, Andre ‘Dr Dre’ Young and Shawn ‘Jay Z’ Carter, are all worth more than $600m each, with holdings that include a clothing line, a television network, real estate portfolios and a music streaming service. The same can be said of punk to some extent. The richest punk artist is Blink-182 drummer, Travis Barker, clocking in at a net worth of $85m. Incidentally, Barker had a lot of crossover success in hip hop, starting punk rock/rap group, The Transplants with Tim Armstrong from Rancid and Operation Ivy.
Nowadays, the crossover between hip hop and punk tends to be one sided. Writes journalist and hip hop historian Davey D, ‘It’s one sided in the sense that you have rock oriented outlets with a predominantly white audience embracing Hip Hop. However, you will not see similar attempts in many urban outlets that target African American audiences.’
Nowadays, the crossover between hip hop and punk tends to be one sided. Writes journalist and hip hop historian Davey D, ‘It’s one sided in the sense that you have rock oriented outlets with a predominantly white audience embracing Hip Hop. However, you will not see similar attempts in many urban outlets that target African American audiences.’
Before they became commodities, when both the hip hop and punk movements were new and fresh and embodied the same anti-corporate ideals; collaboration was natural. It happened organically. It would be good to see that happen again. To see both movements come full circle and rebel against their own commercialisation. Together in a grass roots, unifying movement. Just like back in 1980’s New York.
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