Beyond the Moves: The Fashion and Music of Hip Hop Dance

Fashion and Music of Hip Hop Dance

TL;DR; Hip Hop, originating in the Bronx in the 1970s, transcends a mere music genre to encompass an entire cultural movement. It emerged from impoverished, overlooked communities as a means of self-expression and entertainment, particularly for African American and Latino youth. DJ Kool Herc, often called the "Father of Hip Hop," played a pivotal role by using dual turntables to loop instrumental "breaks" in songs, creating continuous danceable beats at block parties.

The culture is characterized by four main elements: DJing, MCing (rapping), B-boying (breakdancing), and graffiti art. Hip Hop dance is a unique street style with fast-paced, rhythmic movements like bounces, breaks, popping, and locking. Hip Hop fashion has also evolved significantly, from the athletic tracksuits and sneakers with gold jewelry favored by breakdancers in the 70s and 80s (like Run-D.M.C. and their iconic Adidas wear), to the oversized denim and baggy clothes popularized by artists like Tupac Shakur in the 90s. Today, Hip Hop continues to be a global phenomenon, influencing music, fashion, and language, while also serving as a platform for social commentary and awareness.

Beyond the Moves: The Fashion and Music of Hip Hop Dance

While we’ve seen many different musical genres emerge over the last few decades, many would argue that none have been as influential or poignant than Hip Hop.

Today, Hip Hop is synonymous with the music industry and has been responsible for some of the biggest names in music history. Tupac Shakur, Ice Cube, LL Cool J, Dr Dre, Eminem, Mary J. Blige, Missy Elliot, Snoop Dogg, Jay Z, Lauryn Hill, and so many more, will all go down in history as just some of the biggest names in Hip Hop history.

Hip Hop, though, transcends both music and dance, and is so much more. For many, it’s not only a way of life, it’s a culture and has origins that go back more than half a century.

Here’s a look at the fashion, music, and dance of Hip Hop and how they help transform humble block parties in the Bronx into a global juggernaut and cultural phenomenon.

Hip Hop Dance

Before we can take a trip back in time to learn all about the origins of Hip Hop, we’re first going to learn more about Hip Hop dance in general.

Hip Hop is synonymous with many things, including music and a distinct style of fashion. It’s also however, synonymous with a very unique style of dance that has influenced countless other dance styles over the years.

Hip Hop dance is a unique style of street dance characterized by rhythmic, often fast-paced dancing, bounces, breaks, rocking, jerking, popping, and locking, all performed to Hip Hop music. It is most commonly associated with African American communities, with its origins being traceable back to the 1970s.

Although it is referred to in the singular, this form of dancing can actually fall under a wide range of different categories of dance and cultural elements, including Breakdancing and Graffiti art.

A Bronx Tale

While Hip Hop is now an everyday part of modern culture for many, there was once a time where this unique and unusual lifestyle was largely unknown. Its origins can be traced back to the 1970s, in a part of New York known as The Bronx.

During the 1970s, The Bronx had a reputation for being a rough neighborhood and a difficult part of the country to grow up in. It was impoverished, underfunded, and overlooked. The area was rife with unemployment, drug use, gang activity, crime, and poverty. Put simply, it was a dangerous place to live.

The Bronx was largely home to minorities, including Latinos and African Americans. It’s safe to say that they were failed, not only by the system, but society as a whole. They were considered social outcasts and were forced to survive by themselves, by any means necessary. As a way of coping with the harshness of such a deprived area, many of the locals would create their own entertainment and find different ways of expressing themselves.

Certain individuals, particularly youngsters, began dressing, dancing, and speaking in a unique way. At community gatherings, block parties were held. These social gatherings were typically held outdoors and would require entire roads and streets to be closed off to allow people to party. Of course, no party is complete without music, and often, local DJs would play music to entertain the guests.

One man in particular, is credited with playing an integral role in the rise of Hip Hop, a man known as DJ Kool Herc. DJ Kool is referred to as the ‘Father of Hip Hop’ thanks to his DJ’ing. He would use dual turntables to isolate and then loop the ‘breaks’ of songs now known as Hip Hop songs. Breaks, incidentally, are basically the catchiest and most danceable parts of a song. This technique would create continuous beats that got guests the most fired up. It allowed them to dance for longer, and to put more energy into their performances as they were so hyped up.

This gradually evolved from a trend to a cultural movement. It became known as Hip (Present) and Hop (Action).

Hip Hop Fashion Through the Years

It isn’t just the music and dancing that Hip Hop is known for. Hip Hop also has its own unique style of fashion that has evolved a great deal over the years yet remained true to its roots.

In the 1970s, breakdancing was an integral part of Hip Hop. Breakdancing is a highly expressive form of dance famous for its fast-flowing body movements, freezes, rocking, acrobatic and athletic movements. It was usually performed to the musical breaks in songs and has since gone on to become an Olympic Sport!

Breakdancing was considered extremely “cool” and “trendy” as it was all about expressing your individuality, not only through how you danced, but also by how you dressed. Breakdancers would typically dress athletically and would wear tracksuits and sneakers, with the addition of gold jewelry such as rings and oversized chains and necklaces.

Adidas and Puma, two of the world’s most iconic sportswear brands, were often the brands of choice for breakdancers. Hip-Hop icons such as Run-D.M.C were often seen dressed head to toe in Adidas. They even released a song titled ‘My Adidas’ so you can see what an influence this German sportswear brand had on the group.

As their stock grew, breakdancers, ‘b-boys’, or ‘breakers’ as they were also known, would emulate their heroes and would dress similarly. Just as a ballet dancer would wear a leotard, a breakdancer would wear an Adidas tracksuit and sneakers.

Converse is another brand which is now widely associated with the rise of Hip Hop. Converse Chuck Taylor All Star sneakers were probably the third-most popular choice of footwear for Hip Hop dancers, third only to Adidas and Puma. This would gradually change into the 80s, with Converse leading the way.

The Chuck Taylor All Stars were originally basketball shoes, and although basketball was a sport with strong links to Hip Hop, it wasn’t just b-ballers that would wear them. They became an icon of the streets and were widely associated with Gangsta’ rap as the Hip Hop movement spread throughout America. To this day, Converse Chuck Taylors still have strong links to this Hip Hop subculture.

By the 90s, Hip Hop was everywhere. The 90s were all about being edgy and expressive and this cultural phenomenon was the perfect fit. It gave birth to the MTV generation, and this was very much reflected in the fashion of many influential Hip Hop artists. Tupac (2Pac) Shakur for example, became associated with fashion designer Karl Kani. Kani’s look was all about oversized denim, baggy jeans, and sweatshirts. He would collaborate with 2Pac numerous times for various marketing campaigns, and his brand quickly became strongly associated with Hip Hop, particularly along the West Coast in parts of L.A and California.

To this day, Hip Hop fashion is all about streetwear, sportswear, and expression. It’s not quite sportswear, and it’s not quite streetwear. It’s somewhere in the middle. It’s clear, even now, that the fashion and music associated with Hip Hop, were heavily influenced by the different styles of dance performed at block parties in the Bronx all those decades ago