Hip-hop is a musical art form, created by African-Americans and Latino-Americans in the mid seventies.  Its conception came from a young generation of African-Americans in the Bronx, who created a beautiful, prideful expression of music, art and dance from a backdrop of poverty.  Since that ignition in a New York City borough, it has inspired people from all socio-economic and cultural backgrounds all across the world.  When hip-hop is discussed as an art form and not just as rap, it usually is meant to include the four elements: the DJ, the emcee, graffiti writing, and break dancing.  Some of these were around before the words "hip-hop" were uttered, but they reestablished their identities within hip-hop. 
  
I have been listening to a growing range of hip-hop for five years, steadily.  However, I do not adhere myself to hip-hop by identity, meaning I don't rap, DJ, break-dance, or write graffiti on a regular basis.  Thus I accept my fan status, but I do consider myself an educated fan, and since hip-hop has given me a lot in terms of ideas, joy, and enlightenment, I will try to regard it with the respect that it deserves as well as make a conscious effort to open my eyes to the conditions of racial discrimination in this country. 
  
My methodology in conducting this field report was to read the work of respected journalists on hip-hop, or by hip-hop artists, watch the movie Wildstyle, a revered and influential movie that is now nearly 20 years old and which documents hip-hop as it was in the Bronx.  Hip-hop is my primary listening interest, and I do consider five years of listening to hip-hop and seeing hip-hop shows a resource.  The idea of learning hip-hop through books is laughable to many of those who are doing it, especially in the cities where it is, or was, everywhere in sight.  Nobody is an authority on hip-hop, whether journalists, rappers, or old-school "heads" (hardcore fans), because it is the music that embodies the voice, opinions, and musical background of those playing it.  Despite all this, there are books that give a well rounded and thoughtful discussion on what created hip-hop, its limitations, and where it might be going.  Much of what I read overtly stated a love-hate relationship with hip-hop.  The potential it could have for social and political reform and the lack of desire or intuition by most artists to do so, frustrates those who love it dearly and have seen it evolve through hopeful eras, and eras of bleakness combined with mortal conflicts that started on wax. 
  
The birth of hip-hop is credited to the DJ, or actually three DJs: Kool Herc, Afrika Bambaataa, and Grandmaster Flash.  Turntables were being used in the discotheques, but with the advent of the mixer DJs were able to mix two records together to keep the beat going.  These hip-hop pioneers did much more than just remove the lull from the dance floor.  They began sampling, which clearly enough, is sampling other records to create a new beat.  Loops were used from the drum breaks of past records and DJs began the popular tradition of scouring record stores for rare or unheard of music from across the globe, hoping to make "the perfect beat."  Grandmaster Flash is credited with having invented the technique of scratching records, which is done by reversing or pressing forward the spin of the record.  Grandmaster Flash also incorporated tricks, such as spinning behind his back, embodying showmanship and confidence that is a part of black culture and is essential to DJ contests today (George, 27).
  
The first rappers did a call and response with the audience, something started in African music, used to keep the crowds. energy high.  That soon evolved to verses being rhymed over the DJs beat without faltering.  The point was still to "rock the crowd," to make them admire your skills and elicit cheers and approval.  Emcees. often refuse to leave until they. ve succeeded in rocking the crowd.  At certain times in hip-hop's short history DJs have been forgotten about with the spotlight given solely to the emcee, but lately there has been a revival in interest in who creates the beat.  The beat, all the subtleties, not just the overwrought bass line, is what makes a hip-hop song.  Good lyricists will sound worthless on a corny beat.  That's a large reason why hip-hop is recognized as music and the talent involved in DJing and production is sought after heavily by rappers.

Graffiti has been around forever, but spray can art took flight in the early seventies.  It bonded with hip-hop in the Bronx and is celebrated in the previously mentioned movie Wildstyle.  This type of graffiti became bold and exclaiming, with artists writing with a tag name and trying proliferate their name through the city.  Trains and train yards were usually where tags could be advertised the best possible way, as they moved through the neighborhood and the artist's work could be seen.  Regional styles, first across the country, and then the world, give a reflection of the style of that community.  Graffiti art was probably the most ethnically diverse area of hip-hop when it began.  African-Americans, Latino-Americans, and European-Americans all participated in this art form the beginning.

Break-dancers, or b-boys, were seen in disco clubs, have been adopted and have stayed in hip-hop.  Linoleum would be spread across the ground at an event or show, and breaking crews would show off their skills and compete against each other.  Over the years, it has dissipated only to be revived again, often times outside of the context from which it started.  Latinos especially were strong holders of the b-boying tradition.

The tradition in hip-hop is a very complex one.  Since it is a young art form, it isn't like fathers are sending their sons to rapper school.  It is important to recognize this as a representation of black people in America, with important contributions by Latinos.  Hip-hop has shown the same resiliency in the face of pressure and misguided ignorance that black people have in America against injustice, put-downs and racism.  This isn't to say that it should be exclusive to oppressed people only, but it is very important for "white" people to respect its origins and that it is not a passing fad.

"According to Dante's Inferno, pride is what got Lucifer cast out of heaven and led that fallen angel to create hell.  Maybe for dead white men pride is a bad thing.  However, for a living, breathing black man, arrogant pride can be essential.  On a planet where to demonize, demoralize, disdain, and dis black people is a long-standing preoccupation, this kind of extravagant pride is often a system of survival"  (George, 50).
The music involved in DJing comes from the music the DJ grew up listening to in his home, usually from his/her parents. collection.  Since much of this was funk and soul from the sixties and seventies, it has influenced the beats more than any other kind of music.

"The attitude of the hip-hop DJ applies to other areas of life as well: Money, government, sex, violence, religion& When forming our outlook on any subject, we should be sampling sensible ideas from different groups, time periods, experiences, and fusing them into a new outlook, a new whole. something distinct from the sum of its parts. something with a soul all its own" (Wimsatt, 67).
  
The call and response of the early emcees was brought over by Jamaicans, from the dub dancehall style in Jamaica.

The movie Wildstyle was long overdue for me to see, being a hip-hop fan.  The glimpse at hip-hop in 1982 (!), the year that I was born, was so pure, unaffected by what the image the industry wanted it to have later on.  The books I read I enjoyed immensely, challenging my ideas, what I though were facts, and making me think harder.  Unfortunately, I wasn. t able to supplement this report with an interview, however there was nobody with the exception of a professor whom I wished to interview.  I could have gathered more viewpoints on this subject, but I think the sources I. ve quoted are very reliable. 

References
1. George, Nelson. 1998.  Hip-hop America. Penguin Putnam Inc.  New York, New York.

2. Wimsatt, William Upski.  1994.  Bomb the Suburbs. The Subway and Elevated Press Company, Chicago.

3. Wildstyle.  Directed by Charlie Ahearn. 1982.