The Fashion And Art Of Hip Hop

A research essay

by
Andrea Ng Ching Yee
Graphic Design Pathway
Level 5
Media Culture
(5FDA0053)
Assignment 2 : Research Essay
1578 words

for

The School of Creative Arts1

Faculty of Science, Technology and Creative Arts
University of Hertfordshire, UK
In partnership with
The One Academy, Malaysia.

On 16th August, 2016

Table of Content
Cover Sheet Page

Title Page i

Content Page ii

Questions for Assignment 2 iii

Introduction iv

History of Hip Hop 1

The early days of Hip Hop fashion 1

The second generation of Hip Hop 2

Conclusion 3

Reference List 4

Bibliography 5
7

iii
Questions

1. Analyse in depth a design related issue that has courted major controversy in
both professional and public domains. Evaluate if the negative accusations of
the media artefact are merited.

2. Who are some Malaysian cultural icons that have found success at an
international level? Did nationality and/or local culture contribute to their
achievements?

3. Examine and discuss how communications technology or multilingualism was

used in the narrative of a highly acclaimed movie.

4. Fashion and music go hand in hand. Explore this concept and

consider its implications for designers of your field.

5. Select a cultural artefact or practice that has been adapted across different
countries. Identify and discuss the essential features and those that have been
differentiated.

6. Evaluate the impact of crowdsourcing or the democratization of a media

related activity or tool has on creative professionals of that field.

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 The Fashion And Art Of Hip Hop
Throughout history, subcultures have constantly grow and evolve. Subcultures are often
defined themselves through music and each music genre has its own subculture and with
that, many fashion styles were created to represent different genres of music. With the
influence of music, subcultures are created since the era of 1920s where Jazz music
influences the fashion styles. The relationship between fashion and music is impactful in
and emphasized by sharing of language (Miller, 2011). For example, in youth subculture,
music was used as a way to express emotions about everything, and to make political and
other statements. Fashion reflected the music by making a statement and expressing
personal opinions (Brandy, 2010). For instance in the 1970s, Punk Rock music was used to
express political and sociological anger and resent, rebelling against the norm, their failed
government, and ever growing pop genre culture due to the fact that there was mass
amounts of unemployment, which caused large numbers of teenagers dropping out of
schools and turning against their government. To associate with the music, Punk Rockers
styles were to be shocking and intimidating to show their anger and rebellion side (Thomas,
2011). With many subcultures were created in the past, such as, Jazz, Rock and Roll, Glam
Rock and Punk Rock, this essay traces the beginning of Hip Hop and show how the music
gave birth to a unique fashion and art style.

History Of Hip Hop

The term Hip Hop, most commonly refers to a genre of music known for its beats and
turntable techniques. Hip Hop was originated in the mid to late 1970s of New York City,
where its roots are widely credited to the African American community, however,
contributions of Jamaican American and Latino American communities are also credited. It
originates from the African American community. The roots of hip hop lay at the intersection
of the political protest movements of Black Nationalism of the early 1970s and the
impoverished ghettoes of America (Henderson, 1996). The usage of the term Hip Hop has
changed over time. From the beginning of the urban styles that came to be known as hip
hop in the early 1970s until the first commercially successful musical recordings, b-boy
was more commonly used to describe the people of the urban community that identified
with the break- eat driven DJ music and dance styles. Once the verbalization of toast
evolved into emcees, improvisational scat-type sounds produced by performers often
included the combinations of the words hip and hop (Riesh, 2010). DJ Lovebug Starkski
is credited with coming up with the term hip hop to describe the style of music. Hip Hop

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often used similarly with the word rap to describe urban spoken word music. It is also
used to describe clothing, language, attitude, and customs. In short, hip hop considered a
culture for Latin and African-American youths who were graffiti artists, break-dancers,
turntablists, and emcees (George, 1985). In the early years of hip hop, the actual members
or the creators of the arts were related to by medium involved such as taggers, DJs, break
dancers, breakers, or b-boys, and rappers or emcees. As these arts became more popular
around New York, the term hip hop turned to define the general culture that is related to
these four mediums (Riesh, 2010).

The Early Days Of Hip Hop Fashion

Since the late 1970s and early 1980s, the hip hop music emerged when there was great
concern with nationalism and black power. Hip Hop music has always had an obvious
influence on the fashion and style of its time. The clothing and accessory trends connected
with hip hop are a major expression of the cultural phenomenon including as the key
element of popular fashion around the world. In the late 1970s, many of the African
American were influenced by styled of funk singer James Brown with his ruffled shirts, bell-
bottom pants and leather outfits. There was also a popular movement that hip hop develop
from a distinct comfortable style consisted of dreadlocks, tank tops, untucked button-down
shirts, jeans, dashikis, and tricolour garb sporting the colours of the Ethiopian flag (Romero,
2012). As Hip Hop began to be bigger and attract more audiences and media, by the 1980s
it had turn into a major fashion trend. Due to the economic boosts in the 1980s, big hip hop
stars wore lots of big gold chains, rings, jewellery to show their power and wealth.
Moreover, popular clothing items such as large glasses, baggy urban wear, Kangol hats,
multi-finger rings and sneakers were popular and also worn by many famous hip hop stars
during that era (Lewis, n.d). For example, in the late 1980s, hip hop star, LL Cool J made
the Kangol Company into a well-known brand when he began to wear the British companys
signature bucket hat. Furthermore, B-boy and Flyboy were designations used to
describe those focused on music and dance, and those who were focused on fashion.
B-boys and B-girls have borrowed their style from break- dancing where they usually
dressed in sportswear like Puma sneakers; Adidas track pants, T-shirts, and padded nylon
or leather jackets which become one of the original elements of hip hop (Lewis, n.d).

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 The Second Generation Of Hip Hop
By the late 80s, Back Nationalism had a large influence which somehow change the
direction of hip hop fashion that reflect traditional African influences. During that era, blousy
pants were popular among dance-oriented rappers with Kente ankh; Kente cloth hats,
Africa chains, dreadlocks and Black Nationalist colours of red, black, and green became
popular (Keyes, 2004). As the 1990s approaches, the image of hip hop changes, with male
hip hop star boasting more on gold jewellery, expensive suits, fast cars, big houses,
beautiful women and unlimited bails of notes and also females hip hop star advanced to a
more glamorous and revealing outfits, wearing high heels, oversized ear rings and other
jewellery and skimpy hot pants. Pop rappers such as Fresh Prince, Kid n Play and Left Eye
of TLC made known for baseball caps and bright, often neon-colour clothing in the early
1990s. Besides, sagging pants, wearing shoes without laces, and long shorts are
associated with a type of hip hop culture that is influenced by prison (Boyd, 2003). The
pants of many prison inmates sag below their waist because belts were not allowed.
Sagging pants are worn by some young people of New Orleans and other places as
emblems of gangster or thug lifestyle. This is a symbol of resistance and association with a
resistant subculture that demands disobedient masculinity and hardness. The trend of
sagging pants and the larger baggy pants first appeared on the streets of New York City in
the 1990s. Gangs in Los Angeles copied the style as it spread across the country. Hip hop
inspired fashion labels like Cross Colours, Karl Kani, and later Sean John and Roca Wear,
further marketed and popularized this sign of resistance to established authority (Baxter
and Marina, 2008). At the 90s, womens senses of style were revolving around mens
fashion by adopting the use of oversized T-shirts and baggy pants. However, female rap
group Salt-N- Pepa are considered among the head in leading the change of womens hip
hop fashion from the male alignment and proclaiming feminism in creating a new sense of
dressing by wearing hot pants, cut-off denim shorts and Lycra body suits (Hook, 2010).

3
 Conclusion
Graffiti has become a common medium for many members of both the art and design
community. Graffiti culture started to be by chance linked to hip hop about ten years after its
foundation around 1970s. Graffiti writing gained widespread attention only with its rise in the
urban neighbourhood in the 1960s and 1970s. Hip Hop Graffiti began in New York City
during the 1960s when a small number of teenagers from Washington Heights, the South
Bronx, and other poor neighbourhoods began to cover the city with their tags, stylized
signatures of names they had invented for themselves (Christen, 2003). The common form
for graffiti is a tag which is a graffiti artists signature. The purpose of the tag is to show the
spreading of rebellious artists signature, similar to brand name advertising. In conclusion,
designers can consider using different mediums like using graffiti elements to create
something unique and engaging. The visual element of typography present in graffiti art can
offer a design edge to the story it is trying to tell. For example, Ben Johnston, a designer
uses graffiti elements to bring the branding to a design magazine. By combining typography
and graffiti art, not only it will stand out but also the message can provide a powerful impact
to the audience (Oliver, 2015). Moreover, designers can consider looking into hip hop
subculture as it is one of the most influential subculture that made many branded
companys items became one of the original elements of hip hop fashion such as
sportswear like Puma sneakers; Adidas track pants, T-shirts, and padded nylon or leather
jackets that are still wearable and trendy today. Other than that, designers also can learn
from this subculture that as designers it is important to have your own unique style just as in
Hip Hop subculture have its own style of music, for example, Hip Hop music is known for its
beats and turntable techniques, and fashion style like sagging pants, large glasses, baggy
urban wear, Kangol hats, multi-finger rings and sneakers, which made it different from other
subcultures.

(1578 words)

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