Hip-hop: Celebrating 50 years of a cultural phenomenon
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50 years ago, DJ Kool Herc and his sister Cindy Campbell threw a party in the Bronx, New York, which is widely acknowledged as the birth of the phenomenon we now know as hip-hop. I am convinced that Herc wouldn’t have imagined the lasting global impact that the DIY movement they were involved in would still be having today.
Hip-hop is a culture that is now established across all aspects of society. From politics to fashion, industry to film, and, of course, the work Arts Council funds. Whether it’s music, dance, theatre, or museums, many of the organisations we support are tirelessly continuing to push the culture forward and highlight its impact and legacy.
The foundations of the culture were built in New York’s low-income, racialised communities. People made the most of what resources they had to create something special, loud and bright. Hip-hop was and is about freedom and expression. It’s about paying respect to what has come before and building on that, plus a healthy dose of competitiveness. Hip-hop is about sound, movement and visuals. It’s about building your knowledge and creating community. This can all be heard and seen in the work of artists across England today – even those who might not realise the link between them and DJ Kool Herc in 1973.
From that start in the streets of the Bronx, in 2023 you’re now just as likely to see young people in Birmingham producing groundbreaking events with Punch Records, such as their yearly BASS Festival, 20 Stories High’s raucous, celebratory, and hard-hitting hip-hop theatre show touring the north, or Scanners Inc’s hip-hop jams and discos on Croydon High Street. People from every corner of England are utilising the elements of hip-hop to express their creativity, excite audiences and build communities.
Hip-hop is a culture people can feel a part of. Many of us now working at the Arts Council have grown up immersed in it and speaking for myself, I can confidently say hip-hop has made me who I am today. As a team, we are very much part of hip-hop and we work hard to ensure it is authentically represented in the work the Arts Council supports.
Whether you already love it, or want to learn more about it, we’re supporting lots of great hip-hop activity across England…
Baby People
Part of our National Portfolio for 2023-26, Derby is home to the UK’s first dedicated hip-hop school. They have supported thousands of young artists throughout the years, creating groundbreaking new cultural voices who have gone on to secure major record deals and recording contracts.
Leeds Museums & Galleries
Co-curated with the Hip Hop Historian Society, Leeds Museums & Galleries’ new exhibition A Hip Hop Journey: 50 years of Kulture showcases the history of the groundbreaking hip-hop movement in Leeds. Stories and objects will be brought together by inspirational local artists, renowned record shops, and communities from Leeds and Yorkshire. Running until 24 March 2024.
20 Stories High
Part of our National Portfolio for 2023-26, 20 Stories High is a Liverpool-based Theatre Company. Their new raucous, radical, and hard-hitting hip-hop show High Times and Dirty Monsters shows the good times and not-so-good times of being young and disabled in 2023. Touring from November – October 2023.
Far from the Norm
A record investment for a non-NPO dance touring application, Far From the Norm are touring the UK & European with Mama, a hip-hop dance production depicting generational stories of colonisation. This will be taking place until 2024.
Kirklees Year of Music
Kirklees Year of Music celebrates the district’s world-class musical heritage in year-round events. Funded through National Lottery Project Grants, award-winning DJ Yoda takes to the turntables with a brand-new AV show for a spin on one of Hollywood’s most iconic directors Quintin Tarantino in October.
Punch Records
NPO Punch Records have an 18-year track record of producing groundbreaking events and developing talent within Birmingham and further afield. Their annual BASS Festival is the UK’s only month-long celebration of Black music and art.
Swindon Dance
Swindon Dance gives people of all ages, backgrounds and abilities the opportunity to create and perform dance. They work with their local community and schools, with a focus on areas of low cultural engagement and have a year-round street dance programme with festivals, battles, training and performances.
On 2-3 September 2023, Swindon Dance’s LITEFEST will return for the sixth year, where the dance floor becomes a ground for Hip Hop & Popping battles.
See more info on this year’s event
UD
Co-founded by a group of hip-hop artists, National Youth Music Organisation (NYMO) UD is a London-based music organisation bringing communities together around Black music and Black music culture, supporting young people with resources and space to create and explore their potential.
Artists they have supported and showcased at the early stages of their career include Wretch32, Little Simz, Ghetts, Maverick Sabre, Devlin, Labrinth, Skepta and more.
More recently, UD and East London Dance have come together under one roof at Talent House in East London to create a music and dance hub for emerging talent which includes dance studios, recording studios, performance spaces, tech labs and more to further create opportunities for young people.
Scanners Inc
Funded through National Lottery Project Grants, Scanner Inc’s new culture project ‘Pop Shop & Friends’ is bringing together the hip-hop and local community through a series of hip-hop jams, discos, podcasts and workshops on the High street.
High Rise Theatre
Champions of using rap music, theatre, subcultures, politics and heritage at the heartbeat of their work; HighRise is at the frontline of youth arts engagement across the UK where their productions, programmes, consultancy and mentoring schemes offer deep engagement in forgotten areas of Britain.
