Hip-hop is an extension of black culture and heritage and was cultivated in the late 1960's in New York City in the form of rapping lyricism and turntablism. Hip-hop culture cannot be defined by a single term nor can it be compacted into one definition for hip-hop is comprised of a variety of components seen within modern culture and must be observed holistically. Hip-hop, like any form of musical art, depicts the myriad of emotions an artist feels and expresses his/her beliefs through both visual and sound aid. I believe the graffiti wall located on SW 34th Street on the University of Florida's campus is highly representative of the true essence of hip-hop because it shares the same commonalities of the walls seen in the suburbs of NYC where hip-hop emerged.
Hip-hop and graffiti evolved simultaneously in the heart of New York City around the late 1960's and was initially created by adolescents in the form of "tags"-a signature comprised of their nickname and their street number. Throughout town, "tags" were showing up on subways, sides of buildings, and street corners more quickly than one could keep count. The growing phenomenon had a monumental impact on the dispersal of hip-hop and its culture because graffiti is the linkage between the emotional appeals of hip-hop and rap followers in the form visual expression. The graffiti wall on SW 34th street encompasses my defining aspects of hip-hop for it is an expressive form of art, has its origins in the black suburbs of New York City, and is representative of hip-hop/rap culture.
I had previously mentioned this on somebody else's blog, but I still haven't found an answer. The graffiti wall on 34th st., was it built for the specific purpose of graffiti, or was it adopted by an artist and sort of evolved into this sphere of expressionism?
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