Wiki-Hip Hop

This is what comes up when you search "Hip Hop" in Wikipedia.

"Hip hop music is a music genre typically consisting of a rhythmic vocal style called rap which is accompanied with backing beats. Hip hop music is part of hip hop culture, which began in the Bronx, in New York City in the 1970s, predominantly among African Americans and Latino Americans.[1][2] The term rap music is often used synonymously with hip hop music.

Rapping, also referred to as MCing or emceeing, is a vocal style in which the performer speaks rhythmically and in rhyme, generally to a beat, recently, however, a difference has developed between "rapping" and "MCing". "MCing" has been used to describe those artists who possess and exercise superior lyrical ability and prowess. Beats are traditionally generated from portions of other songs by a DJ, or sampled from portions of other songs by a producer, though synthesizers, drum machines, and live bands are also used, especially in newer music. Rappers may perform poetry which they have written ahead of time, or improvise rhymes on the spot with or without a beat. Though rap is usually an integral component of hip hop music, DJs sometimes perform and record alone, and many instrumental acts are also defined as hip hop."

Although they tried, it seems a little weird when people narrowly define Hip Hop or when they even attempt to define it at all. I believe that Hip Hop is like beauty, it's in the eye of the beholder. Way back in the beginning of the semester when the class had to free write about "Hip Hop Is," I'm pretty sure that no two people had the same description of Hip Hop. Personally, I think its a way of life. It's more than a music form and even a culture. HIP HOP IS LIFE FOR THOSE WHO CHOOSE TO LIVE IT.