A deep insight into Hiphop culture's history, origin and development
Uploaded by bnt_BTL on Apr 23, 2013
“To what extent has hiphop culture changed and derived from its early form. Can Conscious Hiphop be considered a modern extension of Civil Rights Movement?”
Queensbridge borough of New York City is the biggest housing project in the world. It consists of 96 buildings and over 2.2 million inhabitants with an unemployment rates just below 10 %. To make matter worst Queens is just one of the five biggest boroughs in New York, other being Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan and Long Island which share similar figures to Queensbridge or even worst. However, these are the poorest areas of the Big Apple, which also consists of one of the most expensive apartments and boroughs (Upper East Side, Morningside Heights, Midtown and Flatiron). Regardless the area, modern New York enjoys much better economic situation than in the past.
1970s are considered to be the worst economic times in the history of New York. City’s stock exchange fell dramatically in 1975, what impacted heavily on New York’s financial situation as the city kept spending welfare funds to cover daily costs and debts. Vietnam War continued on from sixties what emptied governments pockets too. In 1973 the Arab Oil Embargo stopped cheap supply of gas that forced the city to buy from more expensive gasoline. Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens were feeling the pinch the most. If it wasn’t for Teachers Union, which bought Municipal Assistance Corporation bonds for $150 million the city would go bankrupt, what would then cause unrecoverable unemployment rates. Abraham Beame, Mayor of New York, has given this speech on 17th of October 1975: “I have been advised by the controller that the City of New York has insufficient cash on hand to meet debt obligations due today. This constitutes the default that we have struggled to avoid." New York’s crime rates rose to the highest ever in history as prostitutes had flooded the streets of Brooklyn, Central Park became a common place for rapes, muggings and murders. Police itself became subject to investigation as NYPD had been proven to be notoriously corrupt.
Charlotte Street, South Bronx, 1970s. This noisy street of the Bronx has been desolated by poverty and unemployment.
It seems obvious that during such hard and hopeless times it is very easy to spread negativity and violence within a community. However, New York’s history of 1970s has also brought some hope in the form of a new culture, new movement...