what is hip hop music

Hip hop music, also known as rap, is a genre of popular music that originated in the early 1970s by African Americans in the Bronx, a borough of New York City. It is characterized by a strong, rhythmic beat and a rapping vocal track. Hip hop music developed as part of the broader hip hop culture, which is defined by four key stylistic elements: MCing/rapping, DJing/scratching with turntables, break dancing, and graffiti art. While often used to refer solely to rapping and rap music, "hip hop" more properly denotes the practice of the entire subculture. The term hip hop music is sometimes used synonymously with the term rap music, though rapping is not a required component of hip hop music. The genre originated in the multicultural exchange between African Americans and children of immigrants from countries in the Caribbean, most notably Jamaica. Hip hop music has been described as an outlet and a voice for the disenfranchised youth of marginalized backgrounds and low-income areas. It has influenced everything from fashion to politics and has become a multibillion-dollar business with global influence.