| A brief history of hip hop... | Hip Hop is a cultural movement that began among Latinos (Puerto Ricans) and African American communities in the South Bronx in the early 1970s. Portions of the culture began spreading into the mainstream during the early 1980s, and by the 1990s, hip hop culture had spread all over the world. The movement is said to have begun with the work of DJ Kool Herc, while competing DJ Afrika Bambaataa is often credited with having invented the term "hip hop" to describe the culture. The four main aspects, or "elements", of hip hop culture are MCing (rapping), DJing, graffiti, and b-boying (known to the mainstream as breakdancing). Most consider knowledge or droppin' science as the fifth element while some consider beatboxing. Others might add political activism, hip hop fashion, hip hop slang, double dutching (an urban form of rope skipping), or other elements as important facets of hip hop. In mainstream spheres, the term "hip hop" typically refers only to hip hop music (or rap music), the music produced by the MCing and DJing aspects of hip hop culture. Originating from socially marginalized groups, the hip hop culture is spontaneously nonconformist in relation to the western system of values and esthetics. |
Is Haslingfield near Cambridge the new Bronx? A local hip hop collective called SIN Cru believe it has the potential to rival the New York borough. SIN Cru, which stands for Strength in Numbers, was born on the top deck of a red bus in 1995 and has since grown into a strong collective encompassing all areas of hip hop culture. The troop of talented youngsters who make up SIN Cru vary in their talents with everything from breakdancing, DJ'ing, MC'ing, beatboxing and even graffiti artists all forming the collective.  | | Vivienne Perry aka Raquit |
From gang violence to organised dance battles, Hip Hop saved a generation, in order to find out more about this local collective we asked Vivienne Perry aka B Girl Raquit to tell us more about it. Where does your name come from?Basically if you are a B Boy or a B Girl everybody has a pseudonym that they dance under and mine is Raquit, as in I came to serve. Obviously B- Boying is a competitive form of dance, you battle so you get served when you dance and also like rocket and racketeering it works on many levels. Who are SIN Cru?| "I haven't come from the mean streets, I'm from Haslingfield!" | | Vivienne Perry aka B Girl Raquit |
It stands for Strength in Numbers and basically it is a Hip Hop collective that is based in Cambridge but we have people all over the country and even in Switzerland and France involved with it. By Hip Hop collective I mean people who are involved in Hip Hop culture. It started off as a graffiti crew and that element is really represented, we've got DJ's and MC's involved. A DJ duo called The Next Men started in Cambridge and are involved with the SIN Cru. What does SIN Cru actually do then?With SIN Cru we have two sides, one which is not for profit and that is to get the next generation of young people involved with Hip Hop, we do workshops to learn to do Breakdance and also DJ and MC. The other side of it is for profit where we have done work for corporate clients like footlocker, we have been on Top Of the Pops and represented at the UK Urban Games. How did you get involved in Hip Hop isn't it very street culture orientated?I haven't come from the mean streets, I'm from Haslingfield! I've just come back from living in the Bronx for a year, Hip Hop started out in the late 70s with gang warfare in the Bronx.  | | Breakdance is part of the Hip Hop Collective |
There was a lot of violence then and that dance came out of that particular time and a kind of a non-lethal version of getting rid of your aggression, fast forward 20 years and it has come worldwide. It still translates and is a way of expressing yourself, I think it is especially useful for kids to help gain confidence. In a further attempt to understand more about what goes on in a Hip Hop collective we met up with human beatboxing performer Tim Drake aka Gummy Bear to find out more about his oral talents.How did you get into being a beat boxer?I started when I was 17 years old, I was imitating for a long time so it has only been about three years that I have learnt the actual techniques to make actual sounds. Are there actual professional beat boxers?Yes, people have earned a lot of money out of this skill. But surely if you are imitating a machine couldn't I just buy the machine? | | Gummy Bear, human Beatboxer |
You could do but the beat boxing has more of a range than just one machine with beat boxing you can learn different sounds, the sound of one machine, this bird, anything. This is why it is so intriguing, the appeal of someone being able to imitate a machine is generally is enough for people to want to listen, it is a freak show kind of appeal. You have to see yourself as some kind of performing clown if you want to get into it. What kind of techniques are there then?There is a click roll which is a sound where you make continuous clicks with your tongue, kind of like (he now imitates the sound and appears to be doing a perfect impression of Flipper the Dolphin). You put them into beats with other sounds like bass drums, high hats and snare drums. Basic drum sounds are always the first to be learnt (he now begins a full drum machine sound effect). That is only a snippet there are other things that can be done! It seems to be a lot more to do with continuous breathing, more like playing a Didgeridoo?You incorporate all different elements of your vocal chords, lips, what ever makes a sound goes into it, there are ways of making sounds just with breathing in and out or just your lips. All different sorts of things there are a lot of oscillation noises as well; basically it is straight up imitation. ps...Stone Seeds UnearthedCatch a multi-media exhibition that documents the lifestyle, development & transformation of Hip Hop collective SIN Cru. Featuring illustration, photography and video of their recent tour of the Big Apple to hook up with NYC style master Ken Swift & Breaklife, as well as the TATS Cru in the South Bronx. Showing in-store at Unify
72 King Street Cambridge CB1 1LN Further info check out their website. | 
