Hip hop originated in the Bronx region of New York during the 1960s and 1970s. Clive Campbell, also known as "Kool Herc," was a Jamaican resident of the Bronx who is credited as the founder of the style. The Old School era of hip hop was from the 1970s to 1985. Artists like the Fat Boys, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five were among this original group of artists. The genre evolved from there into the Golden Age that lasted until about 1993. Public Enemy, KRS-One of Boogie Down Productions, De La Soul and A Tribe Called Quest are among the artists who were popular during this era.
Rap is one of several recording styles that hip hop music can be presented as. Some of the earliest hip hop recordings included rap over hip hop beats. The term "rap" was taken from a 1960s slang term that meant to converse. As a musical style, rap is a rhythmic speaking performance of poetry or lyrics generally over a drum beat or music. When a hip hop beat is played below the performance, rap then becomes part of hip hop music. When rap is performed over a heavy metal beat, it ceases to be hip hop.
Rap emerged as the earliest musical style in hip hop culture. Kool Herc was the first publicly known rap artist, although the term "rapper" had yet to be coined. He used spoken vocals over instrumental tracks in clubs and at house parties throughout the 1970s. His house party trend continued to expand throughout the Bronx, and house parties were a popular part of the culture through the 1990s. The first rap song to be commercially popular was "Rapper's Delight" by the Sugarhill Gang. It is therefore possible to link rap to the ultimate beginnings of hip hop, although hip hop has expanded beyond that single art form.
Hip hop culture has influenced many areas of art, dance, visual arts and fashion. Break dancing emerged in the 1980s and is one of the most recognizable hip hop dance forms. The visual art most associated with the movement is bold, with graffiti as a major influence. Fashion can be both high brow and low brow and more complex than just the signature bagginess associated with the phenomenon during its earliest days. Hip hop fashion saw a rebirth in the 2000s with sleek styles accompanying key hip hop pieces like sneakers, ball caps and gold jewelry. Many rap artists adopt the hip hop style as their own.
It has been established that hip hop cannot be rap. Rap can be hip hop, but it does not have to be. The modern music era has seen various styles that are conglomerations of other genres of music. Heavy metal and pop music have both borrowed rap for their music, without bringing the hip hop aspect with it. Whether or not particular rap artists are also hip hop is a debatable issue. It is generally accepted that Gangsta Rap is hip hop, but popular artists are sometimes taken on a case-by-case basis. The people involved in the hip hop culture are rightfully protective of their culture, and debates on what makes a true hip hop artist rage on among the true hip hoppers.