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Ah, but how many of us have heard stories about the real origin of rap and hip-hop? I know a great one, one that some sociologists and music historians are backing with enthusiasm.
Back in the late 70s, New York City suffered some serious electrical problems that at least once led to a major blackout. I think it was in summer, and New York in the summer is foul-tempered, hot, humid, and generally cranky. Civil unrest followed the start of the electrical problems (no AC in poor neighborhoods leading to deaths of elders and children can do that) and eventually there were full-scale riots during the blackout.
When all the store alarms that weren't hardwired to an independent power source were off. Needless to say, looting followed rioting. It is believed that this brief epidemic of looting led directly to the development of rap, because having all that stolen electronic equipment dissipated into some of the poorest neighborhoods gave frustrated young people a new way to express THEIR ideas, THEIR culture, THEIR way of life. It was their first real chance to have something all their own artistically, and it built up into the monster that finally killed grunge and led to the proliferation of lifestyle-related reality shows on MTV.
Helluva thing to come from a blackout 40 years ago!
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