Hip Hop Culture
New York street gang activity peaked in 1973, and then began to decline. Reasons for this decline included violence with other gangs, drug use, members leaving because the gangs became too large and members following Afrika Bambaataa into the Universal Zulu Nation.
Times were also changing, park jams, block parties and clubs were becoming more popular. The beginnings of hip hop culture began to form in these venues, and as gang members and former gang members started getting involved in more Hip Hop activities, involvement in the gangs declined.
Kool DJ Herc, an early hip hop music pioneer, credits gangs like the Black Spades with getting the hip hop scene started.
| “ | It started coming together as far as the gangs terrorizing a lot of known discotheques back in the days. I had respect from some of the gang members because they used to go to school with me. There were the Savage Skulls, Glory Stompers, Blue Diamonds, Black Cats and Black Spades. | ” |
Afrika Bambaataa was the warlord of the Black Spades before becoming a famous hip hop DJ. He later went on to form the Universal Zulu Nation on November 12, 1973; Many Black Spades gang members followed Afrika Bambaataa into the group.
Read more about this topic: Black Spades
Famous quotes containing the words hip, hop and/or culture:
“He’s a man who shoots from the hip. And a man who’s hip when he shoots.”
—Jeremy Larner, U.S. screenwriter. Banquet master of ceremonies (Pat Harrington, Jr.)
“I have tried being surreal, but my frogs hop right back into their realistic ponds.”
—Mason Cooley (b. 1927)
“He was one whose glory was an inner glory, one who placed culture above prosperity, fairness above profit, generosity above possessions, hospitality above comfort, courtesy above triumph, courage above safety, kindness above personal welfare, honor above success.”
—Sarah Patton Boyle, U.S. civil rights activist and author. The Desegregated Heart, part 1, ch. 1 (1962)