Hip means to know, It's a form of intelligence

To be hip is to be up-date and relevant

Hop is a form of movement
You can't just observe a hop, You got to hop up and do it
Hip and Hop is more than music
Hip is the knowledge
Hop is the movement
Hip and Hop is intelligent movement
Or relevant movement
We selling the music
So write this down on your black books and journals
Hip Hop culture is eternal
Run and tell all your friends
An ancient civilization has bee born again
It's a fact.
-KRS-ONE, “HipHop Lives” 2007

Although 20 years old, the definitions are still being defined about African American culture
through historical archaeological and ethnographic research, the time for a shift is now. Filling
the gap between historical/cultural and present day cultural analysis will allow publics to connect
in a language that is easily understood.

In order for the present peoples of the world to understand what has happen to the African in
America over the past 500 years, it is essential to connect the past to the present. Spirituality,
language and cultural traditions have been retained, transformed and re-created through the
unrelenting energy of cosmology. African cosmology/worldview at the core of Africanity has
manifested itself as HipHop, which is the major identifying factor of the African American since
the 1970’s. Therefore the goal is to define HipHop culture and language through building a case
for the four pillars through archaeology and ethnography.

This work seeks to inform and engage audiences of the future of African American archaeology.
The unlimited potentials of archaeology as a mechanism for understanding and interpretation of
HipHop in the 21st century will be explored based on past and present research design ideas. This
is the prelude to the study of Emceen’ (language), Breakin’ (performance art and dance),
Deejayin’ (technology and music), and Graffiti (visual arts and writing).
Why the Shift

Outside the Box

What Happen to the African in America

Cultural Progression
Contrary to the promoted paradigm of African American culture being a by-product of European
hegemony; African American culture has developed in its own right as current research in
Historical Archaeology, Cultural and Linguistic Anthropology suggests. In contrast to the
creolization of the Africans, there has always existed a rebellion and a movement to retain
cultural values and customs. Africanisms are more than derivatives of pre-colonial Black Africa;
they are also evidence of thriving cultural traits that have survived their intended demise by
slavery and oppression. Africanisms found in language, dance, music, food-ways, kinship
relations and spiritual rituals are the unique cultural icons that are endemic to HipHop. Moving
beyond just “Africanisms”, the question of a distinctive culture and language group is
promulgated by the notion that the experiences of Africans in America have created a new
society. Much like the Hausa, Akan, Zulu and countless other societies in Africa, HipHop has
risen to be another African society but in the trenches of North America.

I think it is safe to say that the prevailing idea is that slavery ‘robbed’ Africans of culture.
Traditional studies of African American history have emphasized the institution of slavery, but
not the culture of slaves (V.P. Franklin 1974). To clarify the matter, in some respects, the
“everyday-ness” of slavery was no different than going to work each day, participating in the
workforce and then going home to do what ever you feel. True, Africans were forced to give up
certain practices during slavery, but it did no stop the African ethos. At the end of the day, these
ancestors went home and lived their lives the way the saw fit, but with some modifications.
… the culture of Black people neither began nor ended with the experience of slavery. Even
though the acculturation process and the slavery experience may have altered the African culture
that was transmitted, enough mechanisms of retention and transmission exited for survivals to
have been possible. (Hale-Benson, p.18)

Some practices became codified to protect them from the overseer, some where overt, yet
overlooked and misunderstood. Africans structured their quarters and burial grounds into styles
that were reminiscent of life in Africa. Food was prepared the same way, with use of herbs and
food resources germane to the North American landscape. Without the drum, Africans still
created a drum beat.
The subsequent ban on African drums and drumming contributed to the slaves’ cultural
disorientation by weakening ties to the music that had filled their African existence. In order to
replenish the void left by the ban on drums, slaves developed ways to imitate drumming’s
complex polyrhythms by contriving new means of creating rhythm. They began using whatever
means of rhythm-making were at hand: European instruments, household items such as spoons,
jugs, and washboards, or even their own bodies used as percussive surfaces in a style that came to
be known as “patting juba” or “slapping juba.” Intricate vocal rhythms and styles developed to
imitate the drum patterns, even seeking to capture the essence of multiple drums into a single
vocal line. (Sullivan, 2001)

Historical Archaeological Evidence

Without the drum, Africans found many ways to manifest culture and maintain identity in the
perpetual slavery environment. Other than ethnographic accounts of slave owners, biographies
and oral histories the evidence of African cultural retention can be accented by the growing
discipline of African American Historical Archaeology. Over the past 20 years the
archaeological data bank has expanded to incorporate many works from varying disciplines and
writers on subject matters stemmed from plantation and urban archaeological excavations.
Through these excavations, archaeologists are developing an artifact identification index of
“African American” artifacts, primarily based on multivalency. The array of artifacts and
material culture recovered must be examined with uninhibited and creative minds to account for
the complex meanings of found objects. Theresa Singleton suggests one method is to “…study
the relations between items, attributes, assemblages, and so on, noting how differences in
patterning provide clues to differences in use and significance.” (Singleton, p. 303).

For example; the excavation of the 1848-1887 enslaved African tenant community of the Levi
Jordan Plantation located in Brazoria County, Texas presented a wealth of information about this
African community. The immediate forced abandonment of this sharecropping community two
years after the Emancipation Proclamation resulted in an archaeological site that was primarily
undisturbed for a hundred years. Since 1986, University of Houston archaeologists, led by Dr.
Kenneth Brown, have excavated several cabins occupied by enslaved people, particularly one that
has been identified as the Praise House. The sub-floor deposits of the Praise House on the Jordan
plantation are comprised an organized pattern of coins, a knife, a cross, ash deposits of the hearth
planted in a four cardinal directions pattern, formulated a cosmogram with the cross in the
center. The material culture points to the use of the cabin as a center of community rituals and
gatherings; in addition, it has been suggested the retention of West African fraternity and sorority
secret organizations such as ‘sande’ and ‘poro’ were ritualized in the sacred disciplines of the
Praise House. Thus the archaeological data clearly supports the notion that the deposits recovered
equate to the utility and purpose of symbolism beneath the floor of the cabin. A collection of data
recovered from the Frogmore Manor Plantation of St. Helena, South Carolina presented similar
patterns under the area conjurer Dr. Buzzard’s cabin.
Of importance here was the discovery of four sub-floor features centered on each of the four walls
of the cabin. Two of these deposits consisted of the intentional burial of articulated animals, one
storage pit, and the other a deposit of ash and burned shell and metal. These four deposits appear
to form a cosmogram below the floor of the cabin” (Brown, 107).

HipHop Cosmology
“African symbolism continually calls on you to go inside yourself and discover new truths, which
takes your consciousness and behavior to higher patterns to core cosmic truths,” Oba T’Shaka
extends this thought further with, “the rich symbolic system requires each person to go inside
themselves for the inner meaning. As these truths are gained, they are consumed like food; they
provide nourishment for the soul, and a guide for placing the interpreter in greater harmony with
the universe.” (T’Shaka, p. 97) HipHop formed itself from principles of the Mbumba charms,
cosmograms and circles. Here we have to revert to the question of what was taking place above
those sub-floor deposits found in the historical archaeological excavations at the Levi Jordan
Plantation and Frogmore Manor. “The main purpose of the tracing the cosmogram on the earth in
Kongo was to immerse oneself in larger spiritual dimensions” (Holloway, p. 155). The
foundation and construction of African American churches must be explored to show the parallels
and continuities that stream from the traditions of the Praise House. After examining the Praise
Houses and churches, the conversation must be taken to the streets, school yards and other public
arenas where HipHop culture thrives.

In an effort to explain cosmology, I have incorporated the ritual act of drawing a “point,”
invoking God and the ancestors, to forms only a part of this most important Kongo ritual of
mediation. (Thompson, 1983) The following diagram represents the four primary elements of
HipHop on continuums of style and rhythm.
 Emceein’ is placed on the eastern side to represent the formation of thought of the conscious
mind into word verbalism. Deejayin’ is the power to draw upon ancestral memory through music,
while Breakin’ is the physical manifestation of word and power. Graffiti is the documentation of
the HipHop asilli (cultural essence) in classic metu neter (hieroglyphic) format. In every aspect of
HipHop people conduct themselves in every way with style and rhythm, whether it is through
speech, movement or art. Being aware of HipHop worldview provides grounds to build on in this
discourse about defining 21st century culture archaeologically.
Four Pillars of HipHop

Emcee

EMCEEIN: (The study and application of rhythmic talk, poetry and divine speech).
Commonly referred to as rappin or Rap. Its practitioners are known as emcees or
rappers.

The Emcee is the most visible pillar of HipHop, as it embodies the acculturation of cultural
knowledge and translates words through rhyme and rhythm. The emcee serves to be the
mouthpiece of the culture by carrying on the tradition of oration in African cultures. The emcee
draws up on a wealth of ancestral information through learned behaviors from elders, preachers,
jazz talkers, the “dozens”, poetry and spoken word. An emcee asserts acts of oration and the
regeneration of nommo (the generative and productive power of the spoken word) to deliver what
Clifford Geertz rightfully describes as a ‘thick description’ of events, attitudes and social
conventions for a speech community that rates approval based on the exquisite use of lexicons
and metonyms in the utmost rhythmic fashion.
Deejayin’
DEEJAYIN: (The study and application of Rap music production and radio
broadcasting). Commonly refers to the work of a disc jockey. However, Hip Hop's disc
jockey doesn't just play vinyl records, tapes and compact discs. Hip Hop's deejay
interacts artistically with the performance of a recorded song by cuttin’, mixin’, and
scratchin’ the song in all of its recorded formats.
Truly an advent of technological advancements in the 20th century, the deejay utilizes turntables
and electronic devices to produce music for the audience. Just as the emcee draws upon ancestral
and cultural memory, deejays utilize the rich traditions of jazz, R&B, gospel, reggae, country and
rock through sampling, cuttin’, scratchin’ and mixin’ over the reclaimed drumbeat in the baseline
of the music.
Breakin’

BREAKIN: (The study and application of street dance forms). Commonly called Break
Dancing or B-Boying, it now includes the once independent dance forms; Up-Rockin’,
Poppin’ and Lockin, Jailhouse or Slap-Boxing, Double Dutch, Electric Boogie
[Krumpin’] and Capoeira martial arts.

Breakin’ follows a long line of African dance traditions as it employs various styles and a vast
unconscious inherited memory. Thoughtlessly and with little effort a circle is formed by
participants and onlookers when breakers break. These “circles” are more than derivatives or
Africanisms; they are a continuation of the cultural process and a visual representation of
cosmology. Just as African societies in traditional settings, Africans in the Americas continue to
dance within circles. This act is displayed in Capoeira (African centered martial arts); the well
documented Ring Shouts of slavery, family reunions, church services and parties.
Graffiti

GRAFFITI ART: (The study and application of street calligraphy, art and
handwriting). Writing or drawing that is scribbled, scratched, or sprayed onto a surface.

Like the ancient scribes of Kemet, graffiti artists document HipHop cosmology through written
iconography. Although, characterized as spray painted walls, subways and street murals, graffiti
art is projected through art, graphic design and film. Archaeologically, graffiti-like writing has
been discovered on many plantation and cemetery sites. Markings such as “X’s” on the bottom of
bowls of Colono-Ware recovered in South Carolina by Leland Ferguson, suggest that this form of
Africanism has been an intricate part of African American enslaved culture. Prevalent in the
engravings of headstones and coffins of cemeteries, graffiti is common place in burial practices.
If any, there are very few syntax rules to the written language and iconography of rap. Words are
generally spelled phonetically as opposed to the inconsistency of English. Probably the only pillar
of HipHop that does not employ the freestyle method, nevertheless it requires a great deal of style
and authenticity.
Birth of HipHop Archaeology
One may ask, “So, if there is a discipline known as African American Archaeology, why change?
Furthermore, why need for a paradigm shift?” The answer to these questions and others alike is
kujichagulia, the act of self-determination; accompanied by my personal quest to define HipHop
and Rap as current African American culture and language. Since the first day I started pop-
lockin’ and breakin’, I have heard time and time again that “HipHop will never go out of style!”
and that “HipHop is a culture!” Long before my first anthropology class, I began the quest to
understand the meaning of this statement. In our ciphers and conversations we talk about the
history, the state of HipHop. What can we do to preserve the culture, keep it from becoming
totally commercialized and co-opted by the status quo? Time and again I would participate and/or
overhear these conversations in public domains, from the church to the school house. I noticed
the predisposition to begin and end conversations on HipHop with discussions of artists and rap
music. HipHop was fine by our standards, until it hit the mainstream of American society.
Automatically definitions were created that we did not agree with: a picture was being painted for
the world about us, but not by us. To this day HipHop is defined (by those not part of it) as a
music genre and dance phenomena. Rap is defined as music. This reductionism has created an
underground movement to sustain HipHop as a culture. In order to truly discuss the idea of
culture, the conversation must be differentiated from music, personas and to some extent race and
European influences in order to arrive at the quintessential “thick description” of HipHop.

I think Africans have learned some heart-breaking lessons from the exploitation of African
America culture in the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s by European commercialization endeavors. Since the
crystallization of HipHop, people have recognized how valuable it is. Although not from
anthropological perspective, emcees, deejays, breakers, graffiti artists and cultural specialists
have sought to define and redefine HipHop. Essential to the HipHop paradigm is the necessity to
preserve and spread authentic HipHop. With the emergence of commercialization and political
backlash in the late 80’s and early 90’s, the ‘underground’ began to take a strong threshold on the
preservation and continued acculturation of the culture. HipHop is a system of accumulative
knowledge, shared experiences, beliefs, rituals, customs, practices, art, acculturation and new
creations. The attributes of culture are expressed and recreated with freestyle and rhythm through
the four elements. The culture is accompanied by an attitude of rebellion, kujichagulia (self-
determination) interdependence and entrepreneurialism. HipHop perpetuates its cosmological
view into the world through art, music, film, education and spirituality, so anyone regardless of
race, creed or color can share and to some degree understands its principle constructs.

What better way is there to define a culture other than archaeologically? Historical Archaeology
has the potential to discuss the four elements through focused research, excavations and
interpretations from the study of artifacts and material culture.

Emceein can be examined in the study of the written record and the excavations of the homes of
known and unknown African American writers and poets such as Jupiter Hammond (the first
published African American poet in the U.S. in 1761, was entitled "An Evening Prayer"). Current
excavations underway at the Joseph Lloyd Manor in Long Island, NY led by archaeologists Chris
Matthews, Ph.D and Jenna Coplin are revealing the lifestyle and life-ways Jupiter Hammond and
his surrounding family, who lived in 1767 home. Examining the life of one of the earliest spoken
word artists may speak volumes about the environment that helped to create the poetry of Jupiter.
Further explorations into sub-floor deposits, Ring Shouts and performance art in African
American communities, will clearly state the historical origins and evolutions of breakin and
emcee ciphers. Understanding, why “points are drawn” on the ground and the actions that took
place on top of them will render enlightenment as to why present day Africans still dance in
circles whether conducted consciously or subconsciously.

Its is for the youth to know and regard HipHop as a continuation of culture and not a “new”
culture created only in the 1970’s in New York City. Graffitti was not only written on walls, but
can be found on bowls, pipe stems, utensils, coffin ware and other objects of enslaved Africans.
The writings inscribed on schoolhouse desks prior to and during the transition from segregation
to integration are equally as important as present-day subway cars. The archaeological record of
musical instruments of an enslaved people that gave birth to jazz, ragtime, bebop and rock n’ roll
are only a minute part of the historical legacy of deejayin. The utility of instrumentation to
translate sentiments and ignite a response has tangible roots, which will be exemplified in
structured future archaeological investigations.

End of Verse
There is an African proverb that says, “I am because, we are.” This is how the African American
identifies herself/himself, through the acknowledgement of the collective. I once saw a magazine
cover in which the artist on the cover wore a shirt that said, “I am HipHop!”, although this is not
a new phrase, but it echoes great meaning. KRS-ONE, HipHop artist and scholar constantly
reminds us that HipHop is more than music, “Rap is something we do, HipHop is something we
live.”

This verse breaks it down so it will forever be broken, with no apologies and offering no
rebuttals. It may seem a bit arrogant to say I have the final word on this issue, but if I do not take
a definitive stance I will not be following the design of HipHop cosmology and African
resistance. “I am HipHop”, I embody the culture and its rebellious nature. The essence of this
statement, is we define who we are through kujichagulia and the promotion of culture through
emceein’, deejayin’, breakin’ and graffiti through style and rhythm. Historical archaeology can
physically give us knowledge, wisdom and understanding about the culture and language of
North American Africans. Creating a new paradigm in the world of Historical Archaeology is to
alter the view and control the perspective about present-day African life in America. It is to set a
stage for unborn projects and ideas about culture that seek to explain all of what it means to be
African in America. It is to re-establish as a growing discipline and define it as HipHop
Archaeology.
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