Hip Hop culture first began in a section of New York City called the Bronx in the 1970's. As a marginalised group, ghetto youth didn't have any formal way to express themselves. Instead, these black and Latino youth - some recently arrived from the islands of the Caribbean- developed Hip Hop as a way to have fun, communicate their experiences, and criticise the social inequality and poverty they were experiencing.
Competition and battles encouraged a sense of pride and achievement. The competition/or battles involved MCs, DJs, graffiti artists and Bboys/Bgirls. Hip Hop provided a creative outlet to an often frustrating and difficult life. It encouraged competition and the opportunity to be the best at something. Street corner conflict or battles changed from fighting to dancing; shooting guns to spraying paint.
