On Aug. 11 half a century ago, the rhythmic pulse of hip-hop began echoing from the Bronx's streets, transforming itself from a niche urban subculture to a global phenomenon.
Today, this powerhouse genre isn't merely a style of music - it's a cultural force driving expression, academic exploration, and fostering community bonds in cities worldwide, including Dallas.
The origins of hip-hop trace back to DJ Kool Herc, who, during a back-to-school party for his sister in 1973, developed the break beat sounds along with the merry go round dj technique that became the genre's foundation.
However, the beat didn’t stop in New York. Dallas too carved out a distinct voice within the hip hop tapestry.
Everything's bigger in Texas
With artists like The DOC, Vanilla Ice, and Erykah Badu in the 1990s and new talents such as Bobby Sessions, Asian Doll, and producer LilJuMadeDaBeat, the city’s sound gained national prominence.
Joel Salazar, a prominent Dallas DJ, also known as DJ Leo J, is the founder of “Too Fresh Productions.” For nearly a decade he has cultivated hip-hop spaces in Dallas, most notably his Thursday night hip-hop series at the now closed Crown & Harp in Lower Greenville.
“Deejays nights and curated events like that have been around forever. Same thing with breaking events. The only thing that was different with Battlegrounds and the dance battle stuff was that it was more frequent and more reliable,” Salazar says.
He notes that these events were born out of necessity, and he was merely addressing the wants and needs for people in the Dallas hip-hop community.
Salazar is also the co-producer of the documentary “We From Dallas,” which originally began as an homage to Dallas graffiti culture. After the sudden death of graffiti artist Minus Won, Salazar and the production team’s discussions expanded to the five elements of hip-hop—graffiti, breakdancing, DJing, Emceeing, and Knowledge.
Noting the “Mount Rushmore of Dallas DJ Culture” — Dr. Rock, DJ EZ Eddie D, Nippy Jones, and DJ Ushy.
“Minus Won was the inspiration for it,” Salazar said, “but it all just morphed into one.”
Since 2015, Salazar has also been instrumental in merging hip-hop with academia. He stands as a founding mentor of the inaugural hip-hop studies course at Dallas Colleges. Along with El Centro campus professors, he provided lectures to a mixed age group of community college students. Salazar guided the students as they hosted their own hip-hop festival with cyphers, graffiti writing, and even a fashion show.
The course resided under the college’s humanities department as American Minority Studies.
Salazar said hip-hop is an educational platform, a bridge to transfer knowledge and life skills.
"There's different life-skill sets and different characteristics that you can build through this culture that you can use in, you know, quote unquote, real world experience," Salazar elaborates.
But Salazar isn't alone in recognizing hip-hop's academic potential.
Robert Tinajero is an associate professor of English/Rhetoric and program coordinator for the English and Writing program at the University of North Texas at Dallas.
His English course, "Hip Hop Rhetoric," presents narratives in the music that shed light on social justice issues such as police brutality, race relations, and feminism.
He employs hip-hop as a pedagogic tool.
“Pop culture in general, I think, connects with our students,” Tinajero says. He feels the genre asks people to shift their perspectives. Some of the assignments Tinajero uses to engage his students include blog posts and student created podcast episodes with topics like, the influence of rap/hip-hop music on children.
Tinajero, who also uses traditional teaching materials like books and academic journals, employs programs like PBS’ four part hip-hop history series, Fight The Power, in his classrooms on the UNT Dallas campus.
Earlier this year, the shared academic vision of hip-hop materialized into the “Fuse Symposium,” a UNT Dallas event promoting solidarity between Black and Latinx youth through hip-hop.
Looking forward, as hip-hop revels in its golden anniversary, its future seems brighter than ever, especially in educationally pioneering cities like Dallas. Reflecting on the journey, Salazar hopes for continuity.
“The next 50 years, I hope [hip-hop] is still being as diverse as it is now. That it continues to embrace more cultures. That it doesn’t write itself off. That we champion our originators and that this 50 year anniversary puts a magnifying glass on the people that helped start this culture that has turned into a billion dollar industry,” Salazar said.
From hard hitting Southern beats to revolutionizing viral dance craze, Dallas hip-hop has made its way through the culture and into classrooms.
Dallas is celebrating the 50th anniversary with a host of events this month.
Got a tip? Email Brittany Stubblefield-Engram at bstubblefield-engram@kera.org. You can follow Brittany on Twitter @thebritofdallas.
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