<P> In the 1990s, hip hop began to diversify with other regional styles emerging, such as Southern rap and Atlanta hip hop . At the same time, hip hop continued to be assimilated into other genres of popular music, examples being Neo soul and nu metal . Hip hop became a best - selling pop music genre in the mid-1990s and the top selling music genre by 1999 . The popularity of hip hop music continued through the 2000s, with hip hop influences also increasingly finding their way into mainstream pop . The United States also saw the success of regional styles such as crunk, a Southern genre that emphasized the beats and music more than the lyrics . Starting in 2005, sales of hip hop music in the United States began to severely wane . During the mid-2000s, alternative hip hop secured a place in the mainstream, due in part to the crossover success of artists such as OutKast and Kanye West . </P> <P> The creation of the term hip hop is often credited to Keith Cowboy, rapper with Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five . However, Lovebug Starski, Keith Cowboy, and DJ Hollywood used the term when the music was still known as disco rap . It is believed that Cowboy created the term while teasing a friend who had just joined the U.S. Army, by scat singing the words "hip / hop / hip / hop" in a way that mimicked the rhythmic cadence of soldiers marching . Cowboy later worked the "hip hop" cadence into a part of his stage performance, which was quickly used by other artists such as The Sugarhill Gang in "Rapper's Delight". Universal Zulu Nation founder Afrika Bambaataa is credited with first using the term to describe the subculture in which the music belonged; although it is also suggested that it was a derogatory term to describe the type of music . The first use of the term in print was in The Village Voice, by Steven Hager, later author of a 1984 history of hip hop . </P> <P> Hip hop as music and culture formed during the 1970s when block parties became increasingly popular in New York City, particularly among African - American youth residing in the Bronx . Block parties incorporated DJs, who played popular genres of music, especially funk and soul music . Due to the positive reception, DJs began isolating the percussive breaks of popular songs . This technique was then common in Jamaican dub music, and was largely introduced into New York by immigrants from Jamaica and elsewhere in the Caribbean, including DJ Kool Herc, who has been called a "founding father of hip hop". Because the percussive breaks in funk, soul and disco records were generally short, Herc and other DJs began using two turntables to extend the breaks . Herc created the blueprint for hip hop music and culture by building upon the Jamaican tradition of impromptu toasting, a spoken type of boastful poetry and speech over music . On August 11, 1973, DJ Kool Herc was the DJ at his sister's back - to - school party . He extended the beat of a record by using two record players, isolating the percussion "breaks" by using a mixer to switch between the two records . Herc's experiments with making music with record players became what we now know as breaking or "scratching". </P> <P> A second key musical element in hip hop music is emceeing (also called MCing or rapping). Emceeing is the rhythmic spoken delivery of rhymes and wordplay, delivered at first without accompaniment and later done over a beat . This spoken style was influenced by the African American style of "capping", a performance where men tried to outdo each other in originality of their language and tried to gain the favor of the listeners . The basic elements of hip hop--boasting raps, rival "posses" (groups), uptown "throw - downs", and political and social commentary--were all long present in African American music . MCing and rapping performers moved back and forth between the predominance of "toasting" songs packed with a mix of boasting,' slackness' and sexual innuendo and a more topical, political, socially conscious style . The role of the MC originally was as a Master of Ceremonies for a DJ dance event . The MC would introduce the DJ and try to pump up the audience . The MC spoke between the DJ's songs, urging everyone to get up and dance . MCs would also tell jokes and use their energetic language and enthusiasm to rev up the crowd . Eventually, this introducing role developed into longer sessions of spoken, rhythmic wordplay, and rhyming, which became rapping . </P>

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