Commended as perhaps the most anticipated series in hip hop culture, Netflix original series The Get Down, rekindles one obscure yet fundamental aspect grounded in history of HipHop.
The show features protagonist Ezekiel “Books” Figueroa, portrayed by Justice Smith, integrating an interesting duality in a culture strongly tied to African American movements. “One of the main reasons we made the character… is because we wanted to play on that duality,” remarked project producer Nelson George, “New York culture of the 70’s and 80’s was very much a mix of southern black, Latino primarily in Puerto Rican and Jamaican—and those three elements played a huge part [in] the creation of what we call hip-hop.”
The inclusion of such duality traces back further beyond hip-hop formation and into its conception in the Bronx where Latinos and African Americans alike faced growing challenges against social equality. In its sole formative years, Latinos became familiar forces in Afrika Bombaataa coalition “Zulu Nation”, channeling their contributions with the introduction of break-dancing, which would become a significant part in the movement’s identity.
Hip-hop’s earliest years introduced Latino rap artist, DJ Charlie Chase of the Cold Crush Brothers, who integrated elements from Latin music into the movements already progressing artframe. “Back then race was never really a problem between Blacks and Spanish”, describes Chase.
However, Latinos only received wider assimilation into the mainstream hip-hop scene in 1990—largely through Kids Frost’s debut album Hispanic Causing Panic. Gathering from the album’s recognition, Frost formed a coalition of Hispanic rappers known as the “Latin Aliance”, which fostered several younger Latino artists such as Mellow Man Ace, Cypress Hill, and Fat Joe, all of which reflecting The Latinos’ presence since Hip-hop’s birth, to their own struggle for recognition in the hip-hop scene.
By Jods Arboleda for RAPstation.com
