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People tend to define hip-hop as music, but in fact it's an entire culture. Historians say hip-hop comprises "four elements" - tagging, b-boying, DJing and rapping - that emerged during the late 1970s and early 1980s. These days, rap is the focal point, while the other elements have evolved into different forms. Still, all four elements continue to define the look, sound and character of hip- hop culture.
Tagging
Before rappers made their names with rhymes, graffiti artists made their names with spray paint. In the late 1960s, inner-city kids "tagged" subway cars with their names, aiming for quantity rather than quality. The first "famous" tagger was the prolific Taki 183, featured in a 1971 New York Times article.
Those monochrome tags became increasingly multicolored and complex. "I loved the art of it," says Bronx rapper Grandmaster Caz. "I had large art books and drawing books of my graffiti. I would do it every day."
During the late 1980s, though, city governments battled graffiti with a vengeance. Nevertheless, graffiti has gone mainstream. Clothing designer Marc Milecofsky fashioned his Ecko logo after his...