One reason I believe hip-hop was able to grow from a small niche market (seen as a subgenre of black music at the record companies) to a full-blown dominant musical force and industry—a mainstay of popular culture capable of impacting the worldwide economy—is that it began in the bedrock of hard times. With that as a draw pulling in everyone, the color lines dropped, and there was a common language and attitude to share that created a sense of unity, of community.
