Hip hop is a cultural movement incorporating breakdancing (B-boying), music, graffiti writing, DJing and MCing. It originated in the African American, Jamaican and Latino American communities of New York City (with the South Bronx as the center) in the late 1970s. It was DJ Afrika Bambaataa that outlined the five pillars of hip-hop culture: MCing, DJing, breaking, graffiti writing, and knowledge. Other elements include beatboxing, hip hop fashion, and slang. Since first emerging in the Bronx, the lifestyle of hip hop culture has spread around the world. When hip hop music began to emerge, it was based around disc jockeys who created rhythmic beats by looping breaks (small portions of songs emphasizing a percussive pattern) on two turntables, which is now more commonly referred to as sampling. This was later accompanied by "rapping" (a rhythmic style of chanting or poetry more formally in 16 bar measures or time frames) and beatboxing, a vocal technique mainly used to imitate percussive elements of the music and various technical effects of hip hop DJs. An original form of dancing and particular styles of dress arose among followers of this new music. These elements experienced considerable refinement and development over the course of the history of the culture.

The relationship between graffiti and hip hop culture arises from the appearance of new and increasingly elaborate and pervasive forms of the practice in areas where other elements of hip hop were evolving as art forms, with a heavy overlap between those who wrote graffiti and those who practiced other elements of the culture.

The word "hip" was used as African American Vernacular English (AAVE) as early as 1898. The colloquial word "hip" is the actual human body part. And the word "hop" is the actual "hop"(hopping) movement.

Keith "Cowboy" Wiggins, a rapper with Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five has been credited with coining the term hip hop in 1978 while teasing a friend who had just joined the US Army, by scat singing the words "hip/hop/hip/hop" in a way that mimicked the rhythmic cadence of marching soldiers. Cowboy later worked the "hip hop" cadence into a part of his stage performance. The group frequently performed with disco artists who would refer to this new type of MC/DJ-produced music by calling them "those hip-hoppers". The name was originally meant as a sign of disrespect, but soon came to identify this new music and culture.

Other artists quickly copied the Furious Five and began using the term in their music. The opening of the song "Rapper's Delight" by The Sugarhill Gang, in addition to the verse on Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five's own "Superrappin'", were both released in 1979. Lovebug Starski, a Bronx DJ who put out a single called "The Positive Life" in 1981, and DJ Hollywood then began using the term when referring to this new disco rap music. Hip hop pioneer and South Bronx community leader Afrika Bambaataa also credits Lovebug Starski as the first to use the term "Hip Hop," as it relates to the culture. Bambaataa, former leader of the Black Spades gang also did much to further popularize the term.

Rap music is the most common extension and reference of the culture. Hip Hop is a lifestyle comprising many elements. A good comparison is "Hippie." There is no music labeled HIPPIE, "Hippie" life and taste is simply another lifestyle.

A foundry is a factory that produces something in this instance Hip Hop Foundry is ment to be the factory that channels the greatest talent is the culture of hip hip into one site. Allow you the user to enjoy all this great culture as to offer.