Hip hop films are motion pictures that display the aesthetics and culture of hip hop, primarily use hip hop music in the soundtrack, and/or use hip hop artists as main characters. Often hip hop films will use video clips from recorded concerts and documentaries.

In 1982, all the elements of hip hop were combined into a motion picture for the first time. Wild Style portrayed DJing, breaking, MCing, and graffiti art. It is a classic according to hip hoppers not only because of all the elements being portrayed, but also because it is set in the birthplace of hip hop, the South Bronx. This marked the beginning of movies and stories being told from a hip hop perspective.

Another movie that portrays the elements, but mostly graffiti art, is Style Wars.

After Wild Style, the next hip hop movie would focus on dance. Breakin' debuted in 1984 and focused on west coast hip hop. West coast dancers added to break dancing by introducing the boogaloo, popping and locking. These forms of dancing are the center of attention in this movie. The film was directed by Joel Silberg and written by Charlie Parker and Allen DeBevoise.

Hip hop is a form of musical expression and artistic subculture that originated in African-American and Hispanic-American communities during the 1970s in New York City, specifically within the Bronx. The term often refers to hip hop music, which consists of poetry that is spoken - rather than sung - over either original or sampled instrumental recordings mixed with new original sounds from drum machines, and/or other instruments. However, the culture has expanded far beyond its original roots, and now is considered a worldwide subculture comprising rapping, DJing, hip hop dance, and graffiti art - known collectively as "Four Pillars of Hip Hop".

The block parties of DJ Kool Herc at 1520 Sedgwick Avenue, where Herc would mix samples of existing records with his own shouts to the crowd and dancers, are generally considered the birthplace of hip hop. Kool Herc is credited as the 'father' of the art form. DJ Afrika Bambaataa of the hip-hop collective Zulu Nation outlined the four pillars of hip hop culture: MCing, DJing, B-boying and graffiti writing. Since its emergence in the South Bronx, hip hop culture has spread to both urban and suburban communities throughout the world.Hip hop music first emerged with Kool Herc and contemporary disc jockeys and imitators creating rhythmic beats by looping breaks (small portions of songs emphasizing a percussive pattern) on two turntables, more commonly referred to as sampling. This was later accompanied by "rap", a rhythmic style of chanting or poetry presented 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 DJ's. An original form of dancing and particular styles of dress arose among fans of this new music. These elements experienced considerable refinement and development over the course of the history of the culture.