Rap
Rap:Spoken words with an underlying rhythm section consisting of bass, drums, and occasional keyboard sounds. The words are spoken rhythmically, and accents in this speaking are very important.
Though
Rap has only gained prominence mostly in the 80’s and 90’s, it’s
true roots can be traced back further.In
the 40’s, an artist known as Cab Calloway used a call and response format
with his audience which is in itself on of the foundations of rap. Other
musicians who used this technique, or used a similar monologue-style in
their music include Lou Rauls, Charlie Daniels,
Bo Diddley, ArloGutherie,
and Peter, Paul and Marie.Also, the
rhythms of rap can be traced back to African rhythms, because rap utilizes
such rhythms in both in its speech patterns and in the music which accompanies
it.Later, the DJ’s which would prove
to be a cornerstone of rap started appearing in the
Eventually, rap began to take on a style of it’s own and enter the mainstream popular culture.The first rap recording to put rap on the charts was the Sugar Hill Gang’s “Rapper’s Delight”.Around the same time, King Tim III was also released. The unique thing about these two recordings was that they used live musicians rather than instrumental grooves from records.The term “Hip Hop” originated out of the lyrics of “Rapper’s Delight”.In the early 80’s, Kurtis Blow introduced the first rap single to go gold with “The Breaks”, and the white group Blondie introduced rap to white audiences in a somewhat diluted form with its hit single “Rapture”.Later, in ’82, political rap with controversial messages was introduced by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five with their album “The Message”.Along the same Time, Run DMC’s “It’s Like That” came out as well with political undertones.In ’86, a method called “Sampling” was born where rap artists took previously recorded tracks and then rerecorded over them.However, musicians began stealing from other musicians with this practice without giving credit, which caused some trouble.Run DMC further put rap into the mainstream by working with Aerosmith on “Walk this Way” in ’86.In the sameyear, the Beasie Boys, a white rap group, sold 4 million copies of their Album “Licensed to Ill”, the most successful rap album to date.The late 80’s saw the rise of a more offensive and confrontation style of rap in Gangsta Rap.This style was particularly championed by N.W.A., whose album “Straight Outta Compton” had to have one track, “Fuck Tha Police” removed because it was feared that it inspired violence against police.In ’92 Ice-T suffered the same treatment with his single “Cop Killer”.These songs were deemed to controversial by conservatives at the time.Meanwhile, at around the same time more mainstream acts helped to popularize a more dance oriented, less offensive style with artists like M.C. Hammer and Kris Kross.Today, rap is more popular than ever before and is a definitive part of mainstream popular musical culture.Some examples of artists today are Busta Rhymes, Ludacris, Dr. Dre, and there are many others.
Rap
has proved to be a strong voice for the African American community.It
has expressed political concerned as well as brought African American performers
into the limelight of popular culture.Unfortunately,
there is still much conservative opposition against it.This
concern though may be more than just a desire to censor curse words.After
all, the violent movies of white superstars like Sylvester Stallone and
Arnold Schwartzenegger are rarely attacked
by these same people.It is a mistake
to lump all rap artists together as “ganstas”
or offensive lyricists, because many address issues that are of concern
to the African American community, like racism, politics, and violence
in the streets.
Works Cited
Della.Rap.Retrieved
http://busboy.sped.ukans.edu/~music/rap/rap.html
Stancell,
Steven.(1996).RapWhoz
Who.
Lurkin,
Colin.(Ed.).(1998).The
Encyclopedia of Popular Music.(Vol.6).New
York: Groves Dictionaries Inc.