The microphone was originally just a tool for making announcements, not for art. In the early 1970s, a Jamaican immigrant named DJ Kool Herc began hosting parties in the Bronx, New York, where he would speak over the breakbeats of James Brown records. These early speeches were simple shout-outs to friends and reminders about the party schedule, but they slowly evolved into rhythmic speech. By the end of the decade, this style had transformed from functional announcements into complex verses that defined a new genre. The first person to be recognized as a rapper in the modern sense was DJ Hollywood, a Harlem native who began rhyming syncopated to the beat of existing records in 1975. He adapted lyrics from Isaac Hayes and rhymed them to the breakdown of Love Is the Message, creating a style that lasted for nearly a minute without interruption. This innovation spread quickly, and by 1979, artists like Kurtis Blow and the Sugarhill Gang were receiving national radio airplay. The first rap recording to hit the charts was King Tim III Personality Jock by the Fatback Band, released just weeks before the Sugarhill Gang's Rapper's Delight. Blondie's 1981 single Rapture became the first number-one single on the United States Billboard Hot 100 chart to feature rap vocals, signaling the genre's arrival in the mainstream consciousness.
Roots In The Griot Tradition
Centuries before hip-hop existed, the griots of West Africa were delivering stories rhythmically over drums and sparse instrumentation. These oral historians and storytellers laid the groundwork for the Black rhetorical continuum that modern rappers continue to expand upon through creative use of language and rhetorical styles. The blues, rooted in the work songs and spirituals of slavery, was first played by black Americans around the time of the Emancipation Proclamation. This way of preaching, unique to African-Americans, called the Black sermonic tradition influenced singers and musicians such as the 1940s African-American gospel group The Jubalaires. Their songs The Preacher and the Bear from 1941 and Noah from 1946 are precursors to the genre of rap music. Blues musician and historian Elijah Wald has argued that the blues were being rapped as early as the 1920s, going so far as to call hip-hop the living blues. A notable recorded example of rapping in blues was the 1950 song Gotta Let You Go by Joe Hill Louis. Jazz, which developed from the blues and other African-American and European musical traditions, has also influenced hip-hop and has been cited as a precursor of hip-hop. Not just jazz music and lyrics but also jazz poetry. According to John Sobol, the jazz musician and poet who wrote Digitopia Blues, rap bears a striking resemblance to the evolution of jazz both stylistically and formally. Boxer Muhammad Ali anticipated elements of rap, often using rhyme schemes and spoken word poetry, both for when he was trash talking in boxing and as political poetry for his activism outside of boxing, paving the way for The Last Poets in 1968, Gil Scott-Heron in 1970, and the emergence of rap music in the 1970s.
The golden age of hip-hop, spanning from the mid-1980s to the early 1990s, was the time period where hip-hop lyricism went through its most drastic transformation. Writer William Jelani Cobb notes that in these golden years, a critical mass of mic prodigies were literally creating themselves and their art form at the same time. Rhymers like Public Enemy's Chuck D, Big Daddy Kane, KRS-One, and Rakim basically invented the complex wordplay and lyrical kung-fu of later hip-hop. The golden age is considered to have ended around 1993 or 1994, marking the end of rap lyricism's most innovative period. Before this era, old school flows were relatively basic and used only few syllables per bar, simple rhythmic patterns, and basic rhyming techniques. Melle Mel is cited as an MC who epitomizes the old school flow, with Kool Moe Dee stating that from 1970 to 1978 they rhymed one way, and then Melle Mel, in 1978, gave them the new cadence they would use from 1978 to 1986. He was the first emcee to explode in a new rhyme cadence and change the way every emcee rhymed forever. Rakim is credited with creating the overall shift from the more simplistic old school flows to more complex flows near the beginning of hip-hop's new school. Kool Moe Dee says that any emcee that came after 1986 had to study Rakim just to know what to be able to do. Rakim, in 1986, gave them flow and that was the rhyme style from 1986 to 1994. From that point on, anybody emceeing was forced to focus on their flow. Biggie introduced a newer flow which dominated from 1994 to 2002, and Method Man was one of the emcees from the early to mid-1990s that ushered in the era of flow. Rakim invented it, Big Daddy Kane, KRS-One, and Kool G Rap expanded it, but Biggie and Method Man made flow the single most important aspect of an emcee's game.
The Evolution Of Flow And Delivery
Flow is defined as the rhythms and rhymes of a hip-hop song's lyrics and how they interact. The book How to Rap breaks flow down into rhyme, rhyme schemes, and rhythm, also known as cadence. Staying on the beat is central to rap's flow, with many MCs noting the importance of staying on-beat. Poetry scholar Derek Attridge describes how this works, stating that rap lyrics are written to be performed to an accompaniment that emphasizes the metrical structure of the verse. Rap lyrics are made up of lines with four stressed beats, separated by other syllables that may vary in number and may include other stressed syllables. The strong beat of the accompaniment coincides with the stressed beats of the verse, and the rapper organizes the rhythms of the intervening syllables to provide variety and surprise. In 16-bars is the amount of time that rappers are generally given to perform a guest verse on another artist's song, with one bar typically equal to four beats of music. Since the 2000s, rapping has evolved into a style that spills over the boundaries of the beat, closely resembling spoken English. Rappers like MF Doom and Eminem have exhibited this style, and since then, rapping has been difficult to notate. The American hip-hop group Crime Mob exhibited a new rap flow in songs such as Knuck If You Buck, heavily dependent on triplets. Rappers including Drake, Kanye West, Rick Ross, Young Jeezy, and more have included this influence in their music. In 2014, an American hip-hop collective from Atlanta, Migos, popularized this flow, and is commonly referred to as the Migos Flow, a term that is contentious within the hip-hop community. The current record for fastest rapper is held by Spanish rapper Domingo Edjang Moreno, known by his alias Chojin, who rapped 921 syllables in one minute on the 23rd of December 2008.
Social Commentary And Political Voice
Rap music has played a significant role in expressing social and political issues, addressing topics such as racism, poverty, and political oppression. Hip-hop artists such as KRS-One, Hopsin, Public Enemy, Lupe Fiasco, Mos Def, Talib Kweli, Jay-Z, Nas, The Notorious B.I.G., and dead prez are known for their sociopolitical subject matter. Their West Coast counterparts include The Coup, Paris, and Michael Franti. Tupac Shakur was also known for rapping about social issues such as police brutality, teenage pregnancy, and racism. Schoolly D was the first notable MC to rap about crime, and early on KRS-One was accused of celebrating crime and a hedonistic lifestyle. After the death of his DJ, Scott La Rock, KRS-One went on to speak out against violence in hip-hop and has spent the majority of his career condemning violence and writing on issues of race and class. Ice-T was one of the first rappers to call himself a playa and discuss guns on record, but his theme tune to the 1988 film Colors contained warnings against joining gangs. Gangsta rap, made popular largely because of N.W.A, brought rapping about crime and the gangster lifestyle into the musical mainstream. Various politicians, journalists, and religious leaders have accused rappers of fostering a culture of violence and hedonism among hip-hop listeners through their lyrics. However, there are also rappers whose messages may not be in line with these views, for example Christian hip-hop. Others have praised the political critique, innuendo and sarcasm of hip-hop music. In contrast to the more hedonistic approach of gangsta rappers, some rappers have a spiritual or religious focus. Christian rap is currently the most commercially successful form of religious rap. With Christian rappers like Lecrae, Thi'sl and Hostyle Gospel winning national awards and making regular appearances on television, Christian hip-hop seems to have found its way in the hip-hop family. Aside from Christianity, the Five Percent Nation, an Islamic esotericist religious/spiritual group, has been represented more than any religious group in popular hip-hop. Artists such as Rakim, the members of the Wu-Tang Clan, Brand Nubian, X-Clan and Busta Rhymes have had success in spreading the theology of the Five Percenters.
The Language Of The Streets
Rap is famous for having its own vocabulary, ranging from international hip-hop slang to regional slang. Some artists, like the Wu-Tang Clan, develop an entire lexicon among their clique. African-American English has always had a significant effect on hip-hop slang and vice versa. Certain regions have introduced their unique regional slang to hip-hop culture, such as the Bay Area with Mac Dre and E-40, Houston with Chamillionaire and Paul Wall, Atlanta with Ludacris, Lil Jon, and T.I., and Kentucky with Cunninlynguists and Nappy Roots. The Nation of Gods and Earths, aka The Five Percenters, has influenced mainstream hip-hop slang with the introduction of phrases such as word is bond that have since lost much of their original spiritual meaning. GZA, for example, prides himself on being very visual and metaphorical but also succinct, whereas underground rapper MF DOOM is known for heaping similes upon similes. In still another variation, 2Pac was known for saying exactly what he meant, literally and clearly. Rap music's development into popular culture began in the 1990s, marking the beginning of an era of popular culture guided by the musical influences of hip-hop and rap itself, moving away from the influences of rock music. As rap continued to develop and further disseminate, it went on to influence clothing brands, movies, sports, and dancing through popular culture. The effects of rap music on modern vernacular can be explored through the study of semiotics. French literary theorist Roland Barthes furthers this study with his own theory of myth, arguing that a word has both its literal meaning, and its mythical meaning, which is heavily dependent on socio-cultural context. Most often, the terms that rappers use are pre-established words that have been prescribed new meaning through their music, that are eventually disseminated through social spheres. This newly contextualized word is called a neosemanticism. Neosemanticisms are forgotten words that are often brought forward from subcultures that attract the attention of members of the reigning culture of their time, then they are brought forward by the influential voices in society. For instance, the acronym YOLO was popularized by rapper, actor and RnB singer Drake in 2012 when he featured it in his own song, The Motto. That year the term YOLO was so popular that it was printed on t-shirts, became a trending hashtag on Twitter, and was even considered as the inspiration for several tattoos. However, although the rapper may have come up with the acronym, the motto itself was in no way first established by Drake. Similar messages can be seen in many well-known sayings, or as early as 1896, in the English translation of La Comédie Humaine, by Honoré de Balzac where one of his free-spirited characters tells another, You Only Live Once. Another example of a neosemanticism is the word broccoli. Rapper E-40 initially uses the word broccoli to refer to marijuana, on his hit track Broccoli in 1993. In contemporary society, artists D.R.A.M. and Lil Yachty are often accredited for this slang on for their hit song, also titled Broccoli.
Battles And The Art Of Freestyle
There are two kinds of freestyle rap, one of which is scripted recitation but having no particular overriding subject matter, and has yet evolved since the late 2000s to become the most commonly referred to style when the term freestyle is being used. Its primary focus has morphed from making up a rap on the spot, to being able to recite memorized or written lyrics over an undisclosed beat, not revealed until the performance actually begins. A variation is when a DJ or host will use multiple beats and will rotate them dynamically; it is the freestyler's job to keep their flow and not appear to trip up when the beat switches. Alternatively, keeping the rhythm or flow going can be substituted by switching styles. This involves the rapper doing a variation of changing one's voice or tone, and/or the rhythm or flow, and potentially much more. However, this must be done smoothly, else any notoriety or respect gained can very quickly be lost all together. Some rappers have multiple characters, egos, or styles in their repertoire. The second, more difficult and respected style, has adapted the terms off the dome, or off the top in addition to relatively less common older references like spitting, on the spot and unscripted. Often times these terms are followed by freestyle. This type of rapping requires the artist to both spit their lyrics over undisclosed and possibly rotating beats, but additionally primarily completely improvise the session's rapped lyrics. Many off top rappers inadvertently reuse old lines, or even cheat by preparing segments or entire verses in advance. Therefore, off the dome freestyles with proven spontaneity are valued above generic, always usable, or rehearsed lines or bars. Rappers will often reference places or objects in their immediate setting, or specific usually demeaning characteristics of opponents, to prove their authenticity and originality. Battle rapping, which can be freestyled, is the competition between two or more rappers in front of an audience. The tradition of insulting one's friends or acquaintances in rhyme goes back to the dozens, and was employed famously by Muhammad Ali in his boxing matches. The winner of a battle is decided by the crowd and/or preselected judges. According to Kool Moe Dee, a successful battle rap focuses on an opponent's weaknesses, rather than one's own strengths. Television shows such as MTV's DFX and BET's 106 and Park host weekly freestyle battles live on the air. Battle rapping gained widespread public recognition outside of the African-American community with rapper Eminem's movie 8 Mile. The strongest battle rappers will generally perform their rap fully freestyled. This is the most effective form in a battle as the rapper can comment on the other person, whether it be what they look like, how they talk, or what they wear. It also allows the rapper to reverse a line used to diss him or her if they are the second rapper to battle. This is known as a flip. MC Jin was considered World Champion battle rapper in the mid-2000s.
Global Reach And Future Forms
By the 21st century, rap had become a global phenomenon, influencing music, fashion, and culture worldwide. Throughout hip-hop's history, new musical styles and genres have developed that contain rapping. Entire genres, such as rap rock and its derivatives rapcore and rap metal, or hip house have resulted from the fusion of rap and other styles. Many popular music genres with a focus on percussion have contained rapping at some point, be it disco, jazz, new wave, funk, contemporary R&B, reggaeton, or even Japanese dance music. UK garage music has begun to focus increasingly on rappers in a new subgenre called grime which emerged in London in the early 2000s and was pioneered and popularized by the MC Dizzee Rascal. Increased popularity with the music has shown more UK rappers going to America as well as tour there, such as Sway DaSafo possibly signing with Akon's label Konvict. Hyphy is the latest of these spin-offs. It is typified by slowed-down atonal vocals with instrumentals that borrow heavily from the hip-hop scene and lyrics centered on illegal street racing and car culture. Another Oakland, California group, Beltaine's Fire, has recently gained attention for their Celtic fusion sound which blends hip-hop beats with Celtic melodies. Unlike the majority of hip-hop artists, all their music is performed live without samples, synths, or drum machines, drawing comparisons to The Roots and Rage Against the Machine. Bhangra, a widely popular style of music from Punjab, India has been mixed numerous times with reggae and hip-hop music. The most popular song in this genre in the United States was Mundian to Bach Ke or Beware the Boys by Panjabi MC and Jay-Z. Although Mundian To Bach Ke had been released previously, the mixing with Jay-Z popularized the genre further. Female rappers with mainstream success have included Lauryn Hill, Nicki Minaj, MC Lyte, Jean Grae, Foxy Brown, Lil' Kim, Missy Elliott, Queen Latifah, Da Brat, Trina, Megan Thee Stallion, Cardi B, M.I.A., CL from 2NE1, Iggy Azalea, Eve, and Lisa Lopes from TLC. Nicki Minaj is often regarded as the Queen of Rap. The ability to rap quickly and clearly is sometimes regarded as an important sign of skill. In certain hip-hop subgenres such as chopped and screwed, slow-paced rapping is often considered optimal. The current record for fastest rapper is held by Spanish rapper Domingo Edjang Moreno, known by his alias Chojin, who rapped 921 syllables in one minute on the 23rd of December 2008.