As a consequence many turned to gangs for support and protection, and to drugs and hard core weapons to defend themselves, ultimately against other gangs. As a result, street violence, and murders and crime in general soars in the US. Cocaine became the currency of a street culture in the US of drugs, violence and crime. As such, the violent, economically bleak conditions facing inner-city African American youths created a sense of despair. ‘We are not living no American Dream,’ rapper Kam once commented, “We in a nightmare. Like I said, this is hell for us. Anything else would be an improvement, you know what I am saying, we can’t get no lower, we can’t get no farther back.” Hip-Hop and Rap is the music combination which expresses this reality and this generation's desire to break out of it. |
Hip Hop's early evolution into a form distinct from R&B occurred around the time sampling technology and drum- machines became widely available to the general public at a cost affordable to the average consumer - not just professional studios. Drum-machines and samplers were combined in machines that came to be known as MPC's or 'Music Production Centers'. Turntablist techniques – such as scratching (attributed to Grand Wizzard Theodore), beat mixing and or matching, and beat juggling – eventually developed along with the breaks, creating a base that could be Rapped over, in a manner similar to signifying, as well as the art of toasting, another influence found in the emergence of the style. |
Kool DJ Herc Live
Grand Wizard Theodore
|
Rap
Rap or Rapping, also referred to as 'MCing' or 'Emceeing', is a vocal style in which the artist or Rapper speaks lyrically like a poet 'on steriods' in rhyme and verse, generally to an instrumental or synthesized beat. Rappers can use sampling from other songs or sequenced portions of other songs and can also incorporate synthesizers, drum machines, and live bands. |
Top Ten Rappers and Hip Hop Artists
|
Man Parrish - Hip Hop Be Bop
|
Sha-Rock & Inf - Sherriffs Rap
|
Afrika Bambaata - Looking For The Perfect Beat
The MCs DJ Kool Herc and Coke La Rock influenced the vocal style of Rapping by delivering simple poetry verses over Funk music breaks, after party-goers showed little interest in their previous attempts to integrate Reggae-infused toasting into musical sets. DJs and MCs often added call and response chants consisting of a basic chorus, allowing the performer to gather his thoughts (e.g. "one, two, three, y'all, to the beat"). Later, the MCs grew more varied in their vocal and rhythmic delivery, incorporating brief rhymes, often with a sexual theme, to differentiate themselves and entertain audiences. Often these were collaborations between former gangs, such as Afrikaa Bambaataa's Universal Zulu Nation. Melle Mel, a Rapper with The Furious Five is often credited with being the first rap lyricist to call himself an 'MC'. Although many early MCs recorded solo projects of note, such as DJ Hollywood, Kurtis Blow and Spoonie Gee, the number of solo artists increased only later when soloists with stage presence and drama, such as LL Cool J. emerged. |
Bomfunk MC - Freestyler
Best Hip Hop Ladies
Grandmaster Melle Mel & The Furious Five
|
B-Boying During the early 1970s B-boying arose during block parties, as b-boys and b-girls got in front of the audience to dance both distinctively and frenetically. The style was documented for release to a world wide audience for the first time in documentaries and movies such as Style Wars, Wild Style, and Beat Street. The term "B-boy" was coined by DJ Kool Herc to describe the people who would wait for the break section of the song, getting in front of the audience to dance. |
B-Boy Dance Competition
|
Subgenres of Hip Hop/Rap Many sub-genres of Hip Hop/Rap have developed over time - each one having origins in the, and self described by their, names, such as Disco Rap, Gangsta Rap, Freestyle Rap and many, many others. |
Top 30 Best Rap/Hip Hop Song
|