Comparing Medieval Chants and 20th Century Rap Essay

Rap music has become one of the most distinctive and controversial music genres of the past few decades. A major part of hip hop culture, rap, discusses the experiences and standards of living of people in different situations ranging from racial stereotyping to struggle for survival in poor, violent conditions. Rap music is a vocal protest for the people oppressed by these things. Most people know that rap is not only music to dance and party to, but a significant form of expression. It is a source of information that describes the rage of people facing growing oppression, declining opportunities for advancement, changing moods on the streets, and everyday survival. Its distinct sound, images, and attitude are notorious to people of all

21.  Composers began to write polyphonic songs that were not always based on chant, what were they based on instead?

The two genres can also be very different, using different levels of aggression and portraying messages differently. Since over the years music has developed now

Today, rap music is an ever growing genre of music that is often centered on hedonistic pursuits such as wealth, cars, drinks, and fame. About forty years ago, however, rap music focused on an entirely different subject matter. During the 1970s, African Americans sung rap songs to express the need for Black empowerment in society; though their form of singing was not called rapping back then, it was called spoken word poetry, a form of song in which verses of poetry were performed with a fixed beat before an audience. African Americans used this style of singing to express the discontent with the economics and politics during the 1970s. The black population was still economically and politically powerless

Rap in today’s culture is thought to be useless and to have a large amount of profanity and thought to be no good for other uses. In this article the author talks about how these non Adventists men became Adventists and used rap to help people. Who would have thought that rap could be used as a resource for helping people and bringing them to Jesus. They made something that is difficult to understand in the church easy to understand with rap. But how is this related to the electronic form. It’s related by the author using hyperlinks.

There was a lot of singing and shouting done in these secret meeting places. Shouting had two basic forms regular shouting and ring shouting. The “ring shout” a ritualized group activity clearly of African origin, which gained momentum in praise houses. Shouting is experienced when the Holy Spirit fills and empowers the worshipers so that they are unable to remain still. Much like today, when the Holy Spirit takes over your body, you can’t hold still and the Holy Spirit jumps from one person to

Religious songs were also another group. They were sung accompanied by clapping of hands and foot stamping. Slaves had their own ways of praying and worshipping in their native land which assisted them to be introduced to Christianity. Africans used to sing songs, give testimonies and worship to their gods and deities; a culture which they could not forsake. These songs were classified as work, jubilee and social. Work songs sung while working in the field to give the black community hope and freedom. Social songs contained social messages and the jubilee songs were sung in the church.

The early vernacular traditions didn’t only consist of religious, spiritual, and sacred practices, but there were secular forms of acts that existed in their lives. The early African Americans composed many superb narrative rhymes that really influenced the culture today. They could also be known as poets, and these writers created a foundation for the modern day artists. The different stories and tales that these passages were describing, had a strong impact on the blues, which is a part of the secular songs. Rap, a modern day form of rhyming music, has been influence greatly by the earlier secular songs and stories that the African Americans practiced. These songs started out as humor for the African Americans, and then sporadically evolved into sex, violence, and drugs over the past century. The children’s games song also has special meaning to them when they are used. The little messages that are implanted in these songs really try to impact a message to the listener. The different songs also portrayed the ongoing violence and abuse that is present in the American society. The hardworking slaves also had a series of songs that they sang, in order to express their hardships and perseverance in the work

Within History, Rap has been considered the “CNN for black people”; what started as a way to express struggles in the ghettos of New York has transformed into one of the most popular genres of music in America. The popularity of rap has allowed many to have their voices heard, created new fashion trends, and even developed popular modern slang used by people throughout the world. The commercialization of rap has resulted in a significant following of the culture in America but also a large number of people who oppose the music. The culture of rap music has a substantial impact on popular culture in America, and by using an open mind and looking past the violence and language, people can better understand the meaning behind rap and the perception that follows it in America today.

In this book, Jeffrey Ogbar talks about the beginning of rap, where it started, some of the artists of this genre and some of the controversial topics the artists rap about. He also talks about the usage of the N word as well as men calling women the B word. In the first chapter of the book, Ogbar contextualizes the debate by talking about the history of the minstrel figure in American popular culture, relying mainly on the work of W. T. Lhamon and Patricia Hill Collins. He talks about how the earliest manifestations of hip-hop music in the 1970s came from the Black Power movement and often included direct rejections of minstrel tropes for example in the artist KRS-One’s song “My Philosophy”. Before going on a chronological study of the internal debates that many rappers have over their relationships with the minstrel trope, Ogbar finds the source of the debate in early twentieth-century black writers’, mainly W.E.B Du Bois, interest in elevating many portrayals of African Americans in the arts, versus Harlem Renaissance writers’ rejection of the emphasis on

First, we must take note that all African American music, including Jazz, R&B, and Hip-Hop, descended from Africa. When slaves were brought over to America, their culture and traditions were brought along with them. This included the ancient tribal rhythms and musical traditions that took place among the griots of West Africa. These African traditions of tribal rhythms and chants led to become more than what anyone expected. According to RM Hip Hop Magazine in 1986, it is stated that “Rapping, the rhythmic use of spoken or semi sung lyrics grew from its roots in the tribal chants and the plantation work songs to become, an integral part of black resistance to an oppressive white society.” Chants and songs gave African Americans a sense of freedom and expression, something that was very much needed during the times of slavery. Eventually these chants and rhythms led to create the musical genres of the blues and urban jazz. During the late 1960s and 1970s, Toasting–which is the act of talking or chanting over a rhythm

The rap genre originated from some of the most underprivileged areas of New York in the 1970’s. What was once DJ’s talking over a beat they were playing to encourage more activity on the dance floor, turned in to a new genre of music called rap. The majority of earlier rap songs were fun inducing tracks, but in the 1980’s, Grandmaster Flash and The Furious Five introduced social consciousness to the genre. They sparked a long lasting impact on rap as it started to evolve rapidly as time went on. The 90’s was home to “gangsta rap,” followed by a softer side of song writing pioneered by the likes of Outkast and Kanye West in the 2000’s. Today, rap music is very diverse and more accepting of different styles than it was before. However, throughout the entire history of rap music, the one thing that has stayed

Rap music has African roots just like jazz, the blues and rock ‘n’ roll. African slaves sang songs to tell stories about the pain and struggles experienced during slavery. However, music was also a way to celebrate life, love and share tales about the life they had before slavery (Lommel 10). Rap music began in the slums of New York in

     Most rap songs that contain violence reflects incidents that occur in today’s society such as the Rodney King incident. “Rap music brings together a tangle of some of the most complex social, cultural, and political issues in contemporary American society.” Rap and hip-hop artists write songs that promote the killing of enemies as well as targeting institutions such as the church, government, and justice system (Ro 145) Most artists relive their own painful experiences over and over again though their music, delaying their own society’s process of recovery . for example, in 1989

Throughout history, music has been used to express the feelings of people or groups whom may have no other outlet to express themselves. The best example of this occurrence would be the lower class of America’s use of rap music. Rap music started out as a fun variation of disco with the purpose to make people dance and enjoy themselves, but it later transformed into one of the best outlets to express the struggles of poverty in the United States. The genre gained popularity when the song “Rapper 's Delight” hit the charts in the early eighties; rap evolved into a plethora of different styles from there, Gangster Rap formed with NWA in the late eighties, and rap really hit it’s zenith in the mid nineties. Modern rap began in the early starts of the twentieth century. Because of the storytelling that rappers do in the music, it gained notice in the inner city where the demographic could relate. Many young teen in the inner city environment built dream to be famous rappers just like their own favorite artists . Rap connects to me by its style, its purpose, and its political incorrectness.