Rap Music Research Paper

All of Run-DMC’s accomplishments and milestones have helped to pave the way for many other Hip-Hop/Rap artist to come. The sound of "Rock Box" gave glimpse things to come as the group sought to incorporate the rock sound of the electric guitar in the song. 2

Like any style of music, hip hop has roots in other forms, and its evolution was shaped by many different artists, but there’s a case to be made that it came to life precisely on this day in 1973, at a birthday party in the recreation room of an apartment building in the west Bronx, New York City. The location of that birthplace was 1520 Sedgwick Avenue, and the man who presided over that historic party was the birthday girl’s brother, Clive Campbell—better known to history as DJ Kool Herc, founding father of hip hop.

Rap evolved and gained in popularity in the 1960's when a few revolutionary "DJ's," including Kool DJ Herc, DJ Lovebug Starski, and DJ Hollywood, began to work block parties in the Bronx. They would bring in large speakers, hook them up to a turntable and play two of the same record at the same time, repeating the same section of the vinyl over and over by scratching it. Other performers would chant and yell

Rap Culture's Influence on Black Communities Rap music, originated in the United States in the 1970s. Since the beginning of the rap era, rap stars have had a distinctive style that susceptible listeners have mimicked as rap has become increasingly popular. Rap stars set trends that their fans emulate, they contribute a lot to what is seen as fashionable to the youth. This leads to the exploitation of the black community and unrealistic body goals. From Rap Stars to Fashion Icons Rap originally was used to express the feelings of African Americans who were oppressed and often lived in crime-ridden neighborhoods and came from lamentable environments.

The hip hop or rap music is a style of popular music originated in the late 1970s in the South Bronx during a time characterized by political traditionalism and economic collapse. It started being played in gathering in public parks or individual homes. It was first used by the youngest members of the inner city black and Latino communities in New York. This kind of music, provided one of the few spaces where excluded minority youth could adopt and secure a public voice, and also a way in which members of these communities could express their worries and speak without restrictions.

Hip-Hop and rap resurfaced in the Bronx, in the 70’s, around this time people in Bronx were going through, poverty, unemployment, increased crime, etc. Which caused them to have freedom of expression through rhyming; creating the meaning rap. Although the meaning of the word “Rap” original meant to strike or blow. Which in my opinion fits perfectly because they are striking mentally with words instead of physically. This genre is basically a form of

This results from descendance of rappers from Griots. Griots were keepers of knowledge, including tribal history, and news of birth, death, and war. Many griots spread knowledge through spoken words just like hip hop rappers (Blanchard). Rappers create songs that spread news of their daily lives, dreams, and childhoods. They are viewed as the voice of the poor and urban African American youth who are misrepresented by the media. Rap is more than just saying words on a hip hop beat, it allows rappers to speak for their community and voice concerns. Rap was well known in African-American communities, but became prominent in 1979 with the song “Rapper’s Delight” by Sugarhill Gang. Within weeks, rap began topping the music charts which ultimately led to it gaining the name “new genre of pop music.” The first group to bring rap to a mainstream audience, MTV, was Run D.M.C. Run D.M.C was a trio of middle-class African Americans who came together in the early-1980s. They mixed rap with hard rock, shaping a new style of hip hop known as “New School Hip Hop.” New School Hip Hop was also pioneered by Def Jam which was a rising record label for rappers and DJ’s. Def Jam introduced many artist such as LL Cool J, the Beastie Boys, and Public Enemy. The Beastie Boys broadened rap’s audience, becoming one of rap's first all white male band, On the other hand, Public Enemy invested rap with radical black political ideology

The sound of hip-hop transitioned in the mid to late 1990s. “The genre was dominated by jazz-rap and alternative hip-hop”(Lawton). Artists began to experiment with subgenres and created jazz-rap and alternative hip-hop. These subgenres dominated the scene of rap music in the mid 90s. Hip-hop groups such as A Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul, and Souls of Mischief perfected the sound of these two genres and were very popular in the 90s.

The party was held in the recording room and held 100 or more people in. Then, the DJs started by turn tabling and the other was rapping. Needle droppings were added in and with the record looping. Mcs, microphone controllers, started getting popular and improving their beats ever since the party. In the 2000s, hip-hop moved to the South of America and

You would be astonished with how rap music has evolved over the last couple of years. Rap is supposed to tell a story about struggle or hard times, not attacking someone who likes a different color than you do. First let’s talk about rap and its actual meaning. Rap is one of the most salient music genres of the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. “Gangsta rap, in particular, with its focus on urban street life, has become a dominant means of expression within contemporary African American adolescent culture.

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

Kool Herc would play on his turntable at block parties in the Bronx and rap lyrics over the new, unique sounds he created. This led to the drastic explosion of popularity of rap and hip hop, trickling on to many different new sub categories under the now broad umbrella. Kool Herc would also employ dancers to help express his art, these dancers were known as break dancers or “b-boys.” (Smith, 1999). Kool Herc inspired many others to be involved in the hiphop industry, while also having support from graffiti artists and breakdancers that expanded on

Rap music was creating a negative influence throughout the music industry for awhile, it’s agreeable that modern day rap today mostly involves drugs, gangs, violence, money, etc. Although, a lot of it also gives inspiration or at least has that goal being set when creating the music. Most

Rap is a genre of music that has great history, songs, instruments, and rappers. The most used instruments in rap are drums and mix/sound boards. Rap music started when slaves would work in the fields and sing “call to answer” songs, where one person would sing part of the song and everyone else would answer in the next line. Nowadays, famous songs for rapping are “Lose Yourself” by Eminem and “Remember The Name” by Fort Minor. Famous rappers include Chris Brown, Wiz Khalifa, and Macklemore. Rap has an interesting history and popular songs.

First, the uniqueness behind rap music cannot be found in any other music. Because rap is lyric driven music, the speed and the pronunciation a rapper uses affects the outcome of the sound greatly. Also rap contains a lot of wordplay and figurative language that makes it complex and meaningful. The difficulty behind making a rap adds a competitive nature that most other genres do not