History of Rap
Hiphop from the begining, the history of rap.
Here you can read what´s happened in the world of rap since it started.
Go to the year you want to read about below or just scroll down to start from the begining.
1970/1982/1983/1984/1985/1986/1987/1988....Next Page
1970
Jamaican born DJ Kool Herc moved to New York in the late 1960's and brought with him the Jamaican tradition of "toasting", which involved reciting improvised rhymes over instrumental sections of reggae records. He used twin turntables and cut back and forth between two seperate records to create a new sound. He would chant things like "Throw your hands in the air/And wave'em like ya just don't care!". This type of crowd pleaser was known as "rapping" to the crowd. At that time rap was not yet known as 'rap' but called 'MCing'. He later turned his attention to DJing and let two friends Coke La Rock and (the orginial) Clark Kent handle the mic. This was rap music's first MC team. They became known as Kool Herc and the Herculoids.
Grand Wizard Theodore was the first DJ to scratch which he discovered accidently. Playing his music too loud during a practice session, while his mother was yelling, he held back the record and it began to move back and forth in the earphones. He went on to experiment with different records trying to create a sound where people could understand it. He has since been awarded by the International Turntable Foundation for creating the scratch.
"Rappers Delight" by the Sugar Hill Gang was one of the first rap recordings. It became a huge international hit and went on to become the best selling 12inch record ever, selling over 2 million copies world wide. This is where the term "hip hop" was coined. They used beats and base lines from the disco track "Good Times".
Utilizing beats from a wide variety of sources such as old gospel, jazz, James Brown/Motown soul, funk, disco, drum machines, and remixing them became known as sampling - the musical core of hip hop.
1982
Grand Master Flash, the founding father of scratching and quick mixing offered a demo to a group called the Furious Five which consisted of five mc's - Melle Mel, Cowboy, Rahiem, Mr Ness and Kid Creole. At the time the furious five weren't convinced the demo was worth recording but they did and in just over a month"The Message" sold over a million copies. The Message was the first rap record to break away from typical rap lyrics boasting about being the "biggest" and the "baddest" describing the hopelessness of the American Black ghetto's.
1983
The hard hitting anti-cocaine single "White Lines (don't do it)" recorded by Grand Master Flash and Melle Mel became a classic rap anthem and an international hit. In only a few years hip hop came from the underground and hit the mainstream.
Afrika Bambaata's style was strongly influenced by a German band called Kraftwork. Inspired by the single "Trans-Europe Express" Afrika Bambaata Assim took their electronic sound and added rap. He joined forces with Soul Sonic and gave birth to synthesized electro rap sound. "Planet Rock" was a huge hit selling 620,000 copies in the US alone. Not only was dance music shifted into another gear but a whole new dance culture was born. Along came hip hop crews, graffiti artists and break dancing and hip hop began to spread into other forms of music.
1984
14 year old Roxanne Shante released her first single "Roxanne's Revenge", her reply to U.T.F.O's "Roxanne Roxanne" which criticised Roxanne for turning down their advances. With its funky back beat this single was a massive hit selling over 1/4 million copies in the New York area alone. It wasn't untill five years later she cut her first album "Bad Sister".
RUN D.M.C exploded into the rap scene with their new style of rap, gold chains and sportswear, they created a individual street style. They even wrote a song dedicated to their shoes "My Adidas". It was such a huge part of their image, Adidas paid the band a six figure sum to wear their clothes making RUN D.M.C the first band to be sponsored by a clothing company.
Miami based rappers 2 Live Crew portrayed their themselves as macho and extremely sexist. They hit the headlines when they released their album "As Nasty As They Wanna Be" becoming the first album in the US to be deemed obscene in the Law courts. They appealed on the grounds of free speech.
Def Jam released RUN D.M.C's debut album "Raising Hell". It sold 3 million copies in the US alone and was the first rap band to cross rap with rock (Aerosmith - "Walk This Way") and feature on the front cover of Rolling stone.
"Fight for your right to party" by the Beastie Boys became an anthem for rebellious youth all over the world. They made Volkswagon pendants their symbol and soon fans were stealing them from cars across Europe and America. Ironically the three middle class white boys who started out supporting Madonna on tours went on to become one of hip-hop's biggest selling acts. Their debut album "License to Ill" sold over 4 million copies and topped the US charts for 7 weeks.
LL Cool J which stands for Ladies Love Cool James (just in case you wanted to know!) was discovered by the Beastie Boys in 1984 when he was just 15 years old. Influenced by RUN D.M.C, LL created his own identity with the beat box and street style raps. Adding a sexy element to rap, "I Need Love" was the first ever rap ballad and gave LL his first European top 10 hit. LL later earned his heavyweight title as raps longest lasting superstars, continuously updating his rap style, he still maintains his original appeal.
Rapper KRS-1 meet DJ Scott La Rock at a shelter for the homeless in the Bronx. Working under the name BDP the two recorded the contraversial album "Criminal Minded" which centred around gun culture. It sold over 1 million copies and it was instrumental in starting the gangster rap movement. During a street dispute which didn't even involve him, DJ Scott La Rock was shot dead. KRS-1 went solo releasing "My Philosphy" as a retaliation to end the violence. To this day KRS-1 continues to campaign raising money and creating an awareness of the plight of America's inner city ghetto's and violence in the community.
Eric B and Rakim were responsible for a more refined and relaxed style of rap. "Follow the Leader" at the time was musically totally orginial. With its grumbling bass, flutes and strings its influence can still be heard today. On the opposite end of the scale their debuting single "Paid in Full" used heavy sampling, infact over 30 remixes, resulting in James Brown and Boby Byrd taking legal action for using their material without payment or permission. As a result, organisations have been set up to pay the orginial musicians for their material. Now, the average rap album costs an extra $30,000 just to pay for the samples.
With a hardcore controversial stance and sociopolitical edge, Public Enemy caused a sensation with their revolutionary and politically charged style of rap. Up until this point in hip-hop's short life-span, it had been centrally a party-based style of music, Public Enemy changed that forever. Taping into the real life hardships and frustrations of America's black community, their continous themes of black rage and alienation caused a wave of media criticism. "Don't Believe the Hype" was Public Enemies response to the media's negative portrayal of the groups supposedly violent, anti-semitic and sexist image. Taking only 30 days to complete, Public Enemy released their second album "It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back" which went Platium.
Unlike Public Enemy, EPMD never felt the need to provide political rap and believed music was strictly business. It took just 6 weeks for their album "Stirctly Business" to hit number 1 in the US. They built a small rap empire on the strength of 3 gold albums and a serious approach to music.
NWA comprising of Dr Dre, DJ Yella, MC Ren, Eazy E and founding member Ice Cube based their lyrics on violence, drugs and guns receiving instant media coverage. They gave voice to urban alienation and black rage. Giving a grim account of the rising death toll amoung young blacks as a result of feuding gangs and crack dealers, NWA bought America's inner city ghetto's to the attention of the American people. Singles like "Fuck the Police" aggrivated the FBI accusing the group of encouraging violence and hatred towards the police but NWA claimed to be "reporters" on what was really happening on the streets of Los Angeles. Radio and television stations kept playing their music and "Straight Outta Compton" went gold after just 6 weeks. Their reputation as the worlds best known gangsta rappers still continues after the group spilt up to pursue solo projects.
Backed by DJ Spinderella rap duo Salt-N-Pepa, released 'Push It' which started out on the B-side of the single "Tramp". DJ's started playing "Push It" instead of "Tramp" and it had an immediate impact on the New York rap scene. Their debut album "Hot, Cool and Vicious" stayed in the American charts for over a year, and the single sold over 1 million copies confirming Salt-N-Pepa as the first female rappers to do so. A year later the Grammies created a new category in their awards - Best Rap Act. Salt-N-pepa were nominated but refused to attend the ceremony when they discovered that this particular award would not be televised. The Ladies took this stance to show solidarity with hip-hop's growing status. In 1991 Salt-N-Pepa released 'Lets Talk About Sex' successfully turning around the tables on men treating them like sex objects. This single went gold making Salt-N-Pepa the most commerically successfull rap duo of all time.
Rapping since he was twelve years old, Wil Smith met Jeff Townes at a party. They soon began performing together as DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince. They spun a new brand of hip-hop, devoid of politics or exclusionary rhetoric. They provided more playful lyrics and a different form of scratching called "transforming" on their debut album "Rock The House". DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince were awarded the first ever "Best Rap Performance" Grammy for"Parents Just Don't Understand". Subsequently in 1989, they where nominated for "I think I can Beat Mike Tyson", from the album "And in This Corner". In 1991 they won yet another Grammy and in 1992, they were honored by the NAACp Image Awards for Outstanding Rap Artists.
