The Development of Rap and Hip Hop
Rap
A century before Rap Music developed between the American public, West
African musicians were developing rhythmical story-telling and folk artists
from the Caribbean, known as singing poets, were developing music similar to
that of Rap.
Rap Timeline
1970s- Rapping became popular in the US common within the African
American community, were it was known as street music.
1980s- Record producers noticed the emerging musical genre of Rap when Sugarhill
Gang released the hit ‘Rapper’s Delight’. Other bands such as Beastie Boys and
Salt-n-Pepa flourished.
1990s- Rap underwent a transformation from an old-style with simple
lyrics to a new-school-style with complex lyrics. Distinguished artists at the
time were: The Notorious B.I.G, Snoop Dogg, Tupac Shakur and Eminem
1990s- Present- Rap artists of present times include: 50 Cent, Ludacris
and Jay-Z.
Hip Hop
The key ideas explored in Rap music are mostly sex, drugs, and
crime. This is evident in Snoop Dogg’s ‘Gin and Juice’ song, when he
says, “Rollin down the street, smokin ENDO, sippin on gin and juice/ Laid
back [with my mind on my money and my money on my mind]”
Hip hop culture is a form that flourished from a mixture of graffiti art
along with breaking. It developed from the fusion of American and African rhythms. This is what
links Rap closely to Hip Hop culture, because they both emerged from rhythmic story-telling
joined with drumming.
Queen Latifah
She was born the 18th of March 1970 in East Orange, New
Jersey. Her birth name is Dana Elaine Owens. She was one of the most
influential artists in the rap and hip-hop music, since she was a woman in a
male-dominated genre.
She came from a police family, which later influenced in her vision of
life and song rhythms. After working as an employee at Burger King, she
discovered her like for music and entered into the rap and hip-hop genre.
She is known for her songs:
‘U.N.I.T.Y’
‘Just another day’
‘Ladies First’
‘Go head’
Just Another Day- Queen Latifah (1993)
Opinion
I personally believe that rap music is very good in conveying
issues such as that of poverty or drugs or sexism, but recent developments in
rap music have been tilted more towards a sex-based vision of everything, that
is why I don’t listen to it. Not only the spoken words but also the videos are
too sex-related.
References
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