Important points about Rap/Hip-Hop!
- Hip Hop is not a genre, but a huge subculture (like Punk, Heavy Metal, etc).
- Hip Hop consists of what is known as “the Four Elements”: breakdancing (b-boy/b-girl), graffiti, turntablism (mixing and scratching, the work of the DJ), and rapping (the work of the MC); arguably the 5th element is “Knowledge” or being able to correlate all these elements together successfully.
- Hip-Hop was created to provide an outlet to inspiring artists in low socio-economic communities especially in the inner cities, started in NYC, the Bronx.
- Hip-Hop introduced the idea of “sampling” or taking beats and sounds from older songs and incorporating them into different songs.
- Early Rap/Hip-Hop tried to end ghetto poverty, bigotry and racism by reaching out to white audiences, connecting remote subcultures. Chuck D has called Hip-Hop “the Black CNN”.
- Rap/Hip-Hop grew from Jamaican use of DJ’s with turntables, sound systems and toasting. DJ Kool Herc, named the “founding father” of hip-hop was from a Jamaican family.
- Hip-Hop is an evolving genre, we see a lot of sub-genres grow each year, based off community and experimentation.
- Some sub-genres or “eras” of hip-hop are: The Golden Age, Electro, New School, Jazz Rap, Gangsta Rap, East Coast, West Coast, Miami Bass, Bounce, Reggaetón, Latin Rap, Trap and Drill.
- The concept of “rap” or the use of the “MC” came from “toasting” and eventually from African American roots, and “beat poetry”, dubbed over the music. Also called “rhythmic speaking”, lyrics have to have some kind of flow to them.
- Instrumentation: synthesizers, turntables, Rock band set up: (bass, drums, guitar, vocals), rappers (MCs)
Sites to reference…
Examples…