REVISION
Rap as a genre has taken many forms since its inception, and there is much debate about the birthplace. I, for one, am going to take the history of rap from the West African Griots who served as the equivalent of town criers. They would tap out a simple beat on basic percussion and deliver a story to the beat. The roots of rap start in African culture and have been there ever since. African Americans have been the key contributors of almost every major genre change that rap has been through. In 1950, Joe Hill Louis released the song “Gotta Let You Go”, which contained rapped verses on top of a Blues beat. Another name that is thrown in for laying the foundation for rap is, surprisingly, Muhammed Ali. He used many elements in both is activism and his trash talk that people later took and used to start rap as a genre of music. In 1971, the song “Stanger in a Strange Land”, by Leon Russell was the first song with a section of rap to breaking into the Billboard Top 100. Rap, in the way we know it today, was formed by DJ Kool Herc and Coke La Rock in the later 1970’s. DJ Kool Herc invented the two turntable Hip-Hop style that is the norm in today’s music, and Coke La Rock was the first person to ever rap a verse over that kind of beat. Later, in 1979, the first mainstream rap song was released; “Personality Jock” by the Fatback Band, but flopped in sales. But the foundation was laid, and society was ready to embrace rap as a genre. The year later, “Rapper’s Delight” by the Sugarhill Gang was released and broke into the Billboard top 40. This song blew up, and reached massive sales heights, with over 2 million sales in the United States. This set the tone for the what rap could become, and many artists jumped on for their chance at fame. Rap was given the final push towards stardom by Blondie, with her song “Rapture”, which contained one verse of raped lyrics. This was the first song containing rap to break into the Billboard Top 10. The craze only grew from there.
Rap as a genre has taken many forms since its inception, and there is much debate about the birthplace. I, for one, am going to take the history of rap from the West African Griots who served as the equivalent of town criers. They would tap out a simple beat on basic percussion and deliver a story to the beat. The roots of rap start in African culture and have been there ever since. African Americans have been the key contributors of almost every major genre change that rap has been through. In 1950, Joe Hill Louis released the song “Gotta Let You Go”, which contained rapped verses on top of a Blues beat. Another name that is thrown in for laying the foundation for rap is, surprisingly, Muhammed Ali. He used many elements in both is activism and his trash talk that people later took and used to start rap as a genre of music. In 1971, the song “Stanger in a Strange Land”, by Leon Russell was the first song with a section of rap to breaking into the Billboard Top 100. Rap, in the way we know it today, was formed by DJ Kool Herc and Coke La Rock in the later 1970’s. DJ Kool Herc invented the two turntable Hip-Hop style that is the norm in today’s music, and Coke La Rock was the first person to ever rap a verse over that kind of beat. Later, in 1979, the first mainstream rap song was released; “Personality Jock” by the Fatback Band, but flopped in sales. But the foundation was laid, and society was ready to embrace rap as a genre. The year later, “Rapper’s Delight” by the Sugarhill Gang was released and broke into the Billboard top 40. This song blew up, and reached massive sales heights, with over 2 million sales in the United States. This set the tone for the what rap could become, and many artists jumped on for their chance at fame. Rap was given the final push towards stardom by Blondie, with her song “Rapture”, which contained one verse of raped lyrics. This was the first song containing rap to break into the Billboard Top 10. The craze only grew from there.
Run D.M.C., among others, was one of the very first rap celebrities. They produced massive hits, like “King of Rock”, “Walk This Way”, and “Peter Piper”. These were even larger hits than “Rapper’s Delight”, but the important part of this success what that it showed that you could consistently create rap hits, and that it wasn’t a “one-in-a-million” type scenario as some had previously believed. This catered in a new wave of refined, mainstream rap music.
Rap success wasn’t just limited to the African-American male community, as the 1980’s saw white group, the “Beastie Boys” get signed and release album “Licensed to Ill”, which outsold almost every one of rap’s earlier albums.
Starting around 2005, sales of hip hop music in the United States began to severely wane, leading Time magazine to question if mainstream hip-hop was "dying." Billboard Magazine found that, since 2000, rap sales dropped 44%, and declined to 10% of all music sales, which, while still a commanding figure when compared to other genres, is a significant drop from the 13% of all music sales where rap music regularly placed. A NPR culture critic noted that, "some industry experts say young people are fed up with the violence, degrading imagery and lyrics." HA. Ok. That really seems like youth culture. So pristine and innocent.
But others were saying that rap was more popular than it ever was. And that is how we get to current rap. You know the normal complaints against this artform. You’ve heard it. “Everyone can talk fast into a mic. They can’t sing because they have no talent. I can’t even understand what they are saying, I can’t believe people listen to them.”
While it is true that especially in the 21st century, mumble rap has become a popular coined phrase in the United States. We have artists lie Fetty Wap, Lil Uzi Vert, and Lil Yachty, and honestly, you need to listen to their music a copious amount of times or look the lyrics up online to understand what they are saying. But this fact shows the progression of rap. It’s no longer a Run D.M.C. or Sugarhill Gang world anymore. Rap has evolved into this club scene look. I should say MORE of this club scene look. Lyrics has been and always will be a huge part of rap, I don’t mean to sit here and tell you any differently, but rap has become more and more about the beat. It needs to be lit or gucci or hype or whatever hip slang you want you use. It has to make me what to run through a brick wall.
Rap has also now become a platform of acceptance. Weed? Doesn’t matter. Drugs? Whatever floats your boat man. Sex? Whatever gets you off. Rap is a beautiful, messy, melting pot of everyone just telling everyone else about their problems.
The alternative hip hop movement is not limited only to the United States, as rappers such as Somali-Canadian poet K'naan, Japanese rapper Shing02, and Sri Lankan British artist M.I.A. have achieved considerable worldwide recognition. In 2009, TIME magazine placed M.I.A in the Time 100 list of "World's Most Influential people" for having global influence across many genres. Todaydoe to the increasing use of music distribution through the internet, a diverse group of rappers and artists have hit their strides in ways previously thought impossible.
The internet not only helps rap with its reachability, but it also helps directors and artist to visually get their message across in music videos. Rap videos, arguably more than any other genre, has very poignant music videos that help gain awareness to political, social, and economical problems that are happening in America.
Rap music has come an unspeakably far way. From African Slaves, to rioters riding on top of elephants in Kanye West’s music videos on the internet. Oh what a trip rap has taken us on, and I am excited to see where it takes us next.
