Although no single person invented rap, its influence has become pervasive within popular culture. From fashion and liquor brands to sports and dancing, its influence can be felt everywhere, from fashion shows and liquor brands to dance and nightclubs. Rappers are known for using complicated vocabulary and creating slang terms. What do you consider about instrumental.
Rap music first emerged at New York City block parties during the late 1970s; however, commercial viability didn’t come until 1979 with Sugarhill Gang’s release of “Rapper’s Delight.”
Kool Herc
Kool Herc is generally recognized as the creator of hip-hop music. After migrating from Jamaica to the Bronx in 1967 and hosting block parties with turntables playing funk and soul records, he discovered dancers became energized during drum breaks, therefore, using two copies of each record to extend them and maintain the rhythmic beat longer.
He pioneered the concept of the hype-man or an individual who would yell rhymes at crowds to hypnotize and encourage dancing, an essential aspect of Hip-Hop that continues today. He is widely considered the Father of Hip-Hop and is recognized as an inspirational Living Legend.
His innovative sound system inspired other deejays and created a whole new culture. Unfortunately, in 1977 at one of his events, he was attacked and withdrew temporarily before returning in the 1980s as an influence on rappers such as Afrika Bambaataa.
Coke La Rock
Coke La Rock was an intimate friend of Kool Herc and widely recognized as the pioneering rapper to perform rhymes over music. He played an integral role in creating hip-hop culture, often using his lyrics as shoutouts to friends and the community around him; his phrases “You rock, and you don’t stop” used on Sugarhill Gang’s 1979 hit Rapper’s Delight, also created by him. Unfortunately for his audience members, however, Coke La Rock did not perform under a stage name, meaning they never knew who was performing until after the performances were over!
Hip-hop was founded at block parties and park jams throughout the 1970s, yet it only saw commercial success after The Sugarhill Gang released their single Rapper’s Delight by The Sugarhill Gang in 1979. This allowed Kurtis Blow to become one of the first mainstream MCs and sign with Mercury Records as an official major label signer.
Sugarhill Gang
Many claim they were the first rapper, yet no single individual created rapping. Rap has existed for centuries in African tunes before emerging as part of the Black Power movement in the ’60s with Gil Scott-Heron’s spoken word poem “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised.”
Sugarhill Gang’s hit single, ‘Rapper’s Delight,’ released by Sylvia Robinson of Sugar Hill Records, was widely recognized as the initial successful rap song.
Sugarhill Gang was initially composed of Mike Wright (Wonder Mike), Henry Jackson (Big Bank Hank), and Guy O’Brien (Master Gee), with Mike Wright as Wonder Mike, Henry Jackson as Big Bank Hank, and Guy O’Brien as Master Gee – they became one of the first nationally popular hip hop groups. Additionally, they performed on major television shows before disbanding in 1985 – many modern rappers like LL Cool J credit the Sugarhill Gang as being at the origin of hip hop as a genre!
Grandmaster Flash
Joseph Saddler, aka Grandmaster Flash, was born January 1, 1958, in Barbados but raised in the South Bronx. As an infant, he took inspiration from the sounds of his parents and sister’s record collections, featuring artists like Glenn Miller, Louis Armstrong, Miles Davis, and other composers. Joseph became fascinated with music’s ability to be combined and remixed; using what he learned, he produced drum breaks that served both break dancers and rappers alike.
Flash’s 1982 hit “The Message” provided a vibrant glimpse into urban life that demonstrated hip hop’s effectiveness as an instrument of social commentary. Although he never reached mainstream success, he is widely acknowledged as one of the creators of an entire musical genre.
Other rappers take a less critical approach to street life and have been accused of glorifying crime and lifestyles that glorify vice. Schoolly D was one of the first rappers to openly discuss his involvement with gangs and drugs, while Ice-T has issued warnings against drug addiction and violence.
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