Hard drum beats and booming bass. Rhymes that are used to sell everything from cars to fast food. Fashion that screams individuality and sets the latest trends.
Rap music has gone from a marginalized, urban expression to America's dominate youthculture. In this month's Limelight, we will uncover the origins of this music and trace its growth to the present day.
THE FATHER OF HIP-HOP: When South Bronx DJ Kool Herc decided to repeatedly play the "break" of the rock, disco, and funk songs on his playlist (the "break" being the middle part of the song, the part most conducive to dancing), he took the pivotal first step in creating hip-hop. The invention of hip-hop came, as most inventions do, through necessity. South Bronx DJ Kool Herc loved the way that his patrons would react to the breaks of rock, disco, and funk songs, (the "break" of a song being the middle part of a song, the part most conducive to dancing) but would be frustrated by the brevity of each break. He then came up with an idea that earned him the name "The Father of Hip-hop": he began to "extend" the break by repeatedly playing it.The crowd responded by doing more complex dance moves that would eventually be known as “breakdancing” (not because of the moves that they were executing, but because of the part of the song, “the break,” that they were dancing to). Adding on to the party vibe were people who would speak chants to bring the festivities to the next level. Sometimes, the best speakers (known as MCs, or Masters of Ceremonies),would speak in rhymed couplets, using lines such as"Yes, yes, y'all. To the beat, y'all." in between verses in order to collect their thoughts. Thus, the format of the modern rap song was born. Furthermore, these MCs would acknowledge people that they knew in the crowd, beginning the custom of "shouting out" that continues in rap to this day. In 1979, the Sugar Hill Gang cemented this party atmosphere on record and in video with the song "Rapper's Delight," the first widely known rap recording.
NO FLASH IN THE PAN: Turntable pioneer Grandmaster Flash used the training he received in his original profession (electrician) to turn a light switch into the first crossfader (the device that allows a DJ to cut back and forth between two records that are playing at the same time). His ingenuity and technical proficiency continue to be an inspiration for many DJs today. The importance of the DJ in the creation of rap is further illustrated by the importance of Grandmaster Flash and the advent of Turntablism (using turntables and vinyl records to manipulate prerecorded bits of music as if one were playing an instrument). Flash, born Joseph Sadler, used the training he received in his original profession (electrician) to turn a light switch into the first crossfader (the device that allows a DJ to cut back and forth between two records that are playing at the same time). Flash’s song “The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the Wheels of Steel” is regarded as one of the first widely heard recordings of turntable wizardry, making Flash the forefather of such modern day practitioners as frequent Beastie Boys collaborator Mix Master Mike.(Flash’s protégé, Grand Wizard Theodore, would add onto Flash’s creation by pioneering a skill known as“cutting,” wherein the DJ puts his hand on a record to chop up a particular sound or word.) Furthermore, “The Message,” a song Flash recorded with the rappers in the supergroup Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, is recognized as a sobering slice of everyday urban life.
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