Hip-Hop's Musical Evolution of Rap

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Recommended: The beginning of rap and hip hop

The hip-hop culture began in the streets of New York City during the 1970’s and has gone through tremendous changes up until now. Hip-Hop consists of four elements: rap, graffiti, break-dancing, and the disc jockey. In this paper, I intend to fully explain the evolution of rap music, from its infancy to the giant industry it is today.

Hip-Hop emerged in the 1970’s upon the arrival of a one Kool DJ Herc. Kool DJ Herc migrated to the United States from Kingston, Jamaica and settled in the West Bronx of New York. Kool DJ Herc was a disc jockey that attempted to incorporate his Jamaica style of disc jockeying, which involved reciting improvised rhymes over reggae records. Unfortunately for Kool DJ Herc New York seemed uninterested in reggae at that time. This forced Kool DJ Herc to find another appealing sound in order to please his audiences, which he did. Kool DJ Herc adapted a new style, which involved him by chanting over the instrumental or percussion sections of the popular music of the day. He learned that by taking two identical records using an audio mixer, that he could play any segment over and over, there fore extending one segment for entire song (Light, 1999).

In the early 1970’s and with the emergence of disc jockeys such as Kool DJ Herc, hip-hop began to spread through urban areas of New York like “wild fire.” Kool DJ Herc, who actually coined the term “hip hop,” began to realize that this was the beginning of a new genre (Light, 1999).

As this phenomena evolved the party shouts became more elaborate, d jays began to incorporate little rhymes such as “throw your hands in the air and raise ‘em like you just don’t care.” With regards to Kool DJ Herc, as he progressed eventually...

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Light, Alan. Vibe History of Hip Hop. Book & CD ed. New York: Three Rivers Press, October 1999.

Scott, Cathy. The Murder of Biggie Smalls. 1 ed. St. Martins Press (Trade), October 2000

Ogg, Alex., David Upshal., and Alexander Ogg. The Hip Hop Years: The History of Hip Hop. Book & CD ed. Trans Atlantic Publications, Inc. September 1999.

Scott, Cathy. The Killing of Tupac Shakur. 1 ed. Huntington Press; September 1997

Rose, Tricia. Black Noise: Rap Music and Black Culture in Contemporary America (Music and Culture). 1ed. Wesleyan University Press; May 1994

Brewster, Bill and Frank Broughton. Last Night a Dj Saved My Life: The History of the Disc Jockey; Grove Press; August 2000

Perkins, William Eric. Droppin’ Science: Critical Essay on Rap Music and Hip Hop Culture (Critical Perspectives of the Past). Temple University Press, October 1, 1995

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