and former members Ice Cube, Eazy E, and Dr. Dre led the way as West Coast rap grew in prominence in the early 1990s. Their graphic, frequently violent tales of real life in the inner city. Snoop Dogg and other rappers on the East Coast such as Schoolly D, helped with the rise to the genre known as gangsta
In the 1970’s, he introduced the type of music into a style we know now as rap. He used turn tables and used other records to make longer segments. Soon deejays started to work with other rappers and talk in rhythmic sayings, this became to be known as hip hop. For years popular styles of club deejays like Herc, and Afrika Bambaataa, rapped originally in African American neighborhoods in New York. Rap hit the air on the mainstream for the first time in 1980, with well-known performers L.L Cool J, Run- D.M.C., Hammer, and Will Smith.
From then on, it came back to life and had significant impact on the post civil rights era during the 1960s and 70s. Now Hip hop has became one of the most, if not the most popular genre of this era today. Hip hop was not only changed and molded from social issues, but also from the influence of other music and events over the years. First I’d like to say how hip hop has changed over the years due to events and the other music during its time and explain how and why hip hop has changed and gone in so many different directions. Hip hop really came to the scene when block parties in New York City became really popular during the 1970s.
The rap genre has had many crossed over with many genres including, pop, rock and even country. Rap today is more mainstream than ever, due to 90’s music. 90’s rap “changed the game” for hip-hop, starting a new wave that is still continuing today. The 90’s rap paved the way for a lot of artist and still resonates with fans young and old. 90’s rap appeals to all, ad has a lasting impact on many generations to come.
“Hip-hop is a cultural movement that attained widespread popularity in the 1980s and 90s; also, the backing music for rap, the musical style incorporating rhythmic and/or rhyming speech that became the movements most lasting and influential art form” (Light & Tate, n.d, para. 1). Hip-hop consist of deejaying, rapping, graffiti, and b-boying or break dancing. It originated in the South Bronx in the late 1970s. The four elements that made hip-hop were a collection of diverse ethnicity in the Bronx credited to Dj Kool Herc, Grand Wizard, Grandmaster Flash, and many more (Light & Tate, n.d, para.
Soon after 1986, the use of samples was influenced in the music of both black and white performers, changing past thoughts of what make up a “valid” song. Rap music was first a cross-cultural product. Most of its important early practitioners, Kool Herc, DJ Hollywood, and Afrika Bambaataa, were either first- or second-generation Americans of Caribbean background. Kool Herc and DJ Hollywood are given credit for introducing the Jamaican style of cutting and mixing into the musical culture of the South Bronx. Herc was the first DJ to buy two copies of the same record for just a 15-second break (instrumental segment) in the middle.
Rap music began in the slums of New York in the 1970s. It has many different types with pop, gospel and gangsta rap being the three most popular. Pop rap was the first type of rap music to evolve from the hip-hop music genre. It experienced widespread popularity across many different races and socioeconomic groups. Pop rap was a way for rappers to make the music suitable for music television programs and radio stations (Lommel 48).
Dre released The Chronic in 1992 which peaked at number 1 on the Hip-Hop/R&B chart, and number 3 on the pop charts with the single “nothing but a G thang”. The Chronic took West coast rap in a new direction, influenced strongly by P funk artists, melding smooth and easy funk beats with slowly drawled lyrics. This later became known a G-Funk and dominated mainstream Hip-Hop for several years through a roster of artist on Death Row records., including Tupac Shakur, whose double disc album “All Eyez on Me” was a big hit with hit song such as “Ambitionz as a Ridah” and “2 of Amerikaz Most Wanted”, and Snoop Dogg’s album “Doggystyle” included songs “What’s My Name” and “Gin and Juice” both hit top ten. As Death Row Records became to build an empire around Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, and Tupac. It was entered a rivalry with New York City’s Bad Boys
Gradually gaining popularity during the 70s and early 80s, rap finally went mainstream with Sugar Hill’s Rappers Delight in 1979. Though, it was the music video for the song Rock Box by Run-D.M.C. that marked the beginning of a new era for rap—The Golden Age. The focal point of any golden age song was the lyrics. Whether it was Rakim, Kool G Rap, or KRS One, these rappers consistently referenced vast arrays of personal issues as well as those in the black community, ranging from poverty to racism.
Influences on rap music started as early as the 1940’s when Rhythm & Blues and Jazz included many of the elements that make up rap music. Rap music became its own genre of music in the 1970’s when DJ’s from New York, such as DJ Lovebug, DJ Cool Herc and DJ Hollywood, began manipulating, and scratching, records to make rhythms, beats, and other sounds. As this took place the rapper would speak over the music using rhymes. The rapper would use emphasis and accents with their lyrics. In 1979 the Sugar Hill Gang marketed the first rap single with their hit “Rapper’s Delight”.