The evolution of rap

Essay by lilbdUniversity, Bachelor'sA+, November 2004

download word file, 14 pages 4.7

THE EVOLUTION OF RAP

NOTES.

the spacing is a little messed up here, I couldn't get it to copy and paste in its correct format, but other than this paper took me an awfully long time to write, with the help of some other papers found on this site for research.

Rap music, spawned by hip hop culture, has become one of the most popular music genres since the 70s. Also one of the most controversial, rap began as a medium of communication and expression for people oppressed by poverty, violence and prejudice. Rap has given our culture insight into the living conditions of the working class people of the inner city. Many people realize that rap is not only music to dance to, it is also one of the most poetic forms of lyrics in mainstream music. Rappers like Run DMC, Grandmaster Flash, Queen Latifah, Tupac Shakur, Outkast, Common, The Fugees, Salt N' Pepa and many others have painted the picture of this century's urban lower class.

Just as jazz, rhythm & blues and various other music forms that originated in black culture have become huge parts of mainstream culture, the distinctive sounds of rap have made their way across the globe during the past few decades.

Hip hop first burst onto the New York scene in the 1970s. In-your-face lyrics, beats, break dancing and graffiti art were the prelude to rap music as we know it. These days, the components of dance, visual art, fashion and (of course) the music has made hip hop into the style and, more importantly, the sound of the times. If rap is the voice of hip hop, then graffiti is the art and break dancing is the movement. Hip hop has even spawned its own expression of fashion. Many people overlook the...