THE HISTORY OF RAP
Part one of an excursion in the history of the infamous culture of diss tracks in rap music prompted by the article “Kendrick Lamar vs. Drake: A New Rap Beef for the Streaming Era” by Neil Shah.
As I was on the music section of the Wall Street Journal, I saw an article titled “Kendrick Lamar vs. Drake: A New Rap Beef for the Streaming Era” written by Neil Shah, and I started wondering where the whole diss track situation became a thing in rap music.
Despite not being a huge fan of rap music, I respect the craft of rap lyricism and the ingenious word play on syllables and/or on time which shows the incredible talent behind the rapper. Rap is an art form and it’s unfortunate that with its complex history, it became a soulless contraption of monotonous uninspired sounds with shallow lyrics on top, which talk mostly about fornication, money, violence, guns and big chain and cars.
«Talking out your neck, sayin' you're a Christian
A Muslim, sleeping with the jinn
Now that was the sin that did Jezebel in
Who you gon' tell when the repercussions spin?
Showing off your ass 'cause you're thinking it's a trend
Girlfriend, let me break it down for you again
You know I only say it 'cause I'm truly genuine
Don't be a hard rock when you really are a gem
Baby girl, respect is just a minimum
Niggas fucked up and you still defending 'em»
While I was writing this post, I noticed how long it became so I’ve decided to split this entry into two. Today’s post is about the history of rap.
The Origin of Rap
To understand how the culture of diss rapping came about, we need to look at the past that created the genre. This is a brief excursus. I warmly recommend reading the beautiful and extensive article “Rap/Hip Hop” on the Carnegie Hall’s website.
Believe it or not, rap started as an accident at block parties in New York City. In the early 1970s, MCs would talk over the extended isolated percussion breaks of either funk, soul, or disco songs in order to introduce the next song that the DJ was about to play.
As any good presenter, the MC needed to energize the crowd through his presentation, so he interacted with the crowd and entertained it with jokes. It soon evolved into rhyming while keeping the tempo of the song, and the MCs were now called “rappers”.
Later on, rap became a rebellion drenched in the hip-hop movement against the music played in club houses and at parties at that time which was seen as too structured.
Commercial Success and the Old School Rappers
Until 1979, the art form of rapping, which at that time it was at its infancy, was considered a fad. What happened in 1979 to make things different? The Sugarhill Gang released Rapper's Delight (which was indeed a delight and quite different from what was offered at that time) – the first professionally recorded rap which was then commercially distributed.
We all probably mostly remember this part of the rap:
«A with a hip-hop, the hippie to the hippie
The hip, hip-hop and you don't stop the rockin'
To the bang-bang boogie, say up jump the boogie
To the rhythm of the boogie, the beat»
This was soon followed by The Breaks by Kurtis Blow, the very first rapper to be signed to a major record label, Mercury Records. The single first ranked number 87 on the Billboard Hot 100 and it was gold certified quickly after.
«Brakes on a bus, brakes on a car
Breaks to make you a superstar
Breaks to win and breaks to lose
But these here breaks will rock your shoes
And these are the breaks
Break it up, break it up, break it up»
With the years, rapping refined itself as an artform and as a respectable music genre which was even featured in movies like Wild Style (1982), Style Wars (1983), Beat Street (1984), Krush Groove (1985) and Disorderlies (1987). Alongside the development of rap, DJing had a revolution: DJ Grand Wizard Theodore accidentally invented scratching which would be then amply used in rap tracks, and in many other genres like alternative rock (listen to “Drive” by Incubus).
«At first I ignored 'em 'cause, see, I know their type
They got drunk and got guns and they wanna fight
And they see a young couple having a time that's good
And their egos wanna test a brother's manhood»
The Golden Age of Rap (1985–1995) and the New School Rappers
Needless to say, with all that push into the public eye, rap had its golden age which lasted until the mid-1990s. Names like Run-D.M.C, Ramkin, Ice-Cube and let’s not forget Salt-n-Pepa (who introduced the female voice into the mix) ran the show.
«Push it good
(Ah, push it) push it real good
(Ah, push it) push it good
(Ah, push it) p-push it real good»
^ right? Some good old 1980s fun!
Not only was there the distinction between Old School Rappers like Kurtis Blow and New School rappers like Run-D.M.C., but also between different styles of rap.
The DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince had a more pop-ish and humorous style with “Parents Just Don't Understand” (1988). Run-D.M.C. with a more rock heavy sound (“Walk this way” ft. Aerosmith, 1986) invaded the charts. Hardcore rap symbolized by NWA (“Straight Outta Compton”, 1988) and Public Enemy (“It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back”, 1986) focused more on the societal problems such as the deterioration of the cities, rampant homelessness, drug addiction which heavily characterized those years, and the ongoing confrontations between people of color and the police. And let’s not forget about Lauryn Hill and De La Soul with their R&B/jazz inspired raps (“Ring Ring Ring”, 1991 by De La Soul).
«I said, "Mom, what are you doing, you're ruining my rep"
She said, "You're only sixteen, you don't have a rep yet"
I said, "Mom, let's put these clothes back, please"
She said "no, you go to school to learn not for a fashion show"»
-“Parents Just Don't Understand” (1988) by DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince
The distinction between rap styles was then extended to lyricism: Conscious rap like Public Enemy, Boogie Down Productions; and “Gangsta” rap like Ice-T, Ice-Cube, NWA, GangstaRap.
The mid-1990s to the mid-2010s: A new (rap) era
Getting closer to 2024, we probably are aware of the most prominent figures in rap or hip hop: Jay-Z, Kendrick Lamar, Drake (maybe?), Nicky Minaj, Cardi B, Machine Gun Kelly, Mac Miller, and many others.
In this period, I cannot not recognize the importance that Kanye West played in this genre: from the early 2000s onwards, he contributed to moving the attention away from the heavy topics of gansta rap and put into the spotlight numerous topics, like his faith, in his own unique (and sometimes overwrought) style.
The same goes for Eminem, who won the heart of diverse people with his skillfulness in both lyricism and delivery. Do we remember “Rap God” (2013)? He disproved the common misconception that white people cannot rap and are inauthentic – myth laid down by Vanilla just the decade before.
That’s it for today’s entry. As you can see, I’ve added the links to every song mentioned so you can have a listen and get more in the mood for next week’s post about diss tracks and how they came about.
Question of the day: what is your favorite rapper? Moreover, what’s your favorite rapping style?
NWA makes me laugh every time.