Rap History The Modern Era

Define Rap A form of rhymed storytelling, accompanied by rhythms electronically based music.

When does rap originate? In 1979, Rap emerged from hip-hop. Hip-hop was a youth movement that encompassed the voice of something new or the want for change.

Many historians believe rap emerged because of the destruction of a community. The Cross-Bronx Expressway Project destroyed minority communities. Due to the new expressway, the land value was depreciated and families were relocated.

Through hip-hop, communities started to shape up. People began going to clubs and parks to hear rappers. The rapper’s lyrics usually consisted of issues overlooked by the mainstream media.

Three elements of the hip- hop culture. GraffitiRappingBreakdancing

Many young men used rap as a mean of social status. In their lyrics they often use insults and support causes for change.

Why is the formation of rap important for the time? Graffiti and breakdance crews formed and became an aspect of reforming the communities. Block parties containing these elements helped form a sense of community.

There were more developments in turntable techniques. Also, there were two big releases: Rapper’s Delight by the Sugarhill Gang- a dance tune “The Message” by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five-discusses the ghetto life.

Rap is now looked upon as musical expression. Rap began sweeping the nation.

Early Promoters Russell Simmons went to clubs to see young rap artists and DJs. Many of Simmons’s friends are rappers, which he uses as the entertainment for his parties. He eventually works with the group known as Run-DMC. They would go on to sell many albums and have many hits.

Run-DMC

Rick Rubin Rick Rubin, a fan of all music, wanted to produce rap records similar to his favorite group, Run- DMC Rubin would form Def Jam records producing “It’s Yours” by T La Rock Simmons and Rubin were fans of each other and began to hit the club scene together.

Rubin would also sign a young man named Ladies Love Cool James. He also signed the Beastie Boys

Breakthrough Rubin and Simmons biggest break through came when CBS distributed Run DMC’s cover of “Walk This Way” This became Rap’s first Top 5 single and it was the first rap album to go platinum. This showed that rap was becoming more than just a community event, but instead it was mainstream.

Question: What were Russell Simmons and Rick Rubin’s contribution to Rap history? They were responsible for moving rap music from the local party scene to the national arena during its first decade.

Rap Artists Take Center Stage As rap music grew, different themes emerged in the music. Examples: Dancing Feuds Cultural Awareness

Trouble Brewing Many rappers began to focus on the persistent gang problems still prevalent in inner cities. Gangsta rap emerged Along with these issues, rap artists began to incorporate clothing and style in their music. Ex. “Put Your Fila’s On

On the West Coast, the mainstream media criticized rappers for glorifying the region’s gang lifestyle. The Group N.W.A. were forthcoming in transferring their lifestyle into controversial rhymes.

Their songs protested police brutality and racial profiling. Also, later they would be criticized for having lyrics that demean women.

What Did This Mean For Rap? With controversy there comes publicity. N.W.A. received letters from the F.B.I., local officials, etc. They were getting negative media attention, but it was still attention. Rap artist started to become a focal point in the music world.

Counter-attack Not all artists used their gangster lifestyle in their music. In fact if you listened to some music, you would not know that the performer was a formal gang member. Also, many artists wanted to present a more positive message.

Examples Kid’N Play-presented playful, party-like, style that allowed them air time on the radio, some hit movies, and even a Saturday morning cartoon. Will Smith-aka The Fresh Prince presented G rated materials that catapulted him to “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” and many movies.

Kid’N Play

The Fresh Prince

Other Positive Impacts Public Enemy pushed for political correctness. Salt-N-Pepper helped to pave the way for women entering the industry. They were the first female rap act to reach platinum sales, and they were the first to receive Grammy nominations.

Wordsmiths of the 1990s Gansta Rap dominated the charts in the early to mid- 90s. Rappers who emerged for their smooth but aggressive delivery include: Snoop Doggy Dogg, Tupac Shakur, and the Notorious B.I.G.

Lyrical content Most of lyrics dealt with street life and and the pursuit of wealth. Other lyrics targeted the dance audience. Ex. M.C. Hammer Vanilla Ice

Results... The friendly side of Hammer eventually lost appeal to the mainstream audience. The audience enjoyed the gansta genre. Vanilla Ice alienated fans with his clownish costumes and false “ghetto” background.

Results continued As mentioned earlier, the audience enjoyed edgier lyrics. This led to the rise of the Wu Tang Clan, Lil Kim, Foxy Brown, Missy Elliot, Lauren Hill, and many more stars.

What are the effects of the more graphic music? Although there are a variety of different artists, rap continued to receive steady fire from the media for the content of its lyrics. To most people, rappers projected a violent image. Do you agree with this? Explain.

Politics of an Art Form The First Amendment states: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press;or th eright of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for redress of grievances.”

Does the government have the right to challenge an artists; to record profane, violent, or sexual explicit lyrics? Explain.

The Challengers: Tipper Gore helped to form the Parents’ Music Resource Center in This group pushed for record companies to rate artists’ records similar to that of film ratings.

Two Incidents Florida, 1989: Police set up a sting to arrest three retailers for selling “2 Live Crew’s” albums to children under 18. The district judge stated that the album was obscene, this led to the arrest of the 2 Live Crew members twice at a live concert. They were acquitted both times.

Incident Two In L. A., NWA’s release “Straight Out of Compton,” went platinum with very limited playing time on the radio. The controversial song “(Censored) the Police” was viewed as a direct threat to law enforcement officials. This led to a letter from the F.B.I. Once the letter was publicized, N.W.A. went on a U.S. tour which saw a massive following, and no violence occurring during the tour.

So Both of these incidents saw free speech challenged. Critics praised the honest expression, the government felt a need to censor the artists.

Other Examples Ice-T’s “Cop Killer” which you can figure why it was pulled from his album. Paris’s “Bush Killa” is a first person narrative that describes killing of the president. Boycotts led to the songs being pulled from their albums.

Is this Fair? Explain. Consider this: Madonna’s work was considered obscene, but she was not being dropped from record labels, as Ice-T and Paris were.

Challenger: C. Delores Tucker Chairperson of the National Political Congress of Black Women. She (and others) led an assault on Time Warner for releasing lyrics that were “pornographic and detrimental” to black youth.

Tucker cont. She felt that gangsta rap “celebrates the rape, torture, and murder of women.” She also believed that executives wanted the rappers to put the lyrics in their music to increase record sales.