1. Social and Historical Context
1980s Rap & Hip Hop
Social and Historical Context

2. What we’ll be looking at today
Picking up where Funk & Reggae leave off
The origins of the “DJ” and the “MC”
Putting Rap /Hip Hop in Context
Elements of Hip Hop
The development of Hip Hop
The Playlist

3. Funk & reggae Influences on early Rap
The Funk
Jamaican Reggae
Emphasizes repeating patterns or “grooves” with out fixed chord progressions
Singer can improvise w/o sticking to verse/chorus structure
George Clinton established a celebration of Afro-American music based on free musical speech
This is the first brick in the development of Hip Hop
The Rudeboyz of Kingston need to show off “gang identity” establishes the eventual “attitude” of the Hip Hop movement
Rudeboyz expressed themselves with portable sound systems
Rudeboy gangs mix fast-paced rhythmic singing with prerecorded background music, to reinforce messages of gang identity

4. What People Think is the first “Rap group”
Rapper’s Delight was released in 1979 by a group called The Sugarhill Gang
Rapper’s Delight-Sugarhill Gang
It does incorporate a “rapper” speaking over Disco music
It was a big hit in sales and popular in the clubs
However, this group is not considered to be the pioneer due to the nature of their start. They were a group put together by a label-NOT OG
The real innovator of Hip Hop started somewhere very different

5. The DJ A modern example: Mix Master Mike DJ Sampling Momma Said Knock You Out Dr. Dre The Chronic Funk Samples
The Origins of the “DJ”
The first real Dj:
DJ Kool Herc- born Clive Campbell
Jamaican-American community of the Bronx
Inherited his parent’s taste for Reggae sounds of Kingston
Created a strong sense of community in poor black neighborhoods by throwing “Block Parties” and dances
Originated “Break Beat Djing”
Kool DJ Herc

6. The “MC” A modern example: Tribe Called Quest
Hip Hop MC = a musician speaking rhythmically, usually about who I am / who we are / how we got here / why you listen to us
Afrika Bambaataa- Born Kevin Donovan- prominent leader of a street gang in South Bronx in 70s
Discovered the Zulu tribe on a trip to Africa in the 70s-discovered the richness and depth of African Diaspora
Established the “Zulu Nation” in NYC to bring more positive forces into the poor black neighborhoods of NYC
Afrika Bambaatta

7. The five Elements of Hip Hop Culture Graffiti Art B Boy Break Dancing
The DJ: a musician using turntables to juggle beats and breaks from pre-recorded music
The MC: rappers, mixing an amplified voice with dance music. Spokespersons for collectivist gangs.
Graphers / Hip-hop artists: visual expressions of group (or gang) identity, reclaiming(and territorializing) the ghetto
B-Boying/Breakdancing: highly athletic representational dance style; jazz-influenced "ensemble/solo" dichotomy
KNOWLEDGE: Grand Master Flash coined this "the 5th Element" of hip-hop, without which the other four are meaningless

8. Cultural Significance of rap
“Rap music is one of the main sources within popular culture of a sustained and in-depth examination and analysis of the spatial partitioning of race and the diverse experiences of being young and black in
America.”

9. While at the same time cutting spending on public programs
Hip Hip in Context
1970s and 80s Deregulation
Government is removing restrictions on companies-expands business profits
While at the same time cutting spending on public programs
“White Flight” from urban cities to suburbs left those neighborhoods without structures, investments, and much promise
The South Bronx
Some Data to demonstrate the gravity of circumstances:
Lost 600,000 manufacturing jobs-40% of manufacturing sector
by the mid-1970s average per capita income was $2,430
Youth unemployment was 60%
The South Bronx lost 43,000 housing units in under a decade (four square blocks a week)
: 30,000 fires were set in the South Bronx
One day in June of 1975, 40 fires were set in a three hour period

10. The Response to the South Bronx Context
The government’s role in inner cities left a gaping hole in the communities
Young men unemployed, turn to drug use and drug sales Loss of hope and faith
Need to re-invent identity and re-gain power within the urban centers
In walks in the DJ and the MC as the voice of the people

11. The grand-fathers of Hip Hop
Grand Master Flash & the Furious Five
The Message
RUN DMC
It's Like That

12. Def Jam records
Rick Ruben co-founded a record label called Def Jams Records out of his dorm room at NYU- along with Russell Simmons
They wanted to expand this new art form known as Rap
One of their 1st signings:
Beastie Boys –Paul Revere
What really opened up “rap” to mainstream audiences was the new MTV network
The Beasties made an impression on white America with their music videos: Fight For Your Right to Party
Success Continued with another ground breaking signing- Mr. LL Cool J
LL Cool J – Rock The Bells

13. Hip Hop Goes Mainstream
The Beastie Boys- Three Jewish boys from Brooklyn- who played punk and metal music
MCA, AD ROCK & MIKE D
Cross race lines in this heavily Black genre of music
Left a major impact on modern hip hop
Rock N Roll Hall of Fame
RUN DMC- From Queens NY
RUN, DMC, & Jam Master Jay
Had the rhymes, the dance, the beats, and the look
First group to also cross genres of music- Rap & Rock
Walk This Way

14. Hip Hop Goes Political
Public Enemy- Rap Group led by Chuck D and Flava Flav- Took a much more militant approach to the music- sending an Anti Racist tone and Black Nationalist message to audiences
Fight the Power
Also meshed two genres of music that creates a brand new Genre 10 yrs later- Rap and Metal
Anthrax-Bring the Noise
Start of Nu Metal
Limp Bizkit
The West Coast
NWA- Rap group from Compton, CA featuring- Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, Eazy E, MC Ren, and DJ Yella
Compton was under the same circumstances as NYC and developed a new kind of Rap called “Gangsta Rap”
"Straight Outta Compton“
Enough is Enough- Gansta Rap Documentary

15. The response to the violent nature Hip Hop
In the late 1980s, a collective of rappers and groups led by KRS ONE and several prominent MCs released a track condemning the glorification of drugs, violence, gangs, and female misogyny
"Self Destruction“
Rap found it’s Female Voice
Women in rap were few and far between- several women did try to break the gender gap in rap- the voice of that break was- Queen Latifah
"UNITY"