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Chapter 13
Hip Hop and Rap (1973- )
Outline
I. Hip hop culture
a. Graffiti art
b. Break dancing
c. Rap music
i. Entertainment for live parties
ii. DJ
iii. Emcee
II. Hip hop roots
a. African griots
b. African cutsingi
c. Blues and jazz poetry
III. Early rap
a. DJ Cool Herc
b. Turntable manipulation
IV. Old School rap
a. Kurtis Blow
b. Afrika Bambaataa
c. Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five
i. The Message (1982)
V. DJ turntable techniques
a. Mixing
b. Scratching
c. The break
d. Drumming
VI. Mainstream recognition
a. Sugar Hill Records
i. The Sugar Hill Gang
ii. “Rapper’s Delight”
VII. New School
a. Radio-conscious efforts
b. Def Jam Records
i. Run DMC
ii. Rap cover of “Walk This Way”
c. LL Cool J
d. Beastie Boys
i. First white rappers
ii. The first #1 rap record
iii. Sampled rock records
VIII. Golden Age of Rap
a. Public Enemy
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i. Chuck D and Flavor Flav
ii. Powerful sonic collage
b. KRS One
i. Black ghetto slang
c. De La Soul
i. sampling
d. Eric B & Rakim
i. Raised the level of artistry
e. A Tribe Called Quest
i. Less serious themes
IX. Gangsta Rap, West Coast
a. Ice-T
i. Adds a metal band
ii. “Cop Killer” controversy
b. N.W.A.
i. Producer, Dr Dre
ii. Ice Cube
c. Dr Dre, solo
i. Death Row Records
d. Snoop Doggy Dogg
e. Cypress Hill
i. Among the first Latino rap groups
f. Tupak Shakur
X. East Coast
a. Sean Combs
i. Bad Boy Records
ii. The Notorious B.I.G.
b. Jay-Z
i. Rockefeller Records
c. House of Pain
i. Irish-American working class whites
d. Wu Tang Clan
i. Members spun off solo projects
XI. Pop rap
a. MC Hammer
b. DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince
i. “Parents Just Don’t Understand”
c. Vanilla Ice
d. Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch
e. Girl groups
i. Salt-N-Pepa
XII. Sub genres
a. Atlanta
i. Arrested Development
ii. Goodie Mob
iii. OutKast
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b. Midwest and New Orleans
i. Kanye West
ii. Lil Wayne
iii. Eminem
XIII. Brit hop
a. The Streets
b. Dizzee Rascal
XIV. Trip Hop
a. Massive Attack
b. Tricky
c. Portishead
XV. Rap Rock
a. Rage Against the Machine
b. Limp Bizkit
c. Linkin Park
Suggested Activities and Discussion Topics
1. Turntable technique. Grandmaster Flash was the first master of turntable
manipulation. He used a technique calling “cutting” in which he manipulated a record to
play only the part of the song that had a good dance beat; this he called the ‘break.’ On
another turntable, he added other musical elements. “The Message” uses this technique.
SEE: Suggested Listening.
2. Afrika Bambaataa’s “Planet Rock.” This is where Kraftwerk influences rap. ‘Bam’
sampled their “Trans Europe Express” and called his creation electro funk. Old School
rappers enjoyed a lot of creative freedom. Do today’s rap artists have as much freedom
to invent and to explore?
3. Tonality. The term refers to establishing a tonal center or a key. For example, we
might say that a song is in the key C. Rap songs that do not set up a tonal basis are
rhythm oriented only. In cases where there is a tonality, the vocals do not sing in the
established key. Rap is, therefore, rhythm oriented, not melodic and not tonal.
4. Inventive rap from rap’s Golden Age—Eric B. and Rakim. The undulating rhythm
contains jazz elements. Chords and harmony are implied by the judicious use of samples.
Layers of sound increase interest and minimize boredom from repetition. The rapping is
as deft as any current rap artist. There is, in addition to a rapper, a clever musician in this
group. Classic. Listen for turntable scratching that embellishes the vocal statement of
the title, “Follow the Leader.” SEE: Suggested Listening.
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5. Gangsta. Compare Ice-T’s “Cop Killer” to N.W.A.’s “Straight Outta Compton.” Is
there irony in Ice-T’s anti-police diatribe? Would he kill a cop? Is there irony in
N.W.A.’s approach? If an artist uses irony, does he risk being misunderstood? Is
N.W.A. taking any such risk? Is Ice-T? Why would a rap artist risk being
misunderstood?
6. Exercise. Name some examples of startling irony in rap. (For example, Eminem’s
“Kim”). Name some songs or artists that use sarcasm or irony that is sometimes
misinterpreted by listeners. (“Cop Killer”) SEE: Suggested Listening.
Chapter 13 – Suggested Listening
Artist
Song/iTunes Preview
Representative Style
Kurtis Blow
“The Breaks”
Earliest Old School rap;
“cutting” technique by a
deejay provides the musical
background
Afrika Bambaataa
“Planet Rock”
‘Bam’s’ ‘Electro Funk;’
based on Kraftwerk’s
“Numbers”
Grandmaster Flash and the
Furious Five
“The Message”
Indicates more serious
concerns than street corner
entertainment and break
dancing; best turntable
technique
Sugar Hill Gang
“Rapper’s Delight”
Old School dance party
music; of the first rap hits;
record scratching and
cutting
Run DMC
“Walk This Way”
A breakthrough for the
genre; Def Jam Records
producers Rick Rubin and
Russell Simmons
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LL Cool J
“Mama Said Knock You
Out”
Balances a hard-edge and a
pop sound
Beastie Boys
“Fight for Your Right”
Rap’s first degenerates are
three white boys;
deliberately offensive
Public Enemy
“Fight the Power”
Overtly political lyrics;
rhythm with no tonality;
strident vocals
KRS One
“Sound of da Police”
Politics of race; chaotic
music background; no
tonality; the refrain hints at
reggae; strident vocal
De La Soul
“Me Myself and I”
Quieter, calm suburban rap
style; sampled records
Eric B and Rakim
“Follow the Leader”
Perhaps the most deft
rappers; jazzy vocals and
background are interesting,
cleverly multi-layered
A Tribe Called Quest
“Can I Kick It?”
Built on a sample of “Take
a Walk on the Wild Side”
by Lou Reed
Body Count (Ice-T)
“Cop Killer” N/A
Irony-laden, anti-cop lyrics
that seem to subvert law
enforcement; a metal band;
this song was removed from
the album
N.W.A.
“Straight Outta Compton”
Gansta; brutal, with no
irony intended; profanity;
relentless deep bass drum
sample
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Dr. Dre featuring Snoop
Doggy Dogg
“Nuthin’ But a G Thang”
Dr. Dre production; #1 on
the rap chart; #2 on the Hot
100; hints of conventional
instrumentation; vulgarity
Cypress Hill
“Insane In the Brain”
#1 on the rap charts; and it
crossed over to #19 on the
Hot 100; bass lends tonality
Tupak Shakur
“Hit ‘Em Up”
Delivers insults to East
Coast rappers; bass and
chords set up minor
tonality; profanity, vulgarity
Puff Daddy & Faith Evans
“I’ll Be Missing You”
“Puffy” (Sean Combs)
relies on sampling records;
for this one, Sting’s “Every
Breath You Take”
Jay-Z
“Hard Knock Life (Ghetto
Anthem)”
His signature song; samples
the song of the same name
from the Broadway’s Annie
House of Pain
“Jump Around”
A dance club classic; #3 on
the U.S. chart; samples
establish a tonality; some
turntable scratching
Wu Tang Clan
“Protect Ya Neck”
Debut single from the nine-
member rap collective;
members take turns rapping
Kanye West
“Jesus Walks”
vocal harmony by a church
choir; insistent chugging
bass voice sample; gospel
roots are apparent
Eminem
“Kim”
Perhaps the ultimate in
sarcasm and irony; he
invents a tale of murdering
his wife and disposing of
the body