Early hiphop PDF

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Early hiphop The Birth of Jip-hop ● Block parties in boroughs of NYC in the mid-70s featured DJs spinning 2 turntables of vinyl records o Started repeating breaks to let people dance ● The role of the MC eventually became dominant ● Scene grew out of difficult economic conditions among black Americans in the late 70s and early 80s ● Hip-hop refers to a lifestyle which includes music, dance (incl. break dancing early on), language (early dancers/fans called themselves b-boys and fly girls, etc.), art (incl. graffiti on subway cars), clothing, etc. The Old School ● As early as 1973, DJs started manually looping the percussion breaks of certain disco and funk songs to keep dancers going ● Jamaican “dub” mixes removed the vocals from dance singles to emphasize rhythmic aspect of tracks ● MCs created more and more elaborate raps with music o “The Dozens”- competition of exchanging disses, developed into what we know as a rap battle ● Kurtis Blow was the first rap artist to have commercial success (signed w/ a major label, had first gold rap single “The Breaks”) Sugarhill Gang ● “Rapper’s Delight” ● Regarded as the beginning of recorded hip-hop ● Released 1979 on Sugar Hill Records, an independent label founded and run by Sylvia Robinson ● Eventually sold over 8 million copies ● Samples disco band Chic’s song “Good Times” ● Even after this hit, most industry people thought rap was a passing fad Run-DMC ● “My Adidas” ● Led the second wave of rap- first ”hardcore” rap group ● Fused rock and rap, sometimes using heavy metal samples- set the musical standard for next decade of rap ● From Hollis, Queens ● First rap group to get airplay on MTV ● This song from their 1986 Raising Hell ● Album, the first to crossover into pop mainstream (also included “Walk this way” with Aerosmith) ● Run (Joseph Simmons) is the brother of Russell Simmons, co-founder of Def Jam Records

o Darryl McDaniels (D.M.C.) Beastie Boys ● “You gotta fight for your right o party” ● Began in 1981 as hardcore punk group- fusion of punk and hip hop ● This song from their 1986 debut Licensed to Ill o Produced by Rick Rubin (who founded Def Jam Records w/ Russell Simmons) o Use of hard rock samples o First #1 album in rap history ● Initially accused of cultural appropriation; eventually earned respect from critics for later ambitious albums ● Ad-Rock (Adam Horowitz), MCA (Adam Yauch), Mike D (Michael Diamond) Public Enemy ● “Don’t Believe the Hype” ● Many consider them the definitive rap group of all time ● Moved hardcore rap towards a pro-black consciousness and social/political message ● Flavor Flav provided more lighthearted foil to Chuck D’s powerful vocal technique ● This song from classic 1988 album It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold us Back ● Also signed to Def Jam Records

Queen Latifah ● U.N.I.T.Y Lupe Fiasco ● Bitch Bad Tupac Sahkur ● “Changes”...