Rap can be traced to the period of slavery when Africans were held captive, transported to America and forced into slavery. Due to the scars of hardship, singing was their go-to source for respite.
On August 11, 1973 in the Bronx, DJ Kool Herc, the founding father of Hip Hop with his sister started hosting school parties, the gatherings and crowd helped give birth to a new culture called “Hip Hop”. With his experiment on the turn tables, switching from one to another, he was able to extend the period of the song to whatever time limit. The origin of looping emanated from this experiment which is used by many record producers. Coke La Rock was the first MC of parties.
Rap got its commercial appeal in 1979. The Sugar Hill gang’s smash hit “Rappers delight” catapulted Rap topopular music with the help of Billboard Charts in 1980. From here on the rest they say is history, other characters, kool Moe Dee, Melle Mel, Afrika Bambaata, LL Cool J, BDP, Eric B and Rakim, EPMD, Kurtis Blow, MC Lyte, Juice Crew (Kool G Rap, Roxanne Shante, Big Daddy kane, Masta Ace, Marley Marl, Biz Markie, Glamorous, Tragedy) Slick Rick, RUN DMC, Public Enemy, NWA, Geto Boys, Queen Latifah, De La Soul laid emphasis on the artform.
This fleet of rappers paved the way for Tu-Pac, Nas, Notorious BIG, Jay-Z, Wu-Tang Clan, Snoop Dogg, Big Pun, Big L, Eminem, Dmx, Foxy Brown, Lil Kim, Outkast and Tribe Called Quest.
With the power tussle from the East Coast to the West Coast back to the East coast, they had the lion share in the yesteryears as the seasaw battle of the East vs West grabbed the headlines. The southside had their style and expression but were comparatively quiet dating back to the 80’s.
As years went on the South side started to come out in numbers from 2000 with Nelly, Ludacris, T.I, Lil Wayne, Lil Flip, Young Jeezy, Rick Ross, 2 Chainz and so on.
A new sub-artform emerged, it was called Trap Muzik. To this very day, the artform has been in the driver’s seat.
Rap is a compound word divided into various categories and sections. There are Lyricists, Poets, MC’s and Rappers. Comercial Appeal/Value and Impact/Influence can not be swept under the carpet.
We would address each category systematically; one after the other.
rapfact.com will look at the names that have made their presence felt in the respective categories.
Without any further or do let’s give a critical breakdown of the greatest rap lyricists of all time.