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Gobie Mohseni Mrs. Andrews English 1202 17 April 2012 Aspiring Rappers: The Game has Changed I woke up not knowing what was in store for me that day, but I knew I had a theory and a goal and I was ready to find some answers. I had driven 30 minutes down to South Charlotte to observe a few of my friends who are working toward becoming professional rappers. As I pulled up to the big cream-colored house, the sun was beaming radiantly as if to encourage me on my quest. Walking up the driveway, I noticed that I was the first one at the house. The closer I got, the louder the music got, and as I approached the front door, it was as if the music was playing right next to me. Even as I stepped inside, my mind had been made up and I did not enter the house with an open mind. However, after this day I was able to analyze a profession from an educated point of view that I would not have been able to had it not been for me actually taking the steps of observing the process firsthand. Over the past two years I have been exposed to many aspiring rappers. I never really knew that this community even existed before and therefore I became very interested in the activities of such a community A few of my closest friends are dreaming of making it in the music business, so I decided to take a day where I just sit and analyze this group of dreamers for about an hour or so. I drove down to South Charlotte on March 23 and went to my friends house where they were having
Kendra 5/6/12 7:56 PM Comment [3]: This sentence confuses me a little bit because it is somewhat ambiguous. Is there another way that you could phrase it to make it clearer for your reader? Kendra 5/6/12 7:18 PM Deleted: , which is why I chose to do this topic. Kendra 5/6/12 7:56 PM Comment [1]: Right now, the intro is reading as a narrative. Is there a way that you could rephrase it to make it more objective? Kendra 5/6/12 7:16 PM Deleted: was getting Kendra 5/6/12 7:56 PM Comment [2]: What was your mind made up about? Be specific for your reader.

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a meeting with their group members. In these meetings, the members usually talk about their current progress in certain songs and their ideas for new ones. However, before I went to observe my friends, I sat down with a friend of mine that actually goes to UNC Charlotte who is working nonstop to become a rapper. I asked him many questions about his plans for the future and how he plans to achieve his dream of becoming a professional rapper. Along with those questions, I asked him what he does on the daily basis to impact his plans. My friend, Michael, told me that there are a lot of steps that one must take in order to become a rapper. First, one has to experience many things that affect the heartstrings because that is where the most genuine lyrics come from. Whether its heartache, love, gratitude or loss, the best songs come from personal experience (Smith). One part of being a rapper is going out to parties or popular bars in order to meet different people who are interested in the same things you are and to start getting people to know your work, which is where the fans come in (Smith). Music is constantly on my mind. When I am working on ideas for a song, I put my headphones in and begin listening to the people who first inspired me to share my feelings in this way such as Tupac and Eminem. Its as if I am far away, up in the clouds, just jamming out to my music. I isolate myself when Im working on my music so that I can be completely focused on the task and avoid possible distractions like my cell phone or the Internet.
Kendra 5/6/12 7:56 PM Comment [5]: This quote seems a little out of place here. Can you introduce it more and make direct connections for your reader? Kendra 5/6/12 7:56 PM Comment [4]: Rather than having an interview description section, you should try to incorporate the quotes throughout the essay itself. Kendra 5/6/12 7:19 PM Deleted: ly Kendra 5/6/12 7:19 PM Deleted: ,

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During our interview I also asked Michael directly if this dream of his to rap is serious or an excuse to go to parties and play around with music, more like a game of sorts. Right when I asked him that I felt his bodys emotion; his whole faced changed. He took a second to answer, he calmed himself down, and after a big sigh he began to explain himself. Anything in life can be a game; its the way you approach it that makes it different from everything else. To me, rapping is a way of expression through music; the cool ways to meet people are more like perks. As I drove up to the house the day of my observation, I realized I was the first one there. That did not bother me because I wanted to sit down one on one with my friend Jeff Thompson, the creator and producer of the group to find out more in depth the part he plays. Going to the house I expected to sit in a regular room with nothing but a computer, which they use to record and edit their music. Immediately after walking in, I heard music coming up from upstairs and that helped guide me to where Jeff was. As I walk up the stairs I notice that the music is getting louder and louder. I finally find the room where Jeff is and he is on his computer listening to different beats and rhythms. Hearing the mainstream music he played seemed to prove my point that these people are just wasting their time and are just messing around. The room we were in was full of notebooks filled with lyrics, ideas and stories from the different members in the group. It was a large space. There was a couch by the stairs, a bed on the opposite side, and two computers side by side; one was a Mac that had all the music devices attached to it. Jeff also had a laptop and an
Kendra 5/6/12 7:25 PM Deleted: m Kendra 5/6/12 7:56 PM Comment [7]: Can you provide the specific songs or at least a musical genre? Kendra 5/6/12 7:22 PM Deleted: ? Kendra 5/6/12 7:23 PM Deleted: , Kendra 5/6/12 7:23 PM Deleted: ,

Kendra 5/6/12 7:56 PM Comment [6]: Can you give commentary on what he said? Kendra 5/6/12 7:23 PM Deleted: ,

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iPad with him. There was one closet door open that had a red sheet around it with a microphone and a microphone-stand inside the closet. The room was messy, but not too bad. He was pretty clean for a guy; he just had some basketball shoes and water glasses lying around. Yet I still thought it was unprofessional to have a messy room if this group is serious about making a career out of this. One doesnt expect to go into a meeting with miscellaneous items lying around everywhere. The room was a burgundy color with some white stripes on it. Jeff was still in his pajamas, eating breakfast as he was trying to discover some new beats, which I thought was not business like. I went right in and just sat on the couch. I didnt want to disturb him or anyone for that matter; I wanted to see this group in their natural state. As I was sitting on the couch, Jeff kept messing around with a variety of different beats, some of which actually sounded pretty cool. Then, he started over coming up with a new beat from scratch. As he was making this beat, he would go back to old files on his mac to take some ideas or to mix up the rhythm. It was evident that he did not like this beat much so he started over and started to try to make a second beat. It seemed like nothing was coming to his mind. He just sat there for five straight minutes with his hand on the mouse, just staring at the computer. Yet, it seemed like the beats came somewhat naturally to him. If a normal person wanted to make a successful beat to match the lyrics and assist the flow of a song, it would take a couple of hours, not a couple of minutes. Suddenly, he went on YouTube and started listening to J Cole, Workout For Me. He had his eyes closed and just let his body begin to move around with the beat. Once he finished that song

Kendra 5/6/12 7:25 PM Deleted: I Kendra 5/6/12 7:56 PM Comment [8]: Was this a bedroom or a larger room like a den?

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he began listening to Drake, Well be Fine. However, with this song he got up and started walking around the room while beating his head with the different beats he picked out in the song from the different instruments. After he did that, he sat back down and went on his computer adding beats to the new song. As he was doing that we heard a car pull up to Jeffs house so he immediately got up and left the room. After two minutes, he came back dressed in red shorts and a black Ralph Lauren Polo shirt. He informed me that it is essential to look decent when working on music with a team. Its our job. You wouldnt go to work wearing pajamas, would you? Those were my thoughts exactly when I first walked in. He quickly finished his bowl of cereal and ran downstairs to put it away. When he came back, he cleaned up the room and put some fresh water and snacks on a table where there were no music devices. Once he set out the last few waters, I heard someone coming up the stairs. Our friend Ben Burdon, from my high school was entering the room. Ben and Jeff are really close friends. They have been friends for a long time, and they were the ones who came up with the idea for the group. Ben is one of the singers/ rappers of the group. When Ben got to the house, he and Jeff relaxed for a couple minutes, joked around with each other and talked about school, girls, their weekend, and partying. Again I started going back to my point of how this community is in a way just a hobby, and no legitimate profession could come from it. As they finished their conversation, they talked about what song to produce for the coming week. They were discussing whether or not they should work on a song they already had or
Kendra 5/6/12 7:56 PM Comment [9]: You started this sentence and the previous sentence in a very similar, but vague way. Is there another way that you could rephrase both sentences to make the reference and transition clearer? Kendra 5/6/12 7:29 PM Deleted: , Kendra 5/6/12 7:29 PM Deleted: y

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come up with something totally new. Ben suggested they start something new because he had a topic to talk about. As they were discussing the topic of their new song, the rest of their team entered the house. Brandon, Jeremiah, and Nick are the rest of the rappers/singers. They greeted each other by saying what up boy. Once they settled down and stopped messing around, they began going over last weeks progress. They had come up with a new song last week; however they felt that it was not as good as it should have been, therefore they were deciding whether or not they would want a new song completely or work on the old one. Ben and Jeff told the rest of the team how they have a new idea, so why not start it while its fresh on their minds. When I heard this, I was pretty surprised to hear that they had already completed a song last week; usually this process takes a couple of weeks to complete. As the meeting went on, my mind was slowly changing about this group and their goals. Ben talked about how he and this girl have been going through a hard time and they just broke up. He has been thinking about it a lot and having a hard time coping with the break up, so he thought it would be a good idea to make a song out of it. In order to have the rest of the team help him, he had to explain his situation and what all he had gone through. As Ben finished telling the crew his story, they all began working on ideas for a song. Jeff went to the computer to come up with some beats and started messing around with the microphone. The group of rappers started to free-style so they could see what each person is thinking. As they finished warming up, Ben got to work. He started coming up with lyrics as if he was

Kendra 5/6/12 7:56 PM Comment [10]: What does this interaction/communication tell you about this particular community?

Kendra 5/6/12 7:56 PM Comment [11]: Did they all say the same thing? What might this tell you about how they build community? Kendra 5/6/12 7:40 PM Deleted: , Kendra 5/6/12 7:40 PM Deleted: ea

Kendra 5/6/12 7:56 PM Comment [12]: Be specific for your reader in how your mind was changing.

Kendra 5/6/12 7:56 PM Comment [13]: Can you again use this to show what the culture values?

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drinking out of a glass of water. The lyrics came to him and all he had to do was adjust a few things here and there, I know she misses me, I miss her voice, her silky hairher dorm room, it must seem empty, now shes alone without me therehow could a love I thought so strong be ripped from me, it was going, going, gone. I meant it when I said I loved her, regardless of her hurtful motherthrough all the lies and the deceit, I wiped her clean from all that hurt, with me she found a peace. Once they had the first verse, Ben walks into the back room to sing while Jeff and the rest of the group tried to make it go with the beat that they had so far. Once they had that in sync, Brandon and Jeremiah went in the room with Ben to work on background music for the verse. As they finished that part of the song, Jeff went to the piano with Ben and they began creating a melody for a potential chorus. After brainstorming for approximately 45 minutes, Ben decided to take a break and focus on a different project for a while to clear his head. He went to a computer in a separate room in order to find a cover photo for a song they made last week. As he was doing that Brandon went in the studio (the closet) and started free styling for another song the group was working on. Watching this group of talented teenagers really opened my mind up about aspiring rappers. Before observing this crew, I used to believe that these people were just lazy and wanted an excuse to mess around and listen to music; I could not have been further from the truth.

Kendra 5/6/12 7:56 PM Comment [14]: Im not seeing the connection with drinking water. What do you mean by this? How could you make it clearer for your reader?

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A century ago before rap spread on the American continent, West Africans would sit around the fire and told stories of the past in rhythm as they beat on the drums. This was also happening in the Caribbean who also told stories in rhythm. This is the foundation of modern rap in America. Rapping has been around for many years ("Plastic Little Raps"). Rapping is also known as spitting or chanting rhyming lyrics. Rapping is known to be a type of sophisticated poetry that addresses the topics such as sex, drugs, and violence; which is describing the life of a person living in the ghetto (Wood). Rap came from the crime-driven neighborhood of the South Bronx. Rap came from the streets with young adolescents who had no bright future and no cash. Hip-hop was a product of the streets; it came from the young people who mimicked the rhythms and melodies from old records and then put their own lyrics with it talking about their life in the ghetto ("Plastic Little Raps"). Rap was mainly popular with the young African American generation. Rap started spreading around the Bronx fast, going from club to club when it eventually spread all the way to Los Angeles. Once it reached the West coast, rap started to become its own unique style. Once it spread around, television channels started picking it up as well. Television shows such as BETs Rap City and MTV and through a good amount of appearance in Hollywood movies, hip-hop started to become millions of peoples new favorite genre of music (Williams)

Kendra 5/6/12 7:56 PM Comment [15]: Im glad that you are giving the background, but it seems to just jump in here. Would it go better before you go into the details of the observation?

Kendra 5/6/12 7:56 PM Comment [16]: Can you expand this sentence? Kendra 5/6/12 7:47 PM Deleted: Kendra 5/6/12 7:46 PM Deleted: a Kendra 5/6/12 7:46 PM Deleted: . It is a type of poetry Kendra 5/6/12 7:47 PM Deleted: a Kendra 5/6/12 7:56 PM Comment [17]: You started the previous sentence with the same phrase. Can you vary your sentences a little more? Kendra 5/6/12 7:48 PM Deleted: ,

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. Hip-hop became so popular that it spread all the way to Europe, Africa, and Asia (Williams). As hip-hop became more and more popular, another genre formed out of hip-hop, which we all know as rap today. Rap has many different artists who started this genre. However, rap didnt truly become popular until 1979 when Sugar hill Gang released Rappers Delight this record help emerge this musical genre (Wood). A year later white rappers such as the Beastie Boys and female rap bands such as Salt-n-Pepa started to pop onto the top charts. When it came to the 1990s rap became louder and louder with more complex lyrics. New rappers such as Eminem, Tupac and Snoop Dogg emerged as popular rappers and they are all still popular to this day (Wood). I did my ethnography on aspiring rappers. It is my belief that aspiring rappers are a discourse community because they contain all six characteristic of such a community (Swales 21-32). The rappers all have one main goal, which is to make it to the professional music world and make a living off of what they love to do. These rappers work day and night to make music so that their fans can learn from them and hopefully relate to their stories. These dreamers write about their personal and everyday life allowing the people who listen to their music get to know them on an intimate level. As well as having a common goal, the rappers have their own unique language. Their music book is the language that they go by. Some words include sup, playa, aight. Not everyone is able to understand how these few select people talk at first, but most will find that if they truly listen, it is not difficult to pick up on (Swales 21-32).
Kendra 5/6/12 7:56 PM Comment [18]: Can you expand on the main points of this paragraph? Right now, it is reading as a little choppy. Kendra 5/6/12 7:56 PM Comment [19]: You need a transition Kendra 5/6/12 7:50 PM Deleted: 6 Kendra 5/6/12 7:48 PM Deleted: form of

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Along with having a language, they are also all part of a group. They have a membership and not everyone can join (Swales 21-32). In order to join such a group, one must be very close to other people and know many people. It is important to be a well-known person, especially if you are planning on becoming famous. Also, you share some of the most personal things about your life with this group so one must be careful of who one lets in their group. It is vital to know the others in your group well so as not to run the risk of having anyone betray you or manipulate your career for their benefit. Another aspect this group has that makes it a discourse community is that someone in the group holds the power. This person is the one who finds the group gigs, schedules their meetings, and makes sure all the members are on the right track and the same page. Aspiring rappers also have some rules. This group is a job so they all have to be serious and if some people want to joke around, they do not belong. This is something that they all want to do for the rest of their lives. It is not an easy task because they all have school and they have a sport or a club and then their music. They do not care how much work it is because they love what they do. They are willing to not sleep at night so they can make time for something like this because they cannot see their lives without music (Swales 2132). Doing research and observing really exposed me to a group of people that I never thought I would take seriously. There are many people who want to make it to the music industry and some have the talent to do that while others are just fooling themselves. However, since I was able to observe an actual group of people who
Kendra 5/6/12 7:51 PM Deleted: ,

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genuinely want to be professional artists, I can strongly claim that most aspiring rappers know what they are doing and will be able to accomplish their dreams with the kind of talents that they possess.
Kendra 5/6/12 7:56 PM Comment [20]: Gobie, I enjoyed reading your ethnography and I think that you do a good job describing your community. I would like to see you go into a little more analysis with the group though. What do their actions say about what they value and believe in their community? Also, you may want to consider restructuring the organization of the paper itself. I like each part, but it seems to jump from the observation to the history to the discourse community with little transition or order. Try to come up with a structure that may be smoother for your reader. Also, please be sure to check Purdue OWL for any MLA formatting issues and proofread your final version because I corrected some, but not all of the mechanical errors. Overall, I think you did a good job and I look forward to reading your final version. KA

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Works Cited "History of Rap Music." Plastic Little Raps. Web Internet Service, n.d. Web. 13 Apr 2012. <http://www.plasticlittleraps.com/ history-of-rap-music.html>. Smith, Michael. Personal Interview. 27 March 2012. Swales, John. The Concept of Discourse Community. Boston : Cambridge UP, 1990. 21-32. Print. Williams , Stereo. "Rap Hip-Hop Timeline ." Digital Dream Door. N.p., 2005. Web. 13 Apr 2012. <http://www.digitaldreamdoor.com/ pages/best_rap-timeline1.html>. Wood, Joann. "Rap Music." . Nova Online, 27 12 2011. Web. 13 Apr 2012. <http://novaonline.nvcc.edu/eli/ evans/his135/Events/Rap79/RapMusic.html>.

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Appendix A: Observation It was March 23, 2012 where I decided to drive down to South Charlotte where I was able to observe a group of my friends who are trying to be aspiring rappers. In these meetings the members usually talk about what they have so far as well as start working on new songs. I got to the house at around 5 oclock on a Friday afternoon. It was a very sunny day, however it was windy so it wasnt that hot. Walking up the driveway I noticed that I was the first one at the house. The closer I got to the house, the louder the music was getting, when I got to the doorstep it was as if the music was playing right next to me. I could hear the loud, blaring music out of the right corner of the house. Going to the house I expected to sit in a regular room with nothing but a computer, where they supposedly do their music on. There was a coach by the stairs, a bed on the other side, and two computers side by side; one was a mac that had all the music devices attached to it. Jeff also had a laptop and IPad with him. There was one closet door open that had a red sheet around it, with the mike inside the closet. The room was in a way messy, but not too much. He was pretty clean for a guy; he just had some blue shorts and a couple polos lying around. The room was a burgundy color with some white stripes on it. Jeff was still in his pajamas, eating his breakfast as he was trying to discover some

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new beats. I went right in and just sat on the coach. I didnt want to disturb anyone; I wanted to see this group in their natural self. As I was sitting on the coach, Jeff kept messing around with all these different beats, some which actually sounded pretty cool. Then, he started over coming up with a new beat from scratch. As he was making this beat, he would go back to old files on his mac to take some ideas or to mix up the beats. It was evident that he didnt like this beat much so he started over and started to try to make a second beat. It seemed like nothing was coming to his mind. He just sat there for a good five minutes; hand on the mouse, staring at the computer. Yet, it seemed like the beats came naturally to him. Suddenly, he went on YouTube and started listening to J Cole, Workout For Me. He had his eyes closed and just let his body moves around with the beat. Once he finished that song he went to listen to Drake, Well be Fine. However, with this song he got up and started just walking around the room, and beating his head with the different beats of the song. After he did that he sat back down and went on his computer adding beats to the new song. As he was doing that we heard a car pull up to Jeffs house so he quickly got up and left the room and he disappeared into another room. After two minutes he came back with red short and black Ralph Lauren Polo on. He informed me that, it is essential to look decent when working on music. Its our job, you wouldnt go to work wearing pajamas, would you? He quickly finished his bowl of cereal he had and quickly ran downstairs to put it away. When he came up stairs he

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cleaned up the room and put some water and snacks on the table where there were no music devices. Once he did that I heard someone coming up the stairs. Our friend Ben Burdon, from my high school was entering the room. Ben is one of the singer/ rapper of the group. When Ben got to the house, him and Jeff just relaxed for a couple minutes; jokes around with each other and talked about school, girls, their weekend, partying, etc. As they finished their conversation, they talked about what song to produce for the week. They were discussing on weather or not they should work on a song they already had or some up with something totally new. Ben suggested they start something new because he had a topic to talk about. As they were discussing the topic of their new song, the rest of their team entered the house. Brandon, Jeremiah, and Nick are the rest of the rappers/singers. They greeted each other by saying what up boy. Once they settled down and stopped messing around, they began discussing last weeks progress. They had come up with a new song last week, however they felt that it wasnt as good as it should have been, therefore they were deciding weather or not they would want a new song completely or work on the old one. Ben and Jeff told the rest of the team how they have a new idea so why not start it while its fresh on their mind. Ben talked about how he and this girl have been going through a hard time and they just broke up. He has been having a hard time with it so he thought it be a good idea to make a song out of it. In order to have the rest of the team help him, he had to explain his situation and what all he had gone through. As Ben finished telling the crew his story, they all began working on the song. Jeff went to the

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computer to come up with some beats and started messing around with the mike. The group of rappers started to free-style so they could see what each person is thinking. As they finished just warming up Ben got to work. The lyrics came to him and all he had to do was adjust a few things here and there, I know she missed meher dorm room is empty without me there. Once they had the first verse Ben walks into the closet to sing while Jeff and the rest of the group try to make it go with the beat that they had so far. Once they had that in sync, Brandon and Jeremiah go in to sing the background music. As they finished that Jeff goes to the piano with Ben and they come up with background music for Bens rap that is part of the first song. As they finished that Ben got up and went to the computer to find a cover photo for their song that they made last week. As he was doing that Brandon goes in the studio (the closet) and starts free styling for the old song. As he did that they were finished with one song just like that.

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Appendix B: Interview Transcript Interviewed Michael Smith which goes to UNCC Who do you want to be compared to (a famous rapper now)? - I dont want to be compared to anyone; I want people to like me for me. I dont want to hear wow you sound like lil Wayne or Jay Z. I want to sound like me, Michael What is the age that you expect to get discovered? -Im not putting a time or date on anything. In this business everything takes time so Im not going to be rushing on anything. Its going to take time for everything to settle down and I am wiling to wait as long as it takes. What kind of things/who inspires you? -I just think about the talent I have and what I can do with it, which helps me with my music and makes me keep going. I also want to prove those who dont believe in me wrong, because I know what I am capable of. How do you get ideas for your lyrics? -All my lyrics are all my deepest thoughts. Its like my own personal journal. Its about my life, what I have experience, who has let me down, or who has even held a hand out for me. How is music like to you? -Music is constantly on my mind. When I am working on ideas for a song, I put my headphones in and begin listening to the people who first inspired me to share my feelings in this way such as Tupac and Eminem. Its as if I am far away, up in the clouds, just jamming out to my music. I isolate myself when Im working on my music so that I can be completely focused on the task and avoid possible distractions like my cell phone or the Internet. Is this whole rapping a joke and do you use it as an excuse to party and fool around? -Anything in life can be a game; its the way you approach it that makes it different from everything else. To me, rapping is a way of expression through music; the cool ways to meet people are more like perks

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Appendix C Rapping is a primary ingredient in hip hop music and reggae, but the phenomenon predates hip hop culture by centuries. It can also be found in alternative rock such as that of Cake and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Rapping is also used in Kwaito music, a genre that originated in Johannesburg, South Africa and is composed of hip hop elements. Rapping can be delivered over a beat or without accompaniment. Stylistically, rap occupies a gray area among speech, prose, poetry, and song. The use of the word to describe quick speech or repartee long predates the musical form, meaning originally "to hit".The word had been used in British English since the 16th century, and specifically meaning "to say" since the 18th. It was part of the African American dialect of English in the 1960s meaning "to converse", and very soon after that in its present usage as a term denoting the musical style. Today, the terms "rap" and "rapping" are so closely associated with hip hop music that many use the terms interchangeably. In the early 1970s a musical genre was born in the crime-ridden neighborhoods of the South Bronx. Gifted teenagers with plenty of imagination but little cash began to forge a new style from spare parts. Hip-hop, as it was then known, was a product of pure streetwise ingenuity; extracting rhythms and melodies from existing records and mixing them up with searing poetry chronicling life in the 'hood, hip-hop spilled out of the ghetto. From the housing projects hip-hop poured onto the streets and subways, taking root in Bronx clubs like the Savoy Manor Ballroom, Ecstasy Garage, Club 371, The Disco Fever, and the T-Connection. From there it spread downtown to the Renaissance Ballroom, Hotel Diplomat, the Roxy, and The Fun House. It migrated to Los Angeles, where a whole West Coast hip-hop scene developed, sporting its own musical idiosyncrasies, its own wild style. Through television shows like BET's Rap City and Yo! MTV Raps and a succession of Hollywood movies, hip-hop gained millions of new fans across America, in places far removed from the genre's Bronx roots. It spread to Europe, Asia, Africa, and nearly every continent on Earth, gaining more cultural significance as the years rolled by. Today it is one of the most potent and successful musical forms of the 20th Century. Hip-hop is the voice of a generation that refused to be silenced by urban poverty, a local phenomenon fueled with so much passion and truth it could not help but reach

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the entire world. Like every musical genre that came before, hip-hop has its pioneers, artists who were essential in defining and popularizing the art form. This CD series showcases those legendary artists -- their songs and their enormous talents -- who created what today is known as rap. The History Of Rap. How can we truthfully tell this story? There are so many different versions. Who is correct? There were approximately ten different pioneers, each of whom stakes a claim as the originator: Pete DJ Jones, Kool DJ Herc, DJ Hollywood, Eddie Cheeba, "Love Bug" Starski, Grand Master Flash, Afrika Bambaataa, Kurtis Blow, the Sugarhill Gang, Run DMC. The names fit together like pieces to a puzzle. And as we assemble the puzzle, we have to give equal props to all, because it is the individual contributions, pieced togetherTo understand the history of rap, you need to know two things: 1. Rap is talking in rhyme to the rhythm of a beat. 2. Hip-hop is a culture, a way of life for a society of people who identify, love, and cherish rap, break dancing, DJing, and graffiti. In the early '70s, when I was about 13 or 14 and disco was monopolizing the mainstream airwaves, the rap movement was just being born. A man by the name of Pete DJ Jones was about the most notable DJ during those early days. To me he epitomized the true meaning of a DJ. He had the precise timing necessary to enable the partygoer to dance nonstop while keeping the break of a record playing continuously. He had a clean mixing style and an excellent sound system. , that explain the true history of this billion-dollar-a-year phenomenon. More than a century before rap exploded onto the American music scene, West African musicians were telling stories rhythmically, with just the beat of a drum for accompaniment. Meanwhile, folk artists from the Caribbean Islands were also telling stories in rhyme. Indeed, these singing poets from Africa and the Caribbean lay the foundation for modern-day American rap music.Rapping essentially involves the speaking or chanting of rhyming lyrics, often set to a beat. The rhyming created by rappers is considered by many to be one of the most sophisticated styles of poetry. Whats more, these rhymes often address provocative subjects such as sex, violence and socio-political issues.Rapping first gained popularity in the U.S. in the 1970s as a kind of street art, especially among African American teenagers. But it wasnt until 1979, when the Sugarhill Gang released their breakaway hit, Rappers Delight, that record producers took notice of this emerging musical genre. once they did, numerous rap acts, including Run-DMC and N.W.A., surfaced, and raps audience began to swell. It wasnt just African American male rappers getting in on the act, either: By the 1980s, white rap bands such as the Beastie Boys and

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female rap bands such as Salt-n-Pepa were reaching the top of the charts.By the 1990s, rap matured from an old-school-style which was based on relatively simple lyrics to a new-school-style, which was louder and included more complex lyrics. Artists such as The Notorious B.I.G., Snoop Dogg and Tupac ruled the charts during this time, as did Eminem one of the most popular white rappers of all time. Rap has stood the test of time and its popularity rages on with todays artists such as 50 Cent, Ludacris and Jay-Z churning out hit after thought-provoking hit. The beat truly does go on.

Only about 10-15 of aspiring rappers make it to the entertainment world.