What is the origin of hip hop lyricism?

The history of the hip-hop dates back to the 1970s, where people began singing and dancing over strong beats which were sometimes accompanied with spoken words and with great emphasis on the value of lyricism. The love and desire for hip-hop music then became even stronger during the 1980s. By the onset of the eve of 1990s, hip hop became the mainstream of music decorated with ever changing genres and styles which could not be labeled due to the high combination of extreme diversities emanating from different artist.

Some from west coast others from the east coast and in between nothing else was seen apart from hip-hop music and culture (Rahn, 2002, 16). The epoch of hip-hop music in 1970s was found with very high original and innovative techniques with DJs in New York highlighting very amazing rhythmic drum breaks and percussion riffs in the popular discos and funks that were played in various clubs. Hip-hop included scratching, rapping, break dancing and graffiti.

It was believed that the art of rapping originated from the block parties after the ultra – competitive DJs decided to isolate the percussion breaks from the majority of favorite dances. As a result of this isolation a similar dance began to be observed in Jamaica which was known as dub dance which was composed of elongated percussion breaks (Rahn, 2002, p. 31). Therefore, it is true to believe that hip hop has its roots in the heart of disco . It was a dance that was practically characterized by divisions between detractors of disco music and their fans.

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Thus the effects of disco led to great transformations in the hip-hop culture and music. The very first original hip hop was literally an example of the disco tenets witnessed from the televised exploration of funky beats to dancing, cloths and corny special effects common with disco dances. At the capital city of United States, the ‘go go’ music also emerged and eventually collaborated with the hip-hop while the electronic dance joined the group creating the house of music based in Chicago.

At this point of time the hip hop music developed the club scene. Thus it started realizing the significance of having big names of DJs as a skill towards capturing and drawing larger crowds. The sudden rise of DJs, stirred up the rise and popularity of rap music from the past to the present history. Thus rap music stirred up hip hop expanding and extending the functions of MCs, and DJs. One very significant task attached to the MCs, was to introduce the DJs, on stage together with his/her crew of artists performing together (Flores, 2000, p. 6). The task of entertaining and keeping the audience alert was also a task pledged to the MC. Skillfully and talented MCs filled with cool artistic skills and high charismatic strategies on stage became instrumental to the to the rise and popularity of rap artists and hip-hop music. Thus the history of hip-hop and rap music is founded on the humble beginnings of MCs and DJs together with the rise of break-dancers, rap artists and taggers all occurring in the New York City.

Surprisingly towards the late 1970s, hip-hop music received extraordinary expansion by gaining very high commercial powers when it established its meteoric popular music style in America consequently achieving popularity in the whole world (Alridge, Stewart, 2005, p, 125). In 1990 a sub – genre of rap music emerged known as gangsta rap that caught America by surprise. The organization of the controversial lyrics which were specifically based on sex, street violence, and drugs lured the American youths into its systems and apparently crossed over to capture the socio economic groupings.

All along its history hip-hop music has continued to rise till to the present still with very high sense of popularity (Flores, 2000, p. 47). However, its history would be incomplete without teaching the roles of the performers who made it a success. That is the hip hop designers and artisans. Hip-hop music is a composition of artists who and rappers and they typically major on their personal life experiences, social problems occurring around them, important life events and personal stories which they wish to alert the public about.

Rap music is also used to signify fictional themes and romanticized editions which are also appealing to the public and they have educative values about a specific group of people. Rap music evolves very strong rhythmic aspects accompanied by soothing spoken lyrics which evoke intense rhythms and intense beats (Rahn, 2002, p. 1128). They a well known for their special adaptive skills and techniques in using poetic strategies which are accompanied by alliterations and simple rhymes.

The history of hip-hop music is a kit for preserving culture based the instrumental tracks and beats that have been played by different artists including beats and rhythms which have been collectively sampled from different categories of individuals in the globe. These samples include the well known and popular rock, funk and soul songs played by different artists. Such rhythms and sound are in away integrated synthesized and reinvented with the original indiginoeous twists done by performers (Flores, 2000, p. 7). However, the expansion of hip-hop music was also stirred to a large extend by the concept of minimalism and more specifically the invention of the modern electronic minimalism which brought full transformation replacing the extensive mess of ornamentation which existed in both classical and popular lyrics. This went a had to clearing the palates thus creating room for autobahn which stirred the discovery of the modern rhythms.

Hip-hops are composed from different genres (Alridge, Stewart, 2005, p. 1131). such as the west African griots, a group which consists of praise singers and wandering poets, protestants sermons with teachings on spiritual reforms and Christina music, world music that is composed of outstanding traditions and cultures that cut across verities of people and many more driving genres especially borrowed from the Afro – Caribbean entertainments, scat singing and great heroic tales and rhymes.

There are two other commonly popular types of hip hops that are currently taking their roots in the world namely, the American Graffiti and the breaking dance. Thus the history of hip-hop music is significantly very influential and it has played a lot in the construction of the present music.

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