Rap / Hip Hop

Eloise Hatton

Rap Artists

• Eminem• Wiz Khalifa• Jay-Z• Snoop Dog• Kanye West• Nicki Minaj• Lil Wayne• Dr. Dre• Kendrick Lamar• Iggy Azalea• Big Sean• Professor Green• Pharrel Williams• Beyonce Knowels• KaeN

Origin of Rap

Rap and hip-hop music as we know it today actually began thousands of years ago in Africa with the “Griots”, who were village story tellers who played a simple handmade instrument while they told stories of family and village events. The Griot was, and still is, a major form of communication in parts of Africa. This “talking” while music is playing is rap music in its most rudimentary form.

In addition to the Griot tradition, rap is rooted in the pain of Black-American experience which began with slavery. While slaves were working in the fields, they would often sing. Part of the songs they sang were "call and answer" selections. One leader would call out part of the song and the rest of the slaves would answer with the next line.

Where is rap most popular?

Rap music is very popular within the United States of America. This is because most rappers now in the 21st Century originate from the USA. rap music or hip-hop, genre originating in the mid-1970s among black and Hispanic performers in New York City, at first associated with an athletic style of dancing, known as break dancing. The word rap, derived from a 1960s slang word for conversation, generally consists of chanted, often improvised, street poetry accompanied by a montage of well-known recordings, usually disco or funk. Detractors have criticized most rap music as a boastful promotion of violence and misogyny; others have admired it as an inventive manipulation of cultural idioms and credit many rappers with an acute social and political awareness. Early rap groups included Grandmaster Flash, Afrika Bambaataa, and the Beastie Boys. Rap has influenced many forms of popular culture, particularly film, and has been increasingly incorporated into pop music