Genre Research and Audience Expectations- Rap

By Jamie Tilsley

Word Cloud

1.Origins of Rap It is widely accepted that rap began in and

around the 1970, with the first ever rap song being “Rappers Delight” by the Sugar hill gang. The popular instrumental of CHIC’s good times was edited and put on loop for the group to rap over, which had never been done this successfully before and it became a hit in the U.S. and even U.K. charts. This lead many other rap artists to emerge as the spotlight had been placed on the new style and genre. Rappers such as Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five and Run D.M.C were made popular and lead the genre forward also.

2.Evolution of Rap Rap has had many years to progress since its beginning in the 1970 and

hundreds of artists have placed their own spin on the genre. 70’s and 80’s rap mainly capitalised on popular hits from the time being sampled and rapped over by the artists. Examples include the 1st rap song in Rappers Delight by The Sugar Hill Gang; sampling CHIC’s Good Times and NWA and their song “Express Yourself”, sampling the song of the same name. Whilst on the subject of the rap group NWA, it is credited that they had a big part to play in the evolution of rap in their stretch of the genre into “Gangster Rap”. This sub genre if you will gave birth to what many people hear in rap songs today, with the glamorisation of a lifestyle involving gangs, drugs and women. This sub genre took up a lot of the later decades such as the 80’s and 90’s, with rappers such as 2pac putting their spin on gangster rap with a more conscious approach, touching on the mentality and reasons behind the violence and lifestyle associated with rap at the time. Gangster rap still takes up a lot of the genre, with artists such as The Game and YG still using the gang culture and drug use as content. However, few follow the conscious rout of rapping, like Kendrick Lamar and J. Cole. A specific song which has garnered much praise from many, including Barack Obama is “How much a dollar cost” by Kendrick Lamar using deep content to talk about an encounter he had with a homeless man. Although this conscious style is rare to the rap genre, it is extremely popular and is paving the way for rappers in the years to come. J. Cole’s album going double platinum and Kendrick Lamar having one of the best albums of all time- in all genres, it seems this is what the people want and shows rap at its highest form of evolution so far.

3.How are artists of this genre represented?

The majority of rappers are perceived as rich in today's era, with many of the artists flaunting their money, cars and jewellery in music videos and social media. The large earnings of rap artists makes the profession look very admirable and many idolize the rap artists of the past and present. However, many may be perceived as less academically intelligent and poses more street smarts. Many rap about their youth and dropping out of college to peruse a rap career. Examples include Kanye West’s album named “The College Dropout” and the likes of The Notorious B.I.G. using his raps to show the teachers that told him he would “Never amount to nothing”. They are not always shown as the best role models due to this fact, but drugs and violence are also often promoted in rap songs which can be perceived as a negative influence to young listeners and others.

4. Ideologies of Rap “A system of ideas and ideals, especially one which forms the basis of

economic or political theory and policy.” “first you get the money, then you get the power, THEN you get the woman.” The ideologies of rap are basically spawned from the history of the genre and

the places the rappers often begin at. The reasons behind the goals of rap stars being getting money, women and power is all behind the mentality brought to them when they weren’t famous. Many rappers are born into poor families and placed in areas of violence which conditions them at a young age. This is why many rappers flaunt their wealth and possessions, as they had very little when they were young and have turned their lives around.

The path to power for many rappers is behind the alpha male appearance behind many other rappers and the competitiveness of all the rappers trying to be on top of their profession. All try to better on and other to be crowned the best.

The path to women for rappers is an ideology followed my all men (straight men). Having multiple women being interested in you is something men want, so having the ability do show you are capable of this is something rappers take advantage of with the envy of regular of men following soon after.

Contemporary rap artists 2pac Notorious B.I.G. Eminem Drake Kanye West

Jay-Z Kendrick Lamar 50 Cent Ice Cube Snoop Dogg

What to consider when making your own rap video: When constructing your/my own rap video it is

important to remember the ideologies mentioned previously and to try to include as many of them as possible in order to resonate with audiences who have become a custom to seeing these conventions within rap videos and to make your video more realistic and suited to the rap genre.

1. Money: cars, jewellery, etc.

2. Power: overall more focus on the artist in the video.

3. Women: making the artist look desirable.