Old Rap Vs New Rap: Point-CounterPoint Lauryn and Leah

Old School Rap

Narrative/Lyricism

  • Most of the content is about partying and having a good time
  • How to Rap, Immortal Technique “hip-hop was born in an era of social turmoil… in the same way that slaves used to sing songs on a plantation… that’s the party songs that we used to have” (Edwards, 2009, pg. 19)
  • With the hit song “The Message” written, produced and rapped by Duke Bootee and a rapped verse from, Melle Mel, this introduced the start of social commentary to hip-hop
  • Battle Rap
  • Sci-fi/Afrofuturism was another theme introduced into hip hop. It explored social commentary from a sci-fi perspective
  • Freestyle rap definition by Kool Moe Dee There’s a God on the Mic: There’s an old-school freestyle that’s basically rhymes that you’ve written that may not have anything to do with any subject or that goes all over the place. Then there’s freestyle where you come off the top of the head” (Dee 2003, Pg 101). Thought real old school freestyle was rapping off the top of the head
  • Since its emergence in the South Bronx, hip hop culture has spread around the world. Hip hop music first emerged with disc jockeys creating rhythmic beats by looping breaks (small portions of songs emphasizing a percussive pattern) on two turntables, more commonly referred to as sampling. This was later accompanied by “rap”, a rhythmic style of chanting or poetry presented in 16 bar measures or time frames, and beatboxing, a vocal technique mainly used to imitate percussive elements of the music and various technical effects of hip hop DJ’s. An original form of dancing and particular styles of dress arose among fans of this new music. These elements experienced considerable refinement and development over the course of the history of the culture. (conclusion)

Beat/Rhythm

  • Simple rhythms and a moderate tempo
  • Traditionally, a DJ will use two turntables simultaneously. These are connected to a DJ mixer, an amplifier, speakers, and various other pieces of electronic music equipment. The DJ will then perform various tricks between the two albums currently in rotation using the above listed methods. The result is a unique sound created by the seemingly combined sound of two separate songs into one song. Although there is considerable overlap between the two roles, a DJ is not the same as a producer of a music track.
  • Beatbox, popularized by Doug E. Fresh, is the vocal percussion of hip hop culture. It is primarily concerned with the art of creating beats, rhythms, and melodies using the human mouth. The term beatboxing is derived from the mimicry of the first generation of drum machines, then known as beatboxes. As it is a way of creating hip hop music, it can be categorized under the production element of hip hop, though it does sometimes include a type of rapping intersected with the human-created beat.
  • Hip Hop has a distinctive associated slang. It is also known by alternate names, such as “Black English”, or “Ebonics”. Academics suggest its development stems from a rejection of the racial hierarchy of language, which held “White English” as the superior form of educated speech. Due to hip hop’s commercial success in the late nineties and early 21st century, many of these words have been assimilated into the cultural discourse of several different dialects across America and the world and even to non-hip hop fans. The word dis for example is particularly prolific. There are also a number of words which predate hip hop but are often associated with the culture, with homie being a notable example.
  • “ Hip hop texts are rich in imagery and metaphor and can be used to teach irony, tone, diction, and point of view. Hip hop texts can be analyzed for theme, motif, plot, and character development. Both Grand Master Flash and T.S. Eliot gazed out into their rapidly deteriorating societies and saw a “wasteland.” Both poets were essentially apocalyptic in nature as they witnessed death, disease, and decay.”

Social Implications

  • The relationship between graffiti and hip hop culture arises both from early graffiti artists practicing other aspects of hip hop, and its being practiced in areas where other elements of hip hop were evolving as art forms. Graffiti is recognized as a visual expression of rap music, just as breaking is viewed as a physical expression.
  • Hip hop has made a considerable social impact since its inception in the 1970s. Orlando Patterson, a sociology professor at Harvard University helps describe the phenomenon of how Hip Hop spread rapidly around the world. Professor Patterson argues that mass communication is controlled by the wealthy, government, and businesses in Third World nations and countries around the world. He also credits mass communication with creating a global cultural hip hop scene. As a result, the youth absorb and are influenced by the American hip hop scene and start their own form of hip hop. Patterson believes that revitalization of hip hop music will occur around the world as traditional values are mixed with American hip hop musical forms, and ultimately a global exchange process will develop that brings youth around the world to listen to a common musical form known as hip hop. It has also been argued that rap music formed as a “cultural response to historic oppression and racism, a system for communication among black communities throughout the United States”. This is due to the fact that the culture reflected the social, economic and political realities of the disenfranchised youth.
  • Early hip hop has often bn credited with helping to reduce inner-city gang violence by replacing physical violence with hip hop battles of dance and artwork.ee
  • hundreds more emphasize messages of verbal skill, internal/external conflicts, life lessons, unity, social issues, or activism instead of messages of violence, material wealth, and misogyny.
  • Authenticity is often a serious debate within hip hop culture. Dating back to its origins in the 1970s in the Bronx, hip hop revolved around a culture of protest and freedom of expression in the wake of oppression suffered by African-Americans

 

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