Rap Music History I

The Rap Music Association of America was established to recognize the impact of rap music on American Culture; establish, cultivate and preserve the Rappers’ Hall of Fame; and recognize the individual rappers and rap groups who have contributed to the genre whose contributions might go unacknowledged by society, but for the Rap Music Association of America.

The contributions of rap music have been and still are significant within American Culture and worldwide. From the early days when rap music was in its infancy until today. In 1979, school kids would walk around campuses mouthing the words “With a hip, a hop, a hippy to the hippity hip hip a hop you don’t stop, rock it to the bang bang boogey say up jump the boogey to the rhythm of the boogity beat.” [1] Rap music had put the world on notice that it was a force that could no longer be contained within the Five Burroughs.
[1] Lyrics from Rappers Delight Performed by the Sugar Hill Gang.

Rap Music History II

A new genre of music sprang forth with all the power of a steaming juggernaut. With its spoken lyrics, rhyming over a bass driven beat, delivered by a master of ceremonies; rap music had made its grand entrance. Kurtis Blow grabbed the genre by the hand and escorted it into homes throughout the world. He explained what “the breaks” were and updated Clement Clarke Moore’s night before Christmas. Kurtis Blow stood over rap music like a giant in its early days. The early 80s saw many follow up hits from Blow to include Tough, Party Time, Basketball, AJ Scratch, and If I Ruled the World among numerous others. Although many contributed to the development of rap music such as ‘Cool Herc,’ none received the commercial attention and worldwide recognition of Blow. The commercial prominence of Blow within the genre was unprecedented and unparalleled for the time.

In 1980, the R&B group ‘Lakeside’ decided to infuse traditional R&B music with rap and a new genre of music was born called “Hip Hop.” The song fantastic voyage replaced what normally would have been filled with a chorus with a rap music refrain. “Come along, come on take a ride, there’s a party over here it ain’t no jive…”[1] helped propel the song to the groups’ greatest commercial success. Although rap music itself was in its infancy, it still had the stability to contribute to the development of an even newer genre of music.

Even though he stood as a titan, Blow faced competition in the burgeoning rap market. One of his main competitors for listeners was the five man rap group ‘Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five.” This group saw numerous hits in the early 80s as well. The group consisted of five ‘emcees’ and one ‘DJ.’ With their flashy style and driving beats accompanied by in tandem delivery of rap lyrics; Melle Mel, Kid Creole, Mr. Ness, Cowboy, and Raheim along with Grandmaster Flash had nightclubs and neighborhoods rocking to their lyrics delivered in tandem, over hip hop beats, with precision. They helped to expand the influence of rap music when they delivered The Message to a worldwide audience. The song offered a description of growing up and surviving in the streets of New York City. This song alone would memorialize Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five as icons of the rap music genre. Even though giants of the genre walked among us, many others made notable contributions.

Rappers such as Jekyll and Hyde, Count Coolout, and Afrika Bambatta and the Soul Sonic Force all gave their contributions to the expansion and development of rap music. Blowfly came out with his so called ‘dirty rap’ which contained profanity and explicit lyrics. It was edgy for the time and prevented him from getting the air play received from others. The music still managed to make it to the clubs worldwide. Even the well-known star and comedian, Rodney Dangerfield contributed to rap music with Rappin’ Rodney.
Females also made their entries into the market. Deborah Harry aka “Blondie” included a rap refrain in her 1980 hit Rapture. The verse includes a rhyming verse which allows one to consider “eatin’ cars and candy bars” with the “man from Mars.” In 1979, the female rap group ‘Sequence’ made the earliest entry by a female rap group with their notable single Funk You Up. Rappers ‘Cheryl the Pearl,’ ‘Angie B,’ and ‘Blondie’ (not to be confused with Deborah Harry) proved that this was not just a boys’ game.
[1] Music performed by Lakeside in 1980

Rap Music History III

The early days of rap music introduced many individuals with colorful monikers. The ‘Treacherous Three’ featuring the likes of the one and only ‘Kool Moe Dee, L.A. Sunshine, and Special K’ kept the holiday spirit alive with Jingle Jangle. The 80s were noted for its rap groups. ‘The Fat Boys’ rapped hard for dancers in the clubs and “B Boys” breakdancing on cardboard boxes on the street corners of NYC. Newcleus introduced a playfulness to rap music with their sped up vocals over mixed and scratched beats. ‘Rock Master Scott and the Dynamic Three’ answered the Request Line and introduced themselves to a worldwide audience. ‘Jazzy Jay and T La Rock’ gave it to audiences with It’s Yours but the best was yet to come. The hard bass intro followed by the words, “A few years ago, a friend of mine, asked me to say some emcee rhymes”[1] combined with mixes and scratches by a master of the turntables ushered in the ‘Run DMC and Jam Master Jay’ era..

Run (Joseph Simmons), D.M.C. (Daryl McDaniels), Jam Master Jay (Jason Mizell) brought a fanaticism to rap music which had never been seen before. They collaborated with music groups from different genres, like the Fat Boys earlier, and expanded rap music’s appeal. They endorsed products with their music like Adidas and Lee Jeans. This rap group created a prolific body of work and toured worldwide. They performed at ‘Live Aid,’ something that no other rap group had done before. The rap group also toured worldwide along with Euro American rap/rock group ‘The Beastie Boys.’ Russell Simmons, the older brother of Run went on to found Def Jam Records and produce other rap/music groups, television programs, and movies. One of his most notable television undertakings was the production of ‘HBO’s Def Comedy Jam’ which exposed a worldwide audience to the likes of Dave Chappelle, Bernie MAC, Martin Lawrence, Chris Tucker, and Joe Torrey among many others.

The hard bass intro became a standard for many rap hits in the 80s. UTFO pursued Roxanne, Roxanne while being ignored in their first major commercial success. The group consisted of Debonair Doctor ICE, EMD the Educated Rapper, The Kangol Kid, and their DJ, Mix Master ICE. The group had a string of hits while enjoying commercial success and performed to worldwide audiences. Another group from the early 80s was ’Whodini.’ This rap group consisted of ‘The Rapper Jaleel,’ ‘Extasy,’ and their DJ, ‘Grand Master Dee.’ They had a string of hits such as Friends, Big Mouth, Magic’s Wand, and the club favorite Five Minutes of Funk.

Luke Skywalker and the 2-Live Crew, along with the Ghetto Style DJs, did as much for the performance of rap music as anyone in history. Luther Campbell aka ‘Luke Skywalker’ (not to be confused with the original Star Wars character) introduced the Miami Bass sound to rap music with their risque lyrics. The group came along during the mid-80’s consisting of rappers ‘Fresh Kid Ice’ and ‘Brother Marquis’ along with hype man ‘Luke Skywalker’ rapping to the beats of the ‘Ghetto Style DJs.’ They had a multitude of hits to include Throw That D$#@, Pop That P*&&^, We Want Some P%$$#, Banned In The U.S.A., and many others. During the late 80s and early 90s 2-Live faced legal challenges regarding their music during live performances. Some communities considered 2-Live to be pornographic. They were banned by some communities and provided strict parameters for other performances. 2-Live challenged these restrictions in court with the help of noted civil rights attorney Bruce Rogow. Favorable court rulings allowed 2-Live to perform their music in the spirit and manner they intended and paved the way for other rap groups to do the same. If not for 2-Live, many rap groups today, could not enjoy the artistic freedom and commercial success that they do.

One rap group wanted nothing more than to Move The Crowd. ‘Eric B and Rakim’ announced their intention to be Paid in Full with their new album consisting of all hits. Emcee Rakim combined lyrics, delivery, and a bass tone which moved the crowd to the beats of his DJ, ‘Eric B.’ The success propelled Rakim to the status of being arguably the greatest rapper of all time. Youngster ‘LL Cool J’ arrived on the scene with his New York bravado and Kangol cap and challenged all other rappers to a battle. By now, ‘Kool Moe Dee’ had established himself as a formidable single rapper and stepped up to the challenge. The two engaged in one of rap music’s very first public “beefs.” Youngsters Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince related to the younger rap fans of the time by lamenting about the lack of understanding from parents with their smash hit from their second album Parent’s Just Don’t Understand. Will Smith aka ‘The Fresh Prince’ went on to television and later became one of Hollywood’s biggest stars. Other rappers and rap groups helped to finish out the 80s with great success and broadening rap music’s overall appeal. Heavy D, EPMD, Big Daddy Kane, Red Head Kingpin and the FBI Crew, Kwame, Special Ed, and De La Soul among many others made significant contributions and helped to expand the genre’s worldwide appeal.

Of course, the 80s would not have been the 80s without great story tellers like ‘Slick Rick’ and ‘Dana Dane.’ Both sported similar looks and were masters of storytelling. Dane’s Nightmares related the story of his encounter and attempts to avoid dating an “ugly” girl and Slick Rick entertained us all with A Children’s Story. ‘Doug E. Fresh’ also pitched in. He was the master of the human beatbox and rhyming. He was the only rapper that was so versatile that he had two DJs, ‘Chill Will’ and ‘Barry B.’

Although the majority of rappers and rap groups originated from the east coast, the west coast rap scene was also making an impact. The ‘L.A. Dream Team’ was one of the first rap groups to receive worldwide recognition and helped to put west coast rappers and rap groups on the map. “Sir Mix-a-Lot & Kid Sensation’ also made their impact when Mix-a-Lot proclaimed, “I like big butts and I cannot lie!” ‘Dirty Rap’ was the domain of ‘Too Short.’ Because of the risqué lyrical content of his music, he received little to no air play in many markets. One of the major rap acts of the late 80s was ‘M.C. Hammer.’ Hammer took rap performances to another level. He had background singers, choirs, dancers, DJs, bands, and hype men on stage with him during his performances. Hammer also danced like no rapper before or since and earned millions and received numerous awards during his career. ‘Vanilla Ice’ was one of the first Euro American rappers to receive fame and notoriety. Perhaps the most noted rap group emanated from Compton, California, ‘NWA.’ The group consisted of ‘Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, Easy E, MC Ren, and DJ Yella.’ They introduced a style known as ‘Gangsta Rap.’ ‘Digital Underground’ also made an appearance nearing the end of the 80s. Their front man, ‘Shock G,’ appeared on many of the group’s offering as his alter ego ‘Humpty Hump.’ The group also consisted of members ‘Money B’ and ‘Tupac’ aka Tupac Shakur (The Tupac). Tupac went on to enter the discussion of being the greatest rapper of all time. After his death in the mid-90s, his status transcended that of a rapper. Some have even referred to him as a prophet. Some believe he is still alive and is waiting to return. His music is still popular and continues to earn recognition today. Many current artist cite Tupac as a major influence on their careers.
[1] Sucker M.C.s performed by Run DMC and Jam Master Jay