RAP FROM THE START: CULTURAL RAMIFICATIONS OF AFRO-AMERICAN POPULAR MUSIC.

5th February 2004

Introduction

This article seeks to contextually address the raison d’etre of recent developments in Rap music and read the historical, artistic, aesthetic and political contours of this genre from its Trans Atlantic movement to the present global ‘Take Over’ as recorded in multiple narratives by key players in the evolution of the genre. Whereas the foundation of this discussion leans on to the origins of Rap, it revolves around the spatial organization of the genre and the simultaneous global dissemination as is manifested in events of infinite implications such as the expansion of the Def Jam record label, the growing fashion and Television presence, the internal and external dynamics and the mushrooming regional hip hop movements in diverse cultural spaces globally.

Fig 1.0 Premier Rap Label Def Jam Records

Rap, one of the most ‘authentic’ forms of contemporary black entertainment is a credible site for understanding social relations in the American public sphere. Staples (1972) draws attention to this value in entertainment to the whole Afro-American scenario. Although entertainment is generally considered an industry rather than an institution, its importance to blacks in providing some basic institutional functions merits its inclusion in the category of institutions that had the locus for black emancipation. Being an entertainer is one of the few accessible means of gaining economic success for blacks. It is also of the few sources of white approval for their parity or even superiority over whites. With the exception of sports, blacks have more significant participation in this area of the white world than any other. The economic gains associated with success in this sphere make them all the more acceptable to whites as members of the native elite. However even in this industry they have been subjected to some aspect of white colonial rule and exploitation.

In recent years Rap is subject to the global public sphere where the genre has been overwhelmingly embraced, interrogated and reinterpreted. The relegation of Rap and hip-hop culture to Afro American culture is most likely a reduction of the actual extent of the musico-cultural ramifications of the genre. ‘Across the country and around the globe, hip-hop has changed the way songs are recorded and what they can say, how clothes are designed and marketed, which films get made and how they are distributed-and it has helped shape an entire generation’s thoughts and attitudes about race. Alan Light (1999)

On March 9th 2004 prolific Hip-hop guru Sean ‘P.Diddy’ Combs marks the tenth anniversary of existence of his Bad Boy Entertainment record company which was previously distributed by then Clive Davis’ Arista records and signed a distribution deal with Universal records in 2003. Diddy’s company founded in 1992 accelerated to full operation in 1994 as a result of his propitious dismissal (considering his meteoric rise) from Andre Harrell’s Uptown records for insubordination and is one of Rap music’s most publicized ‘rise to riches’ story a tale of Diddy and the influential multi-million independent dollar record label (with a major coup in 2003 of signing premier retro-R&B act New Edition to her stable).

Fig 1.1 Sean ‘P.Diddy’ Combs

Diddy a business alumnus from Howard University (a centre for black opportunity advocacy) sixth street Washington D.C. was a club/block party organiser in the 80s later owning Daddy’s House night club (later the name of his recording studio) in New York City; video dancer and then intern at Andre Harrell’s Uptown records eventually filling up an A&R vacancy at the same place which led to the discovery of the acts Jodeci and Mary J. Blige. The selection of the date 9th March is also in commemoration of the sixth anniversary of the fatal shooting of his protégé and major Bad Boy artist the late great Christopher’ Notorious B.I.G.’ Wallace.

From the mid 90s the ostentatious P.Diddy like Percy ‘Master P.’ Miller of the No-Limit rap label who was at number 10 in the Forbes Magazine top richest in 1998 has emerged as a colossal commercial symbol (in the ‘Bling Bling’ era) of Rap music and made his own contribution (particularly in mainstreaming) to an Afro American genre that had modest origins but has successfully situated itself in mainstream global culture.

Diddy is similarly a validation of the elusive ‘Afro American Dream’. The triumph of Black America against the inadequacies of the system. Another record company Def Jam the ‘house of rap’ celebrates its twentieth anniversary from its equally humble origins at producer Rick Rubin’s undergraduate room at New York State University’s Weinstein Hall Washington Place New York. Def Jam since 1999 is part of the omni-powerful Universal group of record labels that also includes the phenomenal Motown records. These two success stories are typical of the institutional growth of ‘Black America’.

In January 2002, while working at the urban radio station Radio Sanyu in Uganda, I encountered an unusual visitor to Uganda. Mr.Shem a close aide to Lyor Cohen the Israeli who initially joined Def Jam in 1984 as an accountant and now along with Kevin Liles (who is rumoured to have written Milli Vanilli’s platinum single ‘Girl you know its true’) makes things happen at what I may prefer to refer as Rap music’s most important record label Def Jam (formed 1984 by Russell ‘Rush’ Simmons and Rick Rubin).

Fig 1.2 Def Jam Co –founder Russell Simmons

Shem unveiled the Def Jam tentative plan for pump-priming a major incursion into Africa similar to endeavours in Japan (2000) and Germany where the company had opened regional offices to harness local rap talent. The objective was purely commercial and the method: market those territorial contributions within their respective territories with the larger interest of marketing Def Jam home artists and so killing two financial birds with one stone and opening the possibility of collaborations between Def Jam home artists and artists signed to its provincial networks. Another strategic possibility would be reworking material of Def Jam home artists within the territories and so doubling sales of the home artists and starting a whole new marketing framework for the territorial artist. All indicators of a global manifestation of rap music. Late 2003, Def Jam released a collection dubbed Def Jamaica (Def Jam artists featuring luminaries from ‘Jah Jah city’).

A scooping survey of the reputable billboard magazine’s top 50 singles charts (a weekly diary of hit music rotation on retail, club and broadcast air circuits in the United States supplied by Sound Scan) 5th January 2004 unveiled the presence of twenty Rap singles including the number one ‘Hey Ya’ by Atlanta rap duo Outkast (Andre ‘Andre 3000’ Benjamin and Big Boi) from their latest album ‘the speaker box’.

These developments are vital to a critical evaluation of the incisive scope of Rap’s nurtured foundation into global mainstream popular culture. The central strand of analysis conclusively focuses on the sociological significance of Rap globally, which explains the Billboard statistics (sales units, airplay and club play), the expansion strategies of business entities such as Def Jam and the multi-cultural growth of Hip-hop industries and affiliates in ‘glocal’ settings with utmost transparency.

Conceptual boundaries

A point of commencement in tackling discourses on Rap music is to fathom the frequently distorted, generic identity nomenclature of Rap. Rap is easily and erroneously referred to as Hip hop though in essence Hip-hop is a sub-culture, a miscellany of intertwined structural components including Rap, which forms one part (though a central part) of hip-hop dynamics.

Hip-hop is accorded a subtle definition in ‘The Show Soundtrack’ (1995 Def Jam), a motion picture presented by legendary industry player Russell ‘Rush’ Simmons. Kid Creole, DJ Kid Capri and Ecstasy (1995) in the soundtrack define hip-hop as writing and rhyming…this is hip-hop music and this is all we got…. A way of life, to hold the mic in your hand and crush everything in front of you that’s hip-hop. Their view restricts hip-hop to the music though with an acknowledgement of hip-hop as a lifestyle.

In retrospect one account has it that the word hip-hop was coined by the Bronx rapper ‘Lovebug Starski’ who used it to imply the communal wave particular to the musical and affiliated movement of a section of the Afro American community in New York in the late 70s and early 80s. ‘Hip’ suggested the fashionable. Hop suggested a bandwagon reaction to the ‘hip’ (attractive). And so Hip-hop was what the masses got attracted to. ‘Starski’ however appeared to have collocated the phrase after listening to the lyrics of the Sugar Hill Gang record ‘Rapper’s delight’ where the line ‘ the hip the hop the hippy to the hip don’t stop’ moved crowds (so the public got inspired to catch on to this because of its novelty).

Fig 1.3 Rap group Sugar Hill Gang

It is imperative to recognise that the term could have also been adapted from the Sugar Hill song or vice versa. Sugar Hill was in one way riding lyrically on a contemporary lyrical code. Other accounts lay claim to a popular Radio Disc Jockey DJ Hollywood in New York who used the term Hip-hop in his radio shows as early as 1974.The three accounts all lend credence to the 70s emergence and convergence of the whole culture and the view that its proponents had some sort of knowledge of the direction and components of the new found culture.

The term ‘hip-hop’ is both alliterated, assonated and memorable. One aspect of Rap is its dependence on intricate rhyme schemes and in many cases Rap artists compose lyrics out of free style (improvised) sessions (based on a sort of oral formulaic theory) that may turn out as syntactical hay wire because they semantically deviate though there lies underneath such innovation artistic ingenuity where conventional sound devices such as alliteration, assonance and onomatopoeia override the basic meaning within lyrics in terms of significance to the artist and to the audience.

Hip-hop (including Rap music) in different ways epitomizes a continuation of what were early syncretic forms of Afro American folklore that became embodiments of modes of representation and identity manifestation in the context of a social group with intertwined and diverse historical leanings in which the reproduction of suppression at various stages of the evolution of the United States of America drove many a ‘black soul’ to excellence in areas particular to talent, individual and communal expression.

The development of the hip-hop culture is linked to the socio-cultural background of ‘black America’ where race relations dominate the history of the last standing global super power. Staples (1973) cites Simmel and Parks theory of race relations based on four stages of race relations: contact, competition (conflict), accommodation (hierarchies) and assimilation (fused cultures) to provide a conceptual model towards Afro American life. The evolution of hip-hop culture falls through all these stages though the assimilation is most conclusive. The racial interface caused the Afro American community to foster the development of some sort of world of their own with arts and institutions that they passed on to their descendant generations accruing from the racial status quo in which participation in all forms of American socio-cultural life was hardly possible.

Afro American oral literature, history, poetry, music and dance; visual presence in artwork, painting (graffiti) and Afro American theatre and film (motion picture) that were from a race relations angle and got impressed on to visual works for example the films: Juice, Boyz N the Hood, House Party, Menace II Society, Higher Learning, Gridlock’d, New Jack City; Above the Rim; Fashion through designs from companies: Phat Farm (started 1992), FUBU (started by Daymond John in 1992), ‘Roca Wear’, ‘Sean John’ and Bryan ‘Baby’ Williams’ recent partnership with Karl Kani for the ‘Life’ clothing line.

Fig 1.4 Graffiti

Verbal expressive mannerisms directly imply on to the inter-lingual contact between the Afro American community and the new cultural community that they visualised them selves in harmony with prioritised modifications show traces of elements of African art and culture in their early and transformed forms including the trans-generational project aspect of Afro American culture. Staples (1972) further examines the cultural diversity of the seemingly homogenous black culture. Black culture derives from a number of diverse forces and it would be difficult to trace it to one source. Surely a history of three hundred years of slavery and oppression has left its mark on black behaviour. The socialization process is an important mechanism for transmitting the content of a culture to its youth. Within the socialization process, the imitation and modelling effects of role models and behaviour tend to subtly convey cultural content. The other source of Afro American culture is the African heritage that has been retained in part over time and space.

Fig 1.5 Afro American Movie Director Spike Lee

The Afro American media was a crucial platform that covered the nascent hip-hop culture and largely documented its origins and moments. Radio stations (KDAY, Hot 97.3 FM New York, The Beat LA,); Television stations and Television programs: One World, MTV: Yo MTV Raps, BET, Def Comedy Jam, Fresh Prince of Bel Air); Magazines: The Source Magazine (started in August 1988), Vibe Magazine (started in 1993) were some media channels that positively showcased and promoted elements of this organic culture. The media opened up a forum for contact with the growing culture and a vehicle for social correspondence (verbal or written) through which the primary audience and other audiences exchanged views on hip-hop.

Deejaying and Turn tablism (DJ Kid Capri, DJ Funkmaster Flex, DJ Clue) and the club / Sound System/ the Boom Box (personal sound system) and the media are all forms of what Ong classifies as secondary orality and carry on the historical means of conceptualising the self and the public within the Afro American community .At one point in hip-hop history there was the motile break dancing that was a main preoccupation of the B-Boys (Break Boys) who were equally related to the ‘Break beat’ phase of Rap music and hip-hop culture.

Advertising has at various stages of hip-hop history related to the hip-hop culture as sound and images of hip-hop have been incorporated into ‘mainstream’ commercial marketing strategies and consumption realities globally. Hip-hop as primarily ‘Afro-American’ culture grew out of its community support for the culture as authentic to their own origins. The purchase of Rap records by Afro-Americans was seen as a mandatory affirmation and support for ‘our’ genre that would be annihilated if it was not supported. Other institutions legitimised the presence of hip-hop and assisted in grooming a strong foundation for this culture. The leaders of ‘the beginning’ carefully created founding traditions such as block parties, the hip-hop summits, talent search and documenting the whole tradition for present and future generations to learn from as well as preserving this culture.

Hip-hop penetrated into Afro American, American and global social culture spreading into and drawing from varied disciplines. Hip-hop demonstrated and still demonstrates itself as an assimilation of all forms of culture ‘black America’ came into contact with specifically from the vantage point of the Afro American. The cultural significance of Sports for example Basket Ball (B-Ball) as the unwritten hip-hop sport (precisely because of the physical structure of the average afro American) related to the choice of plots and locations of many hip-hop videos that import scenes from Basket Ball courts for instance Skeelo’s ‘I wish’ or the dual careers of Basketball stars Shaquille O’Neal, Kobe Bryant, Cedric the Baller who are notable hip-hop artists in their own right. Master P and P.Diddy have had major interests in Basket Ball teams before). Basketball with other physical sport like boxing (the case of Mike Tyson and Roy Jones jr.), American football and athletics is one form of Afro American preoccupation that had analytical implications on Afro American life and social organization.

Hip-hop thence naturally identified in its formative stages with what was ‘comfortable’ for ‘black America’. Comfortable in the context of advancing notions of equality and the Afro American claim to citizenship and nationhood within the American society. Rap artists who became representatives for major sports merchandise like Reebok did so from an Afro American and hip-hop perspective which the companies did not resent but assented this cultural growth and transformation.

In regional and national politics outside the traditional hip-hop power processes, the Democratic Party is in many instances viewed as the official hip-hop party in American national politics simply because the party had a less conservative stance towards the whole cultural mechanics of America which allowed a measure of hip-hop freedom. The hip-hop community voices ‘cast your votes right’ concerns in election processes, which in many cases is in favour of the Democratic Party. ‘Blacks have been wedded to the Democratic Party since the time of Roosevelt, Staples (1972).

Fig 1.6 Former American president Roosevelt

In religion and spiritual matters, the nation of Islam (which is peculiarly an organization of Black Muslims) assumes a pedestal role in the socio-cultural and political meditations, mediation and negotiations within the hip-hop community, which envisions this body as the legitimate haven of truth and justice. The hip-hop community evaluates Christianity as too critical of their basic human expression (music) and holds the church as partly responsible for the institutionalisation of racism in America. This accounts for the involvement of the hip-hop community in the Louis Farrakhan/Nation Islam million man march in 1995 and the constant conversion of artists such as Brand Nubian, Q-tip, Rakim and Mos Def amongst others to Islam. After the death of Tupac Shakur in 1996 the Nation of Islam held a symposium to try and avert future debacle as the former.

In consumer culture rap artists engage in commercials for products such as beverages and gear. Kurtis Blow and Run DMC endorsed Sprite and Addidas respectively in 1985 and later Sprite, Pepsi, Fanta and Coca Cola turned to hip-hop as a major gateway for commercial success. Rap music, which accounts for a large percentage of recent global music sales, is a major revenue earner for the American government through taxation from the I.R.S which is then a factor in the socio-economic and political development of America. Hip-hop foundations for social change though often tied to the ‘Afro American’ community have alleviated the conditions for many people from the ‘projects’ supplementing the efforts of the American government to improve the lives of its people.

These elements should from the onset of debate be comprehended as significant manifestations of culture and Afro American cultural identity within a much more inter-locked global society. The elements complemented each other and advanced a complex set of possibilities for interrogating and internalising forms, contents and mechanisms of the whole subculture. It is worthwhile to note that the music of hip-hop culture was in the initial stages associated with Afro-Americanism. For instance issues of Black Nationalism and resistance to deprivation and segregation and ways of coping with these contextual trends.

Hip-hop (and in this case Rap music) analytically should be concluded as a viable expressive outlet for both the vocally and commercially insignificant (this explains the notions of Survival broadly explored by a majority of artists) and in most cases a grouping in that had absolutely no contact with the sophisticated upper class rank that spent time on Mozart for example. Hip-hop artists to their audiences became reincarnated sounds and images of Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, Elijah Muhammad or even the Black Panther movement using the microphone and the word, in rhythm and rhyme to celebrate life, commemorating its joys and sorrows, hills and valleys yet at the same time deconstructing and reconstructing any mis-representation of their whole cultural entity within the broader cultural ecosystem of America.

Fig 1.7 Afro American activists Malcolm X and Martin Luther King

A case example of the commercial manoeuvres is the Mix tape phenomenon where rappers and their deejays produced non-stop mixes (blend of different records) on tape with their chants to market to their audiences (making use of all avenues to survive). As the music subsisted, it became largely all-inclusive ‘mainstream’ with Hispanic and White rappers gracing the scene. Kid Frost, Fat Joe, Mellow Man Ace, Angie Martinez, Big punisher, Cuban Linx and the Beat nuts; Eminem, Beastie Boys, 3rd Bass, Milkbone and Vanilla Ice respectively. The Boo-Yaa tribe of Samoan origin. The overseas ‘invasion’ of the French musical Peninsula and the ‘Tassou’ ‘Geo’and ‘Bongo’ revolutions in Senegal, Egypt and Tanzania respectively.

The acronym RAP is for ‘Rhythm And Poetry’ .The structural sophistication of Poetry itself accounts for the skilful mental and verbal artistry of many Rap artists (who are frequently qualified as wordsmiths and proficient story tellers as is the case with the phenomenal Nasir ‘Nas’ Jones, William ‘Rakim Allah’ Griffin and Ricky ‘Slick Rick’ Walters). The strict observance of narratives, rhythm and rhyme and of course the beat (groovy) was preponderant to the significance Rap assumed within its traditional Afro American base and to the global audiences that embraced its presence. As a manifestation of hip-hop Rap remains the most recognised element in the hip-hop subculture.

Historical perspective

Though the origin of Rap is traced through to the legendary DJ Kool Herc (Clive Campbell) who migrated with his family at the age of twelve from his St. Mary’s Parish in the north of Jamaica to America(the Bronx New York) in 1967 with the Sound system tradition and its accompanying toasting tradition of the 60s,earlier accounts such as events in the oral history documentation of Alex Hailey’s family narratives in the classic novel and film series ‘Roots’ date the origin of rap back to the early Afro American arrivals to the Americas. Kochman (1972) identified this art form as a fluent and lively way of talking generally characterized by a high degree of personal style through which the speaker intends to draw the audiences attention to himself or some feature of himself that he feels is attractive or prestigious with his audience’ a description that suggests that Rap had already made inroads into Afro-American culture with set ethics and motifs. In fact there was a rap group before Herc and the Sugar Hill Gang made rap recognised. The Afro centric Last Poets (Abio Dun Oyewolo, Sulaiman El Hadi, Alafi Pudim, Omar Ben Hassen and Nilijah) who had performances as early as 1973.

Fig 1.8 Hip-hop pioneer deejay Clive ‘Kool Herc’ Campbell

Oral street poetry was way into practise before Herc made his journey. This street poetry continued with the emergence of Rap with the Beat Box (Human Voice imitation of instruments in later years monopolised by Douglas ‘Doug.E.Fresh’ E. Davis) that reconciled with vocal versification. In the following years Russell Simmons has paid homage to this poetic origin of Rap through the Def Poetry Jam program on HBO hosted by rapper Mos Def and Amaru records (Tupac’s post humous record company) had plans of releasing an album of Tupac’s poetry. Indeed Rap is in many circles described as poetry laid over a beat. The Herc script reads that after starting in 1973 he inspired a wealth of other Deejays including fellow American of Jamaican descent Joseph ‘Grandmaster Flash’ Saddler and the afro centric Afrika Bambatta. The significance of Herc was more of advancing a stage in the development of the Rap game where he drew more critical attention to the whole interrelated aspect of migration and the musical development of settler and local communities.

Fig 1.9 DA Bronx New York

(Cf the reggae article) the deejay (Jamaican rap in the sound system tradition) was a consequence of producer Clement ‘Sir Coxsone Dodd’ Seymour’s journey to Miami in the sixties where he recorded stylish American radio deejays and then replayed their sound for his Studio One artists and the trend picked up fast in Jamaica with various artists (on the Sound system circuit) doing the same thing but on a musical level. DJ Kool Herc became a prominent club deejay in New York and his primary audience at his ‘block parties’ as a result of the existing racial hierarchies of the time was from the black community, which was viewed as a ‘minority’ in as far as social, relations were concerned. His trademark ‘grabbing and ripping’ the microphone as well as exquisite Turn tablism were particularly spectacular influencing a host of other emcee’s and Deejays.

The audiences showed support (‘Love’) for these artists and for a while it was confined to ‘block parties’ on the streets of the Bronx and so earned the title ‘black street’ music. The MCs (emcees) were mentally exquisite performers on the microphone who used rhyme and rhythm to entertain the crowds that the Deejays played for. The youth predictably were the first to adopt this new musical culture before the demographic expanded. The link between Rap and its Reggae route continued with collaborations between Rap and Reggae artists through the years.

What was omitted from this discourse was that though Rap was ‘black street party’ music initially considered for what was the hypothetically idle group of mainly previously disenfranchised, unemployed or social deviant black youth, it was primarily a cultural turn to a systematic outlet for this group reconstructing their primary engagement with the socio-economic and political stratum that appeared to relegate them to a minority.

Rap was a new consolidation and consolation in what was envisioned as ‘our own’ to this group, a means of expression different from but simultaneously incorporating forms of expressions earlier encountered). The implications of the music are best conceptualised within the hip hop cultural landscape with the incorporation of dramatic manifestations of dance, oral poetry and percussion central to the Afro American cultural legacy with roots in particular African traditions that bore identical resemblance to such tradition. Rap eventually facilitated the economic emancipation of Afro American youth who otherwise had to dabble in the ‘crack game’ (drugs) and all sorts of other illicit methods of survival. Though of course Rap later partly became a glorification of such illicit activity.

The Afro American population did not exist in a multi-cultural vacuum, the confluence of social groupings was significant in establishing Rap as a compendium of both black, white and other musico-cultural strands as occurred in the adaptation of communally originated musics such as Jazz (started first decade of the 20th Century), Soul (from the 1950s to the 1960s especially with the musical periods of Motown and the Stax: formerly Satellite label), R&B (Rhythm and Blues)(from the 1940s), Disco (1970s), Bop (Be-bop and Re-bop from the 40s), Blues(early 20th Century) and Rock(Rock ‘n’ Roll or Rockabilly with origins 50s and 60s) and so was a fusion of genres (of varied social origins) that would only live for a short time as particular to one demographic culture. The dance tradition later known as ‘break dancing’ for instance came from a diverse group of influences such as the rising popularity of Oriental movies (Bruce Lee and accomplices).

Rap as a genre accommodating diverse global cultures is affiliated to those afore- mentioned elements of hip-hop that co-authored and supplemented its formulation through the years and these would be paramount to appreciating discourses on Rap. One of the earliest preceding sources of the whole aesthetic experience was the famous Deejay tradition imported and popularised by migrant DJ Kool Herc from Jamaica. This relation is perhaps the reason why rap was an urban cultural form from its genesis.

Deejaying is an intricate process of entertaining a dancing crowd in a given space (usually a closed or out door dance congregation). The use of sound and light reforms these spaces into new and reconfigured spaces that then orchestrate a whole new experience of social contact and celebration. The central force in this exercise is the Deejay (the individual who plays the sound and light equipment).

The deejay using either of tape decks, CD players, Turn tables or in this age Computers with sound blending software accompanied by microphones, headphones, amplifiers, equalizers, loud speakers, light control equipment) is a technically, artistically and analytically proficient individual who has to man the equipment and also keep his clientele on the dance floor (for example by collecting and unlimited number of records, predicting, playing and mixing songs that they would like to listen to). The Deejay tradition is thought to have preceded Rap in a sense that the Rapper appropriated the microphone, one of the tools of the Deejay. The very reason why rappers became referred to as MC (Microphone Controller). They controlled the mic (a subsidiary of the Deejay’s equipment) as the Deejay controlled the and light sound. However the Rappers were poetic performers who would deliver rhythmic flows of thematic but improvised significance and were graduates of a subsisting street culture.

Fig 2.0 Joseph ‘Grandmaster Flash’ Saddler

The Deejay aesthetic spills into a lot of technicalities to the pleasure of revellers. Sampling (introducing sections of a sound (record, voice or effect) while the other is still playing); Looping (a repetitive extension of part of a sound for example the instrumental section or a vocal part); Synchronizing (the mixing and matching of two records to sound as if they were one so that there is no interruption in the flow of the music. Here the use of pitch controls that increase and decrease the tempo and so conform one song to another is essential) and finally scratching (which is an artistic reverse of a playing song that gives it an amazing sound effect). The Deejays are thence key players in the organization of this socio-cultural space called the disco/party.

Rap music had this party edge (enjoy yourself aspect) to it .The party was a form of Afro American communal spatial interaction typical of African cultures. This interaction was between the entertainers and audiences, between entertainers and entertainers and between audiences and audiences. The party (an entertainment space) brought a host of artists who invented a new genre that after two decades is responsible for extracting and dramatically alleviating the lives of millions of unemployed youth of the streets of America.

The instrumentals used in live performances by Rappers before any recordings were realised were looped instrumental breaks (that became known as break beats) by Deejays of various musical genres and the whole exercise a variation in ‘turn tablism’ became the foundation for ‘SAMPLING’ (one dominant trend in the production of Rap music where familiar parts of old records are used to create and embellish new records) to take route. These break beats implemented by skilled deejays were also points of performance for dancers who spiced up the party with their unique ‘electric’ wave of motile performance. They became known as B-Boys/Break boys. One group of artists was the Rocksteady dancing crew. Sampling in proceeding years moved from the ‘break beat’ with the invention of the sampler that would isolate such segments. The B-Boys were also a fashion epoch. The B-Boy look was hippy and the fashion statements of rap artists with hippy gear emerged from these. The B-Boy look. They dressed street (informal) but smart, paid attention to hairstyles as much as they did to their choreography.

It is from this space that the second element of hip-hop, the art of break-dancing evolved within the whole hip-hop cultural stratum. Mercury records Rapper and producer Kurtis ‘Kurtis Blow’ Walker also recorded a song called ‘the breaks’ released in 1980 shortly after he had debuted with ‘Christmas Rappin’. Break dancing was the physical motile accompaniment to ‘the breaks’ created by the Deejays. With a concerted display of twists, spins and turns embodying the whole physique of the dancer, break dancing was a visual enhancement of the sound and light artistry by the Deejay.

Fig 2.1 Kurtis ‘Kurtis Blow’ Walker

The influence of ‘break dancing’ spread on to the 90s and thereafter. From the regular ‘B-Boys’ there was the graduation to back up dancers for Rap acts and later rappers like Bobby Brown (who was both a rapper and a singer in 1988 after going solo from the group New Edition); Robert ‘Vanilla Ice’ Van Winkle in his ‘ice ice baby’ video and later Boy and Girl bands of the mid 90s and the years after. DJ Joseph ‘Grandmaster Flash’ Saddler (of the group Grand Master Flash and the Furious Five: Rahiem, Melle Mel, Cowboy (R.I.P.) d 1989, Keith Wiggins, Kidd Creole, Danny Glover, Mr.Ness and Eddie Morris) a graduate of electronics utilized knowledge acquired in class to manipulate equipment that enhanced mixing (synchronizing) abilities of the DJs.

Sampling to rap music was a reference to other musical works that would assist the conceptualisation (enjoyment) of a new record. Like the bibliography references by a university student is a course work. It became a foot in the door production and performance method of not only receiving attention by associating with memory (what the audience was familiar with), but also the tradition of paying homage to history and ancestry of all kinds that occurs within Rap music. The ancestry in this case was that of popular records that crowds had built their experiences around (other forms of ancestral linkage in hip-hop include the constant geographical and cultural spatial reference (the neighbourhood ‘HOOD’ from which the Rapper emerges (LBC, Compton, St.Louis, The Bronx, Queens, Brooklyn, Staten Island, Dirty South) or loyalty reference (to the group/interest he or she represents and the recognition of early contributors to the genre.

A case example is Tupac Amaru Shakur’s single ‘the old school’ from the 1995 ‘me against the world’ Interscope/Atlantic records album in which the intro and repetitive background lyrical line ‘I wouldn’t be here today if the old school didn’t pave the way’ and goes on to list Mr.Magic, Marlon ‘Marley Marl’ Williams and LL.Cool J amongst others of the Rap foundation).

The samples relate to the subject matter or arrangement (lyrics, rhythm or melody) of the artists who use them. Beyond this minute project of luring the ears of audiences was the broader oral method of evoking memory and ancestral linkage in the narrative characteristic of local African culture where continuity was a practical strategy of maintaining communal narratives that sometimes lost authorship in the continuum of contextual reinvention through generations.

The other element of hip-hop that stirred interest was graffiti (spray paint and picture art). Though its origin is unclear, it is quite often attributed to a young experimental artist called Taki who started it in 1970 and its roots are clothed in similar Afro American traditions where art expression was in essence a crucial form of representation. The graffiti artists were inspired by high, traditional and popular art with works of superior art resources like Michelangelo and Leonardo Da Vinci shaping the modest direction of graffiti artists.

Before the dislocation of institutionalised forms of segregation one form of expression was through writings on the walls of various cities. Although graffiti artists were independent in their own right with large followings, some rappers and their crews would write their rhymes and also draw pictures graphically advertising their dance parties and representing their music in various forms of graffiti thematically significant to the records they released and the performances they organized. The taggers (graffiti artists) also battled for supremacy within their own discrete world (purposely because graffiti became illegal). Graffiti artists often displayed their painting on buildings without

permission and so there were frequent crackdowns on the art form.

Across the years Rap revolved around competition (rivalry). The deejays, the MCs, the dancers (B-Boys), the graffiti people struggled for recognition and supremacy even before Rap became a financial success. For the MCs it graduated into the diss (attack) records and frequently response records between rivals (artists and their socio-artistic territories). Through improvisation and persistent innovation, Deejay Theodore ‘Grand Wizard Theodore’ Livingstone in 1975 bumped into a new but impressive way of conjuring the crowds better. He pioneered a new aesthetic element called ‘Scratching’. This was incorporated in the deejay act. It is against such background that it was not possible to isolate different aesthetic elements in the whole hip-hop culture of performance. It is important to note that in later years global sound equipment manufacturers made products that were compatible with this genre. For instance the reverse mode and scratch functions of Gemini and Numark CD sets.

After 1978, more MCs emerged with the boast tradition displacing the deejays to the background in terms of public attention. These came up with epithets that punctuated the dexterity of the deejays that worked the crowds at various parties. The emcees paid homage to the hood, crews and possessions (primarily artistry and apparel). Coke La Rock who assumed permanence at Kool Herc’s deejay workshop was prominent with the catchy phrases:

‘Hear the drummer get wicked’; ‘Rock da house y’all’ and drawing a lot from contemporary diction.

The relationship between the Rappers and the Deejays was and is still interlocked on principle because the deejays supplied the instrumentation for the Rappers and later had to become involved in the MC’s rehearsals and other forms of preparation for live performances. It is no surprise that the deejays became the first producers and managers of artists in this genre. Through the passage of time Rap deejays have been respectable producers as is case with Dr.Dre, DJ Premier, DJ KID KAPRI, DJ Clue and DJ Funk master Flex.

Fig 2.2 Deejay Funk master flex

The live displays in the parties became interesting moments of Rap performance and the art form became advanced by new entrants who artistically added further twists to the art form.

To cater for the crowd that did not attend these parties (performances) and those who needed to re-experience these sensational procedures, deejays (particularly DJ Brucie B and Grandmaster Caz) motivated by commercial objectives began to record these shows (of their live mixing and the voice overs of the MCs) on to audiotapes; recordings that became known as ‘MIXTAPES’. From that moment on the mix tapes have subsisted as part and parcel of the whole Rap aesthetic.

One such tape caught the ear of the legendary Sylvia Robinson who co-owned ‘Sugar Hill’ records (with husband Joe Robinson) in Engle wood New Jersey. In a fit of experimentalism she tried to push the whole Mix tape phenomenon into a proper recording session without the unplugged blend of different records by the deejays. This session required an act to execute and Robinson created a rap group called ‘Sugar Hill Gang’ (made up of Guy ‘Big Hank’ O’Brien, Michael ‘Wonder Mike’ Wright and Henry ‘Master Gee’ Jackson) specifically for this session that led to the recording and release October 1979 of the epoch-making 2X platinum (two million copies sold) single ‘Rappers delight’. This single spent two weeks on the billboard singles charts in 1980 with a peak at no.36.

This ground breaking single coming on the heels of another pioneering Rap record ‘King Tim III (Personality Jock) by the Fatback band was a clarion call for the recording culture that followed. This single ‘SAMPLED’ the hit single ‘good times’ (a song that also went to no. 20 on the American Top 40 charts year end survey 1979) by the disco group ‘CHIC’ (comprising of superstar producers Nile Rogers and Bernard Edwards, Alfa Anderson, Luci Martin and Tony Thompson) a song that came off the ‘risque’ album by ‘CHIC’ and Sugar Hill records emerged as the first major label that preoccupied itself with the genre later signing ‘Kool Moe Dee’ (who however left to join Jive records by 1987) of the ‘Treacherous Three’ and also released the hit single ‘the message’ from Grandmaster Flash and the Furious (on which Rapper Melle Mel broke new grounds on socially relevant Rap) in 1981. Enjoy record label also set up shop in 1979.One other label that emerged was Tom Silverman’s ‘Tommy Boy’ records that released the mammoth ‘Planet Rock’ album from ‘Afrikan Bambaatta’ and the Sonic Force in 1986.The move towards recording accounted in many ways for the steady growth of Rap music. Audio and the subsequent visual recording were an audio and later visual documentation that gave the music an upper edge against the rest of the elements of hip-hop culture.

The ongoing convulsive metamorphosis of Rap music facilitated thematic refinement with varying levels of ideology explored by Rap musicians. A number of artists captured this artistic model as a form of advancing notions of Black Nationalism (and satirical of the perceived ‘White pseudo supremacy’), militancy and rebellion and consequentially Rap music at one stage concentrated on a war with ‘the system’ / ‘the establishment’. Influences from the Black Panther Party (formed 1966) and Black liberation activist Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, Elijah ‘Elijah Muhammad’ Poole, Louis Farrakhan and Marcus Garvey was some kind of dispensation for a category of rappers who did not only become focussed on ‘correcting’ social inequalities and all forms of injustices but were equally ineluctable.

Fig 2.3 Elijah ‘Elijah Muhammad’ Poole of the Nation of Islam

The language and subject transformed into a level of unparalleled militancy and profanity that was grossly loathed by the establishment and subsequently led to the censorship of Rap records with the Record Industry Association of America (RIAA) Parental Advisory labels mandatory for Rap releases in 1985. (Current Democratic Party nomination contender Joe Lieberman, Senator Hillary Clinton, former George Bush Sr. republican vice president Dan Quayle and Delores Tucker were vehement opponents of what was identified as a mishap in civilisation). In many circles this was an internal contradiction of a ‘Free Society’ in which freedom of speech (in this case Rap music) was threatened by custodians of rights and liberties.

In 2002 Fox News Channel talk show host Bill O’Reilly accused Pepsi of using Ludacris in promotions simply because his (Ludacris) language to O’Reilly was profane. The hip-hop community led by father figure Russell Simmons threatened a boycott of Pepsi for the attack on ‘our culture’. The attack on hip-hop only served to advance the development of the genre as curiosity for banned artefacts is always overwhelming. According to Calvin ‘Snoop Doggy Dogg’ Broadus (1999) ‘Rap is the hottest music of our time and there is a good reason for it. Its real, it talks about the way things are, not just the way they ought to be’. This candid representation of real life brought more attention to the genre. It is in the same breath that reality singles like Grandmaster Flash’s ‘the message’ and Blackeyed Peas ‘where is the love’ were explicit hit singles in different time periods though they were not profane.

Rap amalgamated a lot from the cultural transformation and realities within both Black and White communities where derogatory references were not unusual in both inter-racial and intra-racial relations. Tracy ‘Ice T’ Marrow and the Body Count cop killer crusades in 1992, Lawrence Krisna ‘KRS One’ Parker the Teacher (and ex-husband to female Rapper and later member of the group Boogie Down Production Ms Melodie) with Scott ‘Scott La Rock’ Sterling (R.I.P.) [d 27th August 1987) and DJ Derrick ‘D-NICE’ Jones in the 1241 crew (later to be renamed Boogie Down Productions) pioneered the move towards conscious Rap with the album ‘criminal minded’ in 1987 (on Sugar Hill records) though Afrikan Bambatta spurned his early subtle forms of ideology.

Critics of the hard line stance from the establishment evoked racial relations and reckoned that it was just a campaign against the ‘black community’. Especially because the clamp down moved on to involve ‘graffiti’ which former New York mayor Rudolph Guliani perceived as demeaning the beauty of a great metropolis.

Fig 2.4 Conscious rapper KRS One

KRS manipulated his short form for KRIS (KRS) to form KRS ONE (for ideological purposes), which means Knowledge Ranges Supreme Over Everyone). Long Island New York groups Public Enemy and E.P.M.D. (Eric and Parish Making Dollars) of Eric Sermon and Parish Smith, and Eric ‘Eric B.’ Barrier and Rakim Allah, were respectable authors of conscious lyrics. Later King Sun, X-Clan consisting of Sugar Shaft (R.I.P.) [d.1st September 1995), Paradise, Brother J, Professor X (offspring to Black Activist Sonny Carson); Antonio ‘Big Daddy Kane’ Hardy; the group Arrested Development led by Speech and Dionne Farris; the Roots (led by Black thought), A Tribe Called Quest (Jarobi, Ali Shaheed Muhammad, Phife Dawg and Q-tip), Movement X (DJ King Born Khaalif, Lord Mustafa Hasan Ma’s), De La Soul (Posdnuous, Trugoy the Dove and Maseo) and the Jungle Brothers (Baby Bam and Mike G) were some groups founded on Black nationalistic and Afro centric philosophy.

The groups Jungle Brothers, De La Soul and A Tribe Called Quest in conjunction with other rap notables later formed the group ‘Native Tongues’ over seen by ace producer Prince Paul. The California group N.W.A. (Niggaz With Attitude) entailed the militancy ethic with a glorification of the AK-47 (Assault rifle) in their sophomore album ‘Straight Outta Compton’ released on priority records in 1988.Their anti-police single ‘F***k tha police’ was classified as dangerous by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (F.B.I.). Another group that brought the explicit to a sexual level was Miami’s Luther ‘Luke’ Campbell’s ‘2 Live Crew’ (of Luke, Mr.Mixx, Fresh Kid Ice, Brother Marquis).

Fig 2.5 West Coast Group N.W.A

The Def Jam Years

The 80s brought pertinacious and very significant developments in the history of Rap music. One peculiar one (which in my opinion was one of the most important) was a rare partnership between an American Jewish producer Rick Rubin and Russell Simmons from Hollis, Queens New York who later rose from a minuscule event promoter to a patriarchal figure in the whole Rap game. In 1984 they put together a company named Def Jam to produce and release Rap records, a year later signing with Columbia records for distribution .Def Jam went on to release Rap classics from then fifteen year old James ‘LL Cool J’ Todd Smith (probably the most consistent Rap artist today with ten albums and a stable at the Def Jam family since 1984) whose first single ‘I need a beat’ from the album ‘Radio’ was produced by the Jazzy Jay tutored Rubin at his University residence. Jazzy Jay had also been an apprentice of Afrika Bambaatta in the Zulu Nation.

Fig 2.6 Rapper LL COOL J

The formation of Def Jam was seen as a proactive strategy to market Rap artists who were shunned by major record labels that were a little reluctant following the lack of commercial success track records of these artists. Though critics from a black perspective voiced racism as a motive. Rick Rubin would perhaps not have supervised such overtures being from the white /Jewish community and the Beastie Boys would not have had a deal with Def Jam. In any case the build up of institutional black America was project forethought by ‘black’ equality activists. A second perspective was the increasing hostility from mainstream radio and record companies. In fact MTV hardly rotated any rap records in its formative stages. Many independent rap labels started around this time and were all a ‘blessing in disguise’ because these grew into major labels by the end of that decade.

Def Jam functioned close to what Sugar Hill records had been in the seminal stage of recorded Rap music (though many other labels had emerged with commercial interest in the genre in the process signing very many artists. Enjoy (formed 1979), Tommy Boy, Profile and Cold Chillin’ were influential). The only difference was that Def Jam managed to sustain through the years due to a fanatical devotion towards the game by impresario Russell Simmons and it is often alleged that the involvement of his family in the form of Run DMC was some other source of motivation for Russell to proceed even through the lean times. Joey ‘Run’ Simmons is Russell’s brother and was also the first DJ to work with Rapper Kurtis Blow who was discovered and promoted by Russell (but incidentally did not sign regularly with Def Jam) and had made significant in roads into the virgin genre. With colleagues Daryl ‘DMC’ McDaniels and DJ Jason ‘Jam Master Jay’ Mizell (R.I.P.), Run DMC revolutionised the Rap scene with monster hits like ‘its like that’ (from their self-title album released on Profile records 1984). RUN DMC was instrumental to the mainstream chart penetration of Rap music in the 80s. /Their single ‘walk this way’ was a national hit in 1986.The single featuring Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler and Joe Perry was the first rap single to garner MTV video rotation because of the cameo by rockers Aerosmith.

Fig 2.7 RUN DMC

Rap’s ‘first’ white group Beastie Boys (Michael ‘Mike D’ Diamond, Adam ‘Ad-Rock’ Horovitz and Adam ‘MCA’ Yauch) who were former college mates of Rick Rubin also got signed and released the phenomenal ‘Licensed to ill’ in 1986.They also had a mainstream chart hit in 1987 with (you gotta) fight for your right to party. Def Jam had a geographical lining as the whole Hip-hop experience has postured since its genesis .It belonged to the East Coast (the Eastern Part of the United States of America that eventually covered mainly New York) and thus its formative priority was serving artists who originated from the East.

Fig 2.8 The Beastie Boys

This geographical polarisation of East-West coast has traversed decades and the heat of the Christopher ‘Notorious B.I.G’ Wallace and Tupac Amaru Shakur feud was simply one structural bridge of animosity. In recent years however a new sound sprouted from the South and Mid Western (Atlanta, Missouri, New Orleans) .The dirty south (Ludacris, Cash Money, No Limit, Nelly and the rest). Interestingly many of the artists who eventually recorded in the East (New York) and the West (California) were actually from other states (outside this geographical emphasis) in America.

Another team of gross significance in the 80s was the Bomb Squad group of producers Chuck Dee, Hank Shoklee, Eric ‘Vietnam’ Saddler and Keith. This was influential in establishing the militant sound of the Rap group Public Enemy (Flavour Flav, Professor Griff, Terminator X and Chuck D). Public Enemy found fame within the consciousness of their lyrics and were a domineering force until they opted into solo projects and slowly dissolved into a collective that didn’t have time to record with each other. In the late 90s however they managed to stage a pseudo come back in a genre that had moved too fast for them.

Def Jam out grew the size of its operations and it was clear that with the success of acts like Beastie Boys LL Cool J and Run DMC more artists not only signed with Def Jam the label on the other hand sought after many more acts and then Def Jam became some sort of cradle for artists within the genre. The money became a lot more than the humble beginnings of 5,000 US dollars share capital from the partners. This accelerated friction between Russell and Rubin who opted to go separate ways with Rubin forming his Def American records. Russell Simmons and his team also severed ties with Columbia at the on set of the 90s and managed to build a great Empire around one of the most prominent music genres to evolve out of Black culture in the last two decades. Lyor Cohen became a partner with Russell Simmons and remained so until their sale of Def Jam to Douglas Morris’ Universal records in 1999 at a record 100 million US dollars though Russell and Cohen are still affiliated to the company. The growing Rap industry (especially the chart significance of more Rap artists like Marvin ‘Young MC’ Young with the hit ‘bust a move’ in 1989 from the Polygram album ‘Stone Cold Rhymin’. He also wrote Tony ‘Tone Loc’ Smith chart single of the same year from the 1988 Delicious Vinyl album Lo-ed After Dark) compelled the National Academy for the Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS) to institute a Grammy award category for Rap. Before that rap acts were classified under R&B categories. MTV (Music Television also devoted time to this genre ‘Yo MTV Raps’ first hosted by Fab 5 Freddy and later by Dr.Dre and Ed Lover).

Fig 2.9 Doug Morris CEO Universal Records

Whereas the East Coast was basking in the glory of Def Jam’s success (primarily because Def Jam ideally focused on acts from its geographical area the East), the West Coast seemed to be in oblivion. However there was as much Deejaying, Emceeing, Graffiti and Block parties on the West Coast and its state of attraction California. Artists like Tracy ‘Ice T’ Marrow were keepin’ it real and the World Class Wrecking crew outfit of deejays and Rappers produced a member Andre ‘Dr Dre’ Young from Compton California who had a knack for producing and had been significant to the Sugar Hill Band in terms of technical assistance to that in house band.

Fig 3.0 Dr. Dre

Dre was destined to be an air force pilot but subverted his course as he even after qualifying opted to hang in the production, deejaying and Rapping circles. Dre and fellow Compton member Oshea ‘Ice Cube’ Jackson (of the ‘Friday’ movie fame) were then members of one of the most controversial Rap groups of all time (Niggaz With Attitude) (especially after the single ‘F**k the police’ ‘N.W.A’. Other members were MC Ren, DJ Yella, Eazy E and the in and out members D.O.C. and Arabian Prince. The founder of the group Eric ‘Eazy E’ Wright was also the owner of Ruthless Records (with partner the Jewish American Jerry Heller). Dr Dre became the resident producer a position from which he churned scores of hits for the camp. Dre eventually became the undisputed King of production in Rap music grossly influencing the rise and rise of 90s Rappers Snoop Doggy Dogg and Eminem.

The music genre took diverse stylistic and thematic directions with what became a distinction between hardcore (underground) and mainstream Rap music. The work released from West Coast acts like N.W.A. and rapper Ice T lyrically contrasted remarkably from works released by East Coast acts like Whodini (Jali Hutchins and Ecstasy), Dwight ‘Heavy D’ Myers (of Jamaican descent) and his group ‘the Boyz’ and the Philadelphia duo of Jeff ‘DJ Jazzy Jeff’ Townes and Will ‘Fresh Prince Huddles’ Smith. This contrast was primarily in content and secondly instrumentation patterns both linked to the socio-cultural make up of these regions. Mainstream rap music focused more (or was attached to) on chart success. Though another category of reality rap music that was not profane made it to the mainstream chart. The group ‘Arrested Development’ from Brownsville Tennessee garnered the hits ‘Tennessee’, ‘People everyday’ (a remake of Aretha Franklins’ Everyday People) off the Chrysalis album ‘Three Years Five Months and Two days in the life of’...’

In 1990 there were twin successes for the all time ‘one hit wonders’ of Rap music. Stanley Kirk ‘MC Hammer’ Burrell from Oakland California who had monumental chart presence with the capitol records album ‘Please Hammer Don’t Hurt ‘Em’ collecting hits in the titles of ‘U Can’t Touch This’ (which sampled Rick James’ Super Freak), ‘Have You Seen Her’ and ‘Pray’ (which sampled Prince Roger Nelson’s ‘when dove’s cry’). Hammer’s package a blend of breath taking choreography and pop rap became a mainstream success, though street credibility (a major aspect for sustained presence in the Rap game) eluded him. His financial woes brought to an end a short-lived career though he continued to release records and presently works the born again circuit. His move to Death row records shortly before the tragic death did not yield a revival later settling for a preaching career. The second artist who dominated the charts for a minute in 1990 was Robert ‘Vanilla Ice’ Van Winkle (from Miami) whose sample of the Queen/David Bowie classic ‘under pressure’ savoured global success with its reworked version ‘Ice Ice Baby’ from the capitol records album ‘To the Extreme’ released in 1990. ‘Vanilla Ice’ and ‘Hammer’ had rivalry based on perceived ownership of the charts.

Fig 3.1 Robert ‘VANILLA ICE’ Van Winkle

Bell Biv Devoe (Ricky Bell, Michael Bivins and Ronnie Devoe) a trio formerly with the group New Edition and the group SNAP had chart success with the rap/R&B single ‘poison’ and The Power respectively. The pop invasion of rap was ambivalent as rap lost its reality based ethic for bubble gum significance though this was necessary for the universal acceptance of the genre. More groups like Kid ‘n’ Play, Technotronic and the duo of Clivilles and Cole Music Factory(C&C Music factory) whose hit ‘gonna make you sweat ‘ in 1991 featuring Freedom Williams; Fresh Prince and DJ Jazzy Jeff with ‘summertime’; the group ABC (Another Bad Creation) discovered by Michael Bivins with ‘Iesha’ (Bivins also discovered MC Brains, Boyz II Men formerly known as Unique Attraction and the girl group from Las Vegas 702); the group Kriss Kross with ‘Jump’ and the Atlanta group TLC (Tionne ‘T-Boz’ Watkins ,Lisa ‘Left Eye’ Lopes and Rosanda ‘Chilli’ Thomas); the Heavy D and The Boyz remake of the O’Jays hit single ‘Now That We’ve found Love’ a song featuring Guy Member Aaron Hall and produced by Guy member Teddy Riley(who later formed the group Black Street) sealed the pop significance of rap music. Teddy Riley who had been a studio apprentice of Kool and the Gang had produced for Keith Sweat and Bobby Brown and worked on his brother Markell Riley’s group Wreckx-N- Effect(for whom he produced the hit single ‘Rump shaker’). His blend of R&B over hip-hop (rap) beats gave rise to a late 80s and early 90s fusion style called ‘new jack swing’. This set the foundation for hip-hop soul orchestrated by Puff Daddy with Mary J. Blige in 1992.

The pop rap records were lyrically toned down and maintained the early ‘party’ and ‘love’ themes of rap emphasised by LL Cool J who also started the 90s with the hit ‘around the way girl’. The hard core reality rap records were classified as underground until the arrival of Naughty By Nature (with the single ‘O.P.P.’) a group formerly known as New Style and which was discovered by Queen Latifah followed by the chart success of the Dr.Dre album ‘Chronic in 1992.

Fig 3.2 Stanley Kirk ‘MC Hammer’ Burrell

The 90s also ushered in more sistas (female rappers) who were building on the 80s legacy of the successful female rap group Salt ‘N’ Pepa formerly known as Super Nature (Sandy ‘Salt’ Denton, Cheryl ‘Pepa’ James and DJ Dee ‘Spinderella’ Roper) a group discovered by Hurby ‘Luv Bug’ Azor (who later discovered another female rapper ‘Antoinette’ and influenced recordings from Kid ‘n’ Play) were from Queen’s New York and their single ‘Push it’ from the 1986 Next Plateau album ‘Hot Cool and Vicious’ inspired scores of female rappers (with the conception that Rap like many musics was an equal opportunity venture for those who could generate hits). Salt ‘n’ Pepa who also had the hit ‘Do you want it’ in 1991 were also inspired by female rapper Lady B who had earned moderate success with the single ‘to the beat y’all’ presumably the first female rap record released in 1980.Neneh Cherry (sister to rock star ‘Eagle Eye Cherry’ and daughter to Jazz trumpeter ‘Don Cherry’ and formerly of the ‘Rip ‘Rig and Panic’ and another Punk outfit ‘the Slits’) had a hit Buffalo stance that nurtured further mainstream interest in female Rap.MC Hammer’s female group ‘Oaktown’ 357’, Yolanda ‘Yo-Yo’ Whitaker ,‘Real Roxanne’ and namesake Lolita ‘Roxanne Shante’ Goodeh, ‘MC Lyte’(daughter to one time First Priority record label president Nat Robinson and sister to the Robinson brothers who formed the group AUDIO TWO(Gizmo Dee and Milk) , TLC ,Wee Papa Girl Rappers ,‘Sweet tee’ , ‘Monie Love’(of the ‘grandpa’s party’ and ‘born to breed’ fame songs from the 1990 Warner Bros album ‘Down to Earth’) ,Dana ‘Queen Latifah’ Owens were icons of female representation within the Rank and File of female artists. Latifah was particularly influential in the discovery of the chart breaking ill town New jersey group ‘Naughty By Nature’ (Anthony ‘Treacherous MC/Treach’Criss; Vincent ‘Vinnie’Brown and Kier ‘Kay Gee’ Gist) whose single ‘O.P.P.’(of their 1991 Tommy Boy Records debut album ‘Naughty By Nature) broke new grounds in post 1990 Rap record sales.

Death Row and The West

The dissolution of the group N.W.A. with members professing moves to solo careers in the late 80s and early 90s had directional implications on the shape of Rap Music in the 90s.A new establishment symbolic of West Coast intervention in the Rap sphere occurred in the form of an independent record label ‘Death Row records’ formed by ex-N.W.A. member Dr.Dre and ex-celebrity body guard and Las Vegas American Football player Marion ‘Suge’ Knight.

Fig 3.3 Death Row Records Crew (Suge Knight, Dr.Dre, Tupac, Snoop)

The label distributed by Interscope records operating from the California area brought in an enhanced West Coast sound full of melodic loops and gangster lyrical content. Dr.Dre through his half brother Warren ‘Warren G’ Griffin came into contact with a young rapper who had been part of a high-school rap group 213 with Warren G. Calvin ‘Snoop Doggy Dogg’ Broadus was a gem in this new establishment. With friends Nathaniel ‘ Nate Dogg’ Hale and Domino, Snoop had nurtured a melodic style akin to soulful music but with the regular flow in rhythm and rhyme that sounded novel to producer Dr.Dre who then brought in Snoop to collaborate on his (Dre’s) monster album ‘The Chronic’ (1992 Death row/First Priority/Interscope).

Following the success of this album with the single ‘Nuthin’ but a G thang’; Snoop’s debut project ‘Doggy styles’ in 1993(DeathRow/Interscope) and releases from the group ‘Dogg Pound’, DeathRow grew into a Hip-hop empire gravitating on the G (gangster) theme and constantly dominated the billboard singles charts. In 1995 with New York rapper Tupac Shakur (R.I.P.) faced with a gang rape lawsuit, Suge Knight offered to finance his bail (1.4 million dollars) out of jail whereas his former label ‘Atlantic Records’ had dissociated themselves from him. Tupac ‘newly free’ joined the Death Row stable and recorded the blockbuster album ‘All eyez on me’ .The Dr.Dre featured and produced single ‘California Love’ (featuring the Roger Troutman [R.I.P.] of the electronic funk soul group ‘Roger and Zapp’ whose trademark vocoder sound was imprinted on this record) attention swung to the west though the East continued its dynamism in the form of Puff Daddy’s (aka P.Diddy) Bad boy entertainment record label that had acquired Hip-hop recognition through work released from Craig Mack and Notorious B.I.G. and the flag high ‘Wu-Tang Klan. The East also had more Indies for instance Sean Raymond ‘Jay-Z’ Carter’s Rocafella records and the poetic antics of Nas.

The Fugees (Wyclef Jean, Lauryn Hill and Pras Michel) formerly named Tranzlator crew ,grew into the biggest hip-hop group of the mid 90s with the ‘the Score’ the follow up to their lacklustre debut ‘blunted on reality’ .The Columbia records group with two refugees from the tumultuous Haiti revived interest in a new wave of new school hip-hop and brought more international appeal to the genre though the success of this album ironically brought storm to the group that led to their untimely break up. The eclectic Wyclef Jean and cousin producer Jerry ‘Jerry Wonder’ Duplessis became a hit production factory in their own right churning hits for Carlos Santana, John Forte, Product G&B and Whitney Houston. Other acts of immense significance were Trevor ‘Busta Rhymes’ Smith formerly of the group Leaders of the New School whose ‘Woooh haaah (got you all in check)’ dramatised an otherwise lyrically focused Rap industry. Will Smith formerly Fresh Prince progressed with a string of record successes as an actor and Rapper two scenarios that amplified his career on both ends.

Fig 3.4 Fugees

The Rap music scene drew more interest as a result of the fatal feud that reigned between former friends Notorious B.I.G and Tupac, which contorted the relative stability within the industry. Notorious B.I.G (Biggie Smalls) who was discovered by Puff Daddy through a tip from the Hip-hop magazine ‘The Source’s’ co-ordinator of the discovery section ‘Unsigned hype’ had known Tupac and was coincidentally making chart headlines from the East. It is alleged that Tupac in a bid to show loyalty to the West (for credibility) started the ‘beef’ (as conflict is referred to in Rap music). Pac suggested that Biggie copied his flow (style) and in 1994 at a Times Square recording studio, Tupac was shot nine times by robbers who made away with his jewellery (worth $40,000). Notorious B.I.G who was in the building fled the scene without coming to see Tupac. This irrigated the suspicions that Tupac had long withheld. Tupac released a string of recordings ‘dissing’ (lyrically attacking) B.I.G and the lyrical tempers flared. On ‘hit ‘em up’ Tupac vehemently pours spite on Notorious B.I.G (and a host of other East Coast rappers) including an affair with Notorious B.I.G’s wife R&B singer Faith Evans. Tupac was in many ways an enigma. He kept it real. Rapped about what he lived, did and expected to do and this was crucial to the attention he received as an artist. His death was prophesised in many of his records and it came to be gaining him more credibility but unfortunately fatal credibility. The liberal gun culture transformed the narratives of these rappers into reality and claimed both lives. Other rappers like Mauseberg, Big L. and Freaky Tah of the Lost Boys were other victims of this culture.

Fig 3.5 Tupac Amaru Shakur

The events that followed overwhelmed the music. Tupac Shakur who was returning from a Mike Tyson boxing event in Las Vegas along with Death Row Chief Executive Officer (C.E.O.) Marion ‘Suge’ Knight was shot on the 9th of September 1996 and died on the 13th September 1996.The immediate direction of suspicion from all corners was that the death was orchestrated by Notorious B.I.G. On March 9th 1997 the Notorious B.I.G was ironically murdered in California after a Soul Train ceremony at the Peterson Automotive Museum in Los Angeles. The coincidental deaths of two friends turned foe was an anti-climax to the preceding events of two prosperous labels and for a moment presented Rap as a genre of artists that were an endangered species. Death Row lost its major income earner at the time and major act Snoop departed to Master P’s No-Limit label in 1998 proclaiming that Death Row was not a haven for security and good music anymore.

Dre had already quit the label to form Aftermath records in March 1996 following reports of FBI investigation into the source of finance (allegedly drug money) for the initial capital for the label and Snoop’s trade off deal with Master P’s label ‘No-Limit’ records added to the tribulations of ‘Tha Row’ (as it was later renamed). Marion ‘Suge’ Knight was unfortunately jailed on 27th February 1997 for violation of parole (his involvement in the brawl at the Mike Tyson/Bruce Seldon fight that Tupac was also involved in shortly before his murder) and the label came close to cripple. His recent release from jail has however seen renewed efforts to reclaim the lost glory of Death Row.

Puff Daddy who had previously been encouraged by Biggie to record came out with an album ‘No-Way Out’ on Bad Boy/Arista records in 1997 and the Notorious B.I.G. tribute single ‘missing you’ featuring 112 and Faith Evans started the chapter for Puff Daddy. Bad Boy surprisingly continued to thrive with new discoveries in Mason ‘Mase’ Betha and Black Rob and also maintained a strong R&B roster with groups like 112 and Total. The success of Bad Boy is linked to an inheritance of the Uptown records success in the early 90s where Puff Daddy had made his mark. The rejuvenation of the East Coast rap sound at this point was through the Uptown acts that Puff Daddy discovered and acts outside Uptown such as the Wu-Tang Clan, Nas, Gangstarr and the continuation of chart legitimacy of Naughty By Nature, Queen Latifah, Dwight ‘Heavy D’ Myers, Father M.C. and Fresh Prince. Nas released the phenomenal ‘illmatic’ album and renewed interest in Rap as the hip-hop art of story telling.

Fig 3.6 Notorious B.I.G.

The hip-hop movement has progressed in all its original forms since its break away from marginalization to then underground on to main stream .One duo that impacted a great deal on the hip-hop (rap scene) of the late 90s though were often dismissed as too mainstream was Timothy ‘Timbaland’ Mosley and Melissa ‘Missy’ Elliott. Missy was the lead singer of the defunct R&B group Sista that was under the wings of Jodeci resident super producer Donald ‘Devante Swing’ Degrate while Timbaland was his apprentice for ten years. Their brand of hip-hop had its moment of fame and their reliance on percussive rhythms was crucial to the club circuit though the formula usurped and modified by the Neptunes (Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo) who brought a new sound to the rap genre. The ‘murder inc’ crew led by Irvin ‘Irv Gotti’ Lorenzo who was initially an A&R man for Def Jam dominated charts for the first three years of the new millennium. Jeffrey ‘Ja-Rule’ Atkins and Ashanti Douglas were major chart shareholders from this label.

Fig 3.7 Murder Inc C.E.O. Irvin ‘Irv Gotti’ Lorenzo

The Dirty South

The southern Rap scene was at an all time high starting with the Geto Boys (and associate Raheem) from Houston Texas, Jermaine Dupri Mauldin, son to former Columbia Records Vice president in charge of Black Urban Music Michael Mauldin forming So So Def records and generating a whole bunch of hit makers: Kriss Kross, Xscape and Da Brat; Outkast from Atlanta, Master P and No-Limit from New Orleans Louisiana, Cash Money Millionaires from New Orleans Louisiana and Nelly from St.Louis Missouri. Scarface a member of the Geto Boys had an impressive solo career and when Def Jam decided to start Def Jam South Scarface was co-opted as Chief Executive Officer covering a region he understood so well the South.

Fig 3.8 Southern Rap Clique Cash Money Millionaires

So So Def distributed by Columbia records (now distributed by Arista) built a roster of acts though pundits reckoned its lack of serious hip-hop contenders. The success stories were mainly teenage acts in the form of Kriss Kross (Chris Smith and Chris Kelly) and Shawntae ‘Da Brat’ Harriss and later Lil’ Bow Wow. Jermaine Dupri a former back up dancer with the group ‘Whodini’ in the 80s became a top production contender at an early age producing hits for diverse artists (including Silk Tymes Leather) within and outside his stable. His own Rap career graced the hip-hop stage with collaboration with the Notorious B.I.G. and Da Brat in 1994 on the single ‘B-Side’ from the Bad Boy Sound track. The albums ‘Life in 1472’ and ‘Instructions’ pushed this record executive into a more stable Rap career.

The regional focus shifted to the South as more artists emerged riding on the success of So So Def (Atlanta Georgia), No-Limit (New Orleans Louisiana), Cash Money (New Orleans Louisiana) and Nelly (St Louis Missouri). Master P’s No-Limit records formed from the Record store of the same name that he originally run was a major force with the hit making production team ‘Beats By The Pound’ who later departed and were renamed as Medicine Men. Master P’s brothers C-Murder and Silkk Tha Shocker as well as Mystikal (who was signed to JIVE records) helped in promoting the Dirty South sound. Cash Money founded by Ronald Williams and Bryan ‘Baby’ Williams and in terms of production ‘Mannie Fresh’ executed the Beats on the other hand, made more cash through prolific artists like Juvenile, Lil’Wayne and the Big Tymers.

Fig 3.9 Dirty South rapper NELLY

The South fostered the ‘bling bling’ / ‘flossing’ ostentatious culture as the thematic identification of the South. Whereas the West had the ‘gang banging’ identity, the East nurtured the ‘Mainstream/lyricism/Beat oriented’ identity. Of course several Rappers including Slick Rick and MC Hammer had been explored the ‘bling bling’ theme. The South took it to another level. It is worthwhile to note that ‘bling bling’ was a reinvention of the hip-hop ethic the boast (where Rappers battled for lyrical and thematic supremacy) though the economic success of the rapper was in line with the objective of finding triumph over the system. ‘Bling Bling’ thus emerged as a sort of acknowledgement of the artistic and more importantly economic ‘Take Over’ of rap music.

Fig 4.0 Shady/Aftermath rapper Eminem

Towards the end of the 90s, Dr.Dre’s Aftermath records delivered another white gem in the form of Marshall ‘Eminem’ Mathers from Detroit Michigan who transformed the whole rap game into a new level of controversy and commercial significance. Eminem discovered by Dre.Dre who picked a dusty copy of Eminem’s debut album in the mid -90s in the garage of Interscope president Jimmy Lovine’s house, was a 90s replica of the hard line N.W.A. reality reports. The success of Eminem arose from Dr. Dre’ production track record, the anti-climatic conclusion of the Biggie-Pac feud and Eminem’s emergence from a white community that had embraced hip-hop but had also suffered hip-hop credibility losses with the Vanilla Ice farce. His controversial pronouncements were a breath of creative fresh air for an industry that seemed to have been played out of something new. Eminem put out long time rapper Curtis ’50 Cents’ Jackson to the limelight following his introduction of 50 Cents to Dr Dre and also facilitated 50 Cents’ G-Unit posse to mainstream success. The Eminem-Dre-50 Cents triangle sets itself to dominate hip-hop for the next quarter of a decade.

The industry is diversified for the better with many rap artists tapping into other areas of commercial significance: Hollywood, Fashion (pioneered by the fashion loving Dana Dane in the 80s), Media and capital investment, a validation of the entrenchment and appropriation of a broader cultural fabric. Whereas things have definitely changed from the block parties of the 70s and 80s, there is clearly a sustained manifestation of the ‘original’ culture. The deejays, taggers are still in business and more significant than ever before as the music leaps into artistic and commercial stratosphere.

The spread out of Rap into global cultures occurred in the early 90s when records were massively channelled into the rest of the globe. Regional hip-hop cultures in places as far as South Africa (Prophets of the City), France, South Korea, China and Japan sprouted like mushrooms in good weather .The proliferation enacted the long over due global presence of a genre from Afro America. All forms of hip-hop culture were disseminated into these communities and today whereas there is no evidence of halting this expansion there is increased acknowledgement of the consolidation of its presence globally. The new age and the propulsion of globalisation have devoured regional and ethnic barriers to create new and vibrant reconstituted hip-hop cultures in areas with different languages, cultures and time zones. In America the stability of production thence places hip-hop at the forefront of prevailing Afro American popular culture. As Andre ‘Dr. Dre’ Young prepares to drop yet another multi-platinum album ‘The D Talks’ the Rap industry remains a sociological site for a post-modern appreciation and interpretation of new America and the redefinition of global cultures.