From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
The first rap record is generally acknowledged to have been "King Tim III" by the Fatback Band in 1979, but there were many predecessors and early indicators of the possibilities of chanting rhymes over a musical background. Pure hip hop emerged from 1970s block parties in New York City. The block parties were closely related to sound systems in Jamaica, which were large parties, originally outdoors, thrown by owners of loud and expensive stereo equipment which they could share with the community. Rap emerged from block parties after DJs isolated percussion breaks and began speaking over the beats; in Jamaica, a similar vocal style called dub developed from the same isolated and elongated percussion breaks. .
Earlier styles that contributed to rap.
West African griots, wandering poets and "praise-singers" .
spirituals and other forms of .
Christian music, as well as certain Protestant preachers' sermons .
mouth music, long-standing tradition in world music of many varieties .
scat singing, using the voice to imitate a musical instrument. .
toasting, traditional African-American entertainment, long, rhymed tales of great heroes, Stagger Lee and Jack Johnson among others (see dub) .
Dirty Dozens, stylized exchange of insults. .
"Signifying Monkey", long series of rhymed tales in which the weaker monkey triumphs through tricks over the more powerful beasts of the jungle, a ruder version of the Brer Rabbit stories. .
talking blues, popularized by Woodie Guthrie, featuring rhyming talking with ironic asides to the audience. .
Late 1960s and early 70s poets like Gil Scott-Heron and the Last Poets .
jump rope and schoolyard rhymes, such as the following: .
One bright day in the middle of the night, .
Two dead boys got up to fight. .
Back to back they faced each other, .
drew their swords and shot each other. .
Doo wop, using voices to imitate an entire band. .
Individual performances that prefigured rap.
