For this blog, I chose to deep dive into the origins of Rap. This is one of my most listened to genres of music. However, I love listening to all kinds of music so I enjoyed learning more about the history of one specific genre.
The Beginning
Rap as a music genre began in the early 1970’s in the mists of block parties in New York City. This genre began when DJs started isolating the percussion breaks of several other genres including soul, funk, and disco music. As the genre became more popular “rappers” as we call them today started rhyming in tune to the audio and eventually in the late 1970’s rap proved its commercial viability. Over time rapping as a art form stated evolving with the introduction of scratching and later moved into what we know know as hip hop in the mid 1980’s. This further pushed rap to be one of the many ubiquitous mainstream music genres we hear today.
The First Rap Battle
Kool Moe dee vs. Busy Bee Starski was the first modern rap battle. This event happened because Kool Moe Dee decided to challenge Busy Bee Starski, a old schoo rapper who was known for winning battles with his party- rocking style and routines. Kool Moe Dee however was a little newer to the genre and had a different approach to his style as an MC. Dee was primarily focused on the lyrical side of rap. As Busy Bee was talking his crap about other rappers one night while preforming his normal routine, little did he know one of the names he had called out happened to be in the same venue (Kool Moe Dee). As he wasn’t going to let the diss slide after Busy Bee was done with his show Kool got up on stage and started challenging Busy Bee. Rap has not been the same since that battle. This battle set the path for many different styles of rap as the two talked about above really went their own directions while still being classified as the same genre.
Hip-Hop is considered to be a culture with four main elements. This elements include Deejaying, Graffiti dance, And MCing. Rap is the most well known and listened to form of music that came from the Hip-Hop culture. If we are comparing the two art forms rap is considered to be more superficial and commercial where as hip-hop again is very cultural and there for it is most often attached to a deeper meaning than rap.
While listening to rap today the changes in styles are noticeably different. Many of 2022’s most popular rap songs are song by female rappers such as Megan Thee Stallion, who is known for her “ain’t shit man” like songs such as Plan B. However, the most listened to rappers still go to the male gender as Drake, Lil Wayne, and Eminem sit at the top. Rappers as a whole still focus on hyping people up and making them feel the, more often than not, aggressive side of emotions. Rap is often used at sporting events and many people have adapted it as part of their daily listening. Some examples of the most popular rap songs today include:
Dye, David. “The Birth of Rap: A Look Back.”NPR, NPR, 22 Feb. 2007, https://www.npr.org/2007/02/22/7550286/the-birth-of-rap-a-look-back#:~:text=Rap%20as%20a%20genre%20began,generally%20interacting%20with%20the%20audience.
Next Level. “Rap vs. Hip Hop.” Next Level, Next Level, 29 Aug. 2018, https://www.nextlevel-usa.org/blog/rap-vs-hip-hop#:~:text=The%20standard%20answer%20is%20that,Rap%20is%20superficial%20and%20commercial.
12/6/22 Intro: For this blog I choose to go in depth on the history of Chinese Opera. My knowledge Chinese Opera was extremely minimal, as I have never really listened to Chinese Opera, so this was very entertaining to research! Where did it all begin? Chinese Opera can be traced back to the period of three kingdoms which was around 220-265 A.D. Chinese Opera was officially "formalized" during the period of the Tang Dynasty which took place between 618-907 A.D. There are many forms of Chinese Opera, several of which are regional. These regional forms of Chinese Opera differ in the way they display their own traditions. One format of Chinese Opera consists of large theatres and "southern dramas" from the Southern Song Dynasty. In the north, around the 13th century A.D. a form of opera called Yuan Zaju emerged. This structure was typically split up into 4 different acts that may contain theater styles and more. In the 16th century an opera called, Kunqu emerged, th...
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