Rap Artists: The Making of Legends

By Farah Fan


Rap is a kind of music that stemmed from hip-hop tradition; thus a rap artists are anyone who has since perfected the craft of rapping. Hip hop is a lifestyle with its own lingo, clothing code, etc. In the words of KRS-One, "hip-hop is something you live, rap is something you do." Rap is really a mix of poetry or poetic lyric, beats and their rhyming. The main topic of rap can differ from relationships to commercialism. Rappers prefer to make references to love, intimacy, violence, socio-political issues, crime, race and anything that represents their street life.

A product of cross-cultural integration, rap is significantly rooted within ancient African culture and oral custom. Hip-hop is believed to have started in the Bronx by a Jamaican DJ named Kool Herc. Herc's kind of deejaying involved reciting rhymes over instrumentals. At house events, Herc would rap with the microphone, using a numerous in-house references. Copies of Herc's house parties soon drifted through Brooklyn, Manhattan. Herc and other block party DJs helped distributed the content of hip-hop around town and spawned tons of followers. The limelight on cities that rock hip-hop is the musical equivalence of a revolving door.

Some of the earliest rap songs ever recorded include King Tim III (Personality Jock) and "Rapper's Delight". The latter attained the #36 spot on the Billboard charts (a huge feat by 1970's standards), thus showing hip-hop's capability to draw commercial appeal. Hip-hop as a musical melting pot is still evolving. It may be more contemporary, borrowing from soul, jazz and live instrumentations, championing the 'soulful rap' movement.

Battle rap is a style of hip-hop that stems from the mission to remain competitive within the culture. Although, battle rap may also be directed to anonymous competition or used as a forum to sharpen one's lyrical swords, it can be utilized in calling out detractors when made particularly for an individual. Braggadocio is the crux of battle rap. Battle emcees focus on boastful lines and self-glorifying rhymes about one's proficiency or level of success, combined with verbal insults hurled at the other party directly or subliminally. Battle rappers often go as far as researching the dirty past of an opponent in order to dig up some self-injuring facts. These are then integrated into the rhymes to downgrade the opposing party.

Gangster rap is a type of music in the hip-hop lifestyle; rap artists are those good and immersed in the spinning of rap songs. Hip-hop and rap differ in three main lineaments; musical attributes, culture and community message. Not all rappers are performers, only those who have broken into the popular music scene, and critically accepted rappers are called artists. Rap new music is getting popular day by day, with various young artists releasing their singles. These young artists bring enhancements which are appreciated by rap lovers. In parts of Europe and Asia, rap is yet to find a foothold. But, seeing their stupendous success in the last two decades, it will not be a surprise to find rap ruling the charts all over the world.




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