MCing Early Roots Poetry form of expression, tell a story Civil Rights Gil Scott Heron, The Last Poets James Brown small rhymes, raps Richard Pryor comedian: spoke of life Early MCs Kool Herc parties - Coke La Rock shout out friends The MC would shout out the DJ too Creative rhymes Engage the audience Busy Bee, Lovebug Starski, Eddie Cheba Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five Melle Mel, Cowboy worked the mic at Flashs parties Kept audience dancing/engaged Formed performing group headlined parties Cold Crush Brothers Strong group of MCs Well structured show Grandmaster Caz Battle rap outdo opponent Rappers Delight Big Bank Hank pizza delivery worker Took rhymes from Grandmaster Caz Rappers Delight sold 2 million copies in 1979 More groups started signing record contracts The Message Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five First rap song to address issues on the street Not about rocking parties, or bragging Afrika Bambaataa Soul Sonic Force Planet Rock Electro sounds Writing Rhymes Standard: 16 lines to a verse Simple: Will it ever stop? I dont know Turn off the lights and Ill glow - Vanilla Ice Complex: Dead in the middle of Little Italy little did we know That we riddled some middlemen who didnt do diddly - Big Pun Writing Rhymes Similie comparing two things using like or as Ex. Youre as cold as ice Metaphor using an image to describe something else Ex. Her voice was an arrow that pierced my heart Writing Rhymes Alliteration repetition of sounds in the first syllables of a series of words or phrases Ex. falling fast, forgetting the future Assonance using vowels to create internal rhymes Ex. Do you like the blue shoe goo? Writing Rhymes Form Im mad as hell cause its bound to sell And you be biting what Im writing and people cant tell You change it around, disguise the sound With no prior desire to write, thats why I frown - Grandmaster Caz Run DMC Mid to late 80s Carried the torch took Hip Hop to new heights Breakthrough to mainstream audience Collaboration with Aerosmith Walk this Way Other 80s MCs LL Cool J Fresh Prince Doug E Fresh Fat Boys Public Enemy Militant style - Politically charged lyrics Criticized American media Frustrations in African American life Gangster Rap Ice T Aggressive lyrics I dont give a Drugs, sex, violence, crime story Controversy Cop Killer Talk about the time? Keeping it real? NWA Eazy E, Dr Dre, Ice Cube, Controversy music banned Much more extreme than Ice-T Censorship Snoop Dogg & Dr Dre Dr Dre Death Row Records The Chronic Produced Snoops first album (Eminem & 50 Cent too) Snoop ex-Crip 11 albums to date 2Pac (Tupac Shakur) Lyricist, poet & actor Mother: Afeni Shakur Black Panther One of the greatest MCs unique flow Dual personality controversial & wise Carried West Coast sound Death Row records Notorious B.I.G. Brooklyn, NYC Central East Coast MC Bad Boy Records Loose, easy flow dark storytelling Crime & controversy East vs West Death Row vs Bad Boy (West Coast vs East Coast) Mid-late 90s fued between record labels Sean Puffy Combs & Suge Knight Disses on songs, at awards shows strong media attention Gang involvements RIP 2Pac & Biggie Tupac - September 7, 1996 drive-by in Vegas Biggie - March 9, 1997 drive-by in LA Unsolved murders - Lasting legacy as MCs End of the gangster rap era scene changes Post Biggie & 2Pac Opens the door for new MCs Nas, Jay-Z, Lil Kim, Puff Daddy, Timberland, Missy, Pharcyde, Fugees, Wu-Tang, etc Bling era & underground scene Other Scenes Detroit EminemOakland Too Short Chicago CommonAtlanta Outkast Canada Maestro, Rascalz, Kardinal Women in Hip Hop Queen Latifah Lauryn Hill MC Lyte Foxy Brown Eve Missy Elliot Miche Mee Hip Hop Today Hip Pop? Many flavours a whole spectrum What will be next? New Jack Swing Hybrid of Hip Hop and R&B (Mid 80s-mid 90s) Teddy Riley producer Initially produced for Doug E Fresh The Show Formed his own group: Guy New Jack Swing Teddy produced for many popular artists Bobby Brown Michael Jackson Dangerous (1995) WreckxnEffect, Heavy D, Blackstreet Arsenio Hall Comedian and TV Show host Arsenio Hall Show late night TV Featured many New Jack Swing artists Helped spread the NJS sound New Jack Swing Kid & Play House Party Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis Janet Jackson Babyface Bobby Brown, TLC New Jack Swing Dancers featured on videos/performances Scoob & Scrap (Big Daddy Kane) Buddha Stretch & Elite Force - choreographers Party dances