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Beginnings of Rap Music
Rap music found its roots with DJ Kool Herc and Grandmaster Flash and the furious five becoming some of the innovators of the Genre. -
DJ Kool Herc
Clive Campbell (born April 16, 1955), also known as Kool Herc, DJ Kool Herc and Kool DJ Herc, is a Jamaican-born DJ who is credited with originating hip hop music, in the Bronx, New York City. His playing of hard funk records of the sort typified by James Brown was an alternative both to the violent gang culture of the Bronx and to the nascent popularity of disco in the 1970s. In response to the reactions of his dancers, Campbell began to isolate the instrumental portion of the record which emph -
Grandmaster Flash
Joseph Saddler (born January 1, 1958 in Bridgetown, Barbados) better known as Grandmaster Flash, is an American hip hop musician and DJ; one of the pioneers of hip-hop DJing, cutting, and mixing. With the Furious Five, Grandmaster Flash popularized the genre with his song "The Message" -
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Rap begins to mature: "Old School" Rap
Rap began to become commercially popular at this point, with breakthrough artists like Eric B and Rakim and the Wu Tang Clan creating and changing the modern rap game. -
Eric B and Rakim
Eric B. & Rakim were a hip-hop duo composed of DJ Eric Barrier (born November 8, 1965[1]) and MC Rakim (born William Michael Griffin Jr.).
Hailing from Long Island, New York, the pair are generally considered by hip hop enthusiasts to be one of the most influential and innovative groups in the genre. During hip hop's "golden age" of the mid-1980s to the early 90s, the duo was almost universally regarded as the premier MC/DJ combo in hip hop. The two had a potent chemistry and each represented th -
Wu Tang Clan
Wu-Tang Clan is a highly influential hip hop group from New York City that consists of RZA, GZA, Method Man, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, Inspectah Deck, U-God, Masta Killa, and the late Ol' Dirty Bastard. Their martial arts driven lyrics and unusual piano driven beats created a new style and birthed a sub-genre of rap called "Gangsta Rap" -
Nas
Nasir bin Olu Dara Jones born September 14, 1973), who performs under the name Nas, formerly Nasty Nas, is an American rapper and actor. The son of jazz musician Olu Dara, he was born and raised in the Queensbridge housing projects in New York City. His debut album Illmatic, released in 1994 by Columbia Records, was critically acclaimed and would go on to be widely hailed a classic in the genre -
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Modern Rap and the Creation of Gangsta Rap
Rap began to be a commercially viable musicaly genre with record companies embracing and expanding the genre. Commercialization also increased with the acceptance of rap in the main stream media. -
Tupac Shakur
Tupac Amaru Shakur (June 16, 1971 – September 13, 1996), known by his stage names 2Pac (or simply Pac) and Makaveli, was an American rapper. Shakur has sold over 75 million albums worldwide, making him one of the best-selling music artists in the world. His influence on current rappers is still potent, and previously unreleased songs of his still chart more than fifteen years after his death. He is most known for his "street poet" style (silmilar to Nas) and rapping about social issues.
