Hip hop music is a style of popular music. It is usually composed of two elements: rapping (also known as emceeing) and DJing. When combined with breakdancing and graffiti art, these are the four components of hip hop, a cultural movement which began in New York City in the 1970s, predominantly by African Americans and Latinos.[1] The term rap music is sometimes used synonymously with hip hop music, though it is also used to refer specifically to the practice of rapping.
Typically, hip hop music consists of one or more rappers who chantsemi-autobiographic tales, often relating to a fictionalizedcounterpart, in an intensely rhythmic lyrical form, making abundant useof techniques like assonance, alliteration, and rhyme. Though rap may be performed a cappella, it is more common for the rapper(s) to be accompanied by a DJ or a live band providing an appropriate beat. This beat is often from the percussion of a different song, usually rock, funk, or soul, and is sometimes sampled.In addition to the beat, other sounds are often sampled, synthesized,or performed. Though rap is usually an integral component of hip hopmusic, instrumental and non-rap Electro acts such as Planet Patrol are also defined as hip hop music groups.
Hip hop arose in New York City when DJs began isolating the percussion break from funk or discosongs. The role of the emcee (MC) arose to introduce the DJ and themusic, and to keep the audience excited. The MCs began by speakingbetween songs, giving exhortations to dance, greetings to audiencemembers, jokes and anecdotes. Eventually, this practice came to be morestylized, and was known as rapping. By 1979, hip hop had becomea commercially recorded music genre, and began to enter the Americanmainstream. It also began its spread across the world. In the 1990s, aform called gangsta rap became a major part of American music,causing significant controversy over lyrics which were perceived aspromoting violence, promiscuity, drug use and misogyny. Nevertheless,by the beginning of the 2000s, hip hop was a staple of popular musiccharts and was being performed in many styles across the world.
The roots of hip hop are found in West African and African-American music. The griotsof West Africa are a group of traveling singers and poets, whosemusical style is reminiscent of hip hop. Within New York City,griot-like performances of poetry and music by artists such as The Last Poets and Jalal Mansur Nuriddin had a great impact on the post-civil rights era culture of the 1960s and 1970s. Hip hop arose during the 1970s when block parties became common in New York City, especially the Bronx. Block parties were usually accompanied by music, especially funk and soul music. The early DJs at block parties began isolating the percussion breaks to hit songs, realizing that these were the most dance-able and entertaining parts; this technique was then common in Jamaica (see dub music) and had spread via the substantial Jamaican immigrant community in New York City, especially the "godfather" of hip hop, DJ Kool Herc. Dub had arisen in Jamaica due to the influence of American sailors and radio stations playing R&B. Large sound systems were set up to accommodate poor Jamaicans, who couldn't afford to buy records, and dub developed at the sound systems (refers to both the system and the parties that evolved around them).
Herc was one of the most popular DJs in early 70s New York, and he quickly switched from using reggaerecords to funk, rock and, later, disco, since the New York audiencedid not particularly like reggae. Because the percussive breaks weregenerally short, Herc and other DJs began extending them using an audio mixerand two records. Mixing and scratching techniques eventually developedalong with the breaks. (The same techniques contributed to thepopularization of remixes.) Later DJs such as Grandmaster Flash refined and developed the use of breakbeats, including cutting.[citation needed] As in dub, performers began speaking while the music played; these were originally called MCs; Herc focused primarily on DJing, and began working with two MCs, Coke La Rock and Clark Kent—thiswas the first emcee crew, Kool Herc & the Herculoids. Originally,these early rappers focused on introducing themselves and others in theaudience (the origin of the still common practice of "shouting out" onhip hop records). These early performers often emceed for hours at atime, with some improvisation and a simple four-count beat, along witha basic chorus to allow the performer to gather his thoughts (such as"one, two, three, y'all, to the beat, y'all"). Later, the MCs grew morevaried in their vocal and rhythmic approach, incorporating briefrhymes, often with a sexual or scatological theme, in an effort atdifferentiating themselves and entertaining the audience. These earlyraps incorporated similar rhyming lyrics from African American culture(see roots of hip hop music), such as the dozens.While Kool Herc & the Herculoids were the first hip hoppers to gainmajor fame in New York, more emcee teams quickly sprouted up.Frequently, these were collaborations between former gang members, such as Afrikaa Bambaataa's Universal Zulu Nation (now a large, international organization). Melle Mel, a rapper/lyricist with The Furious Five is often credited with being the first rap lyricist to call himself an "MC."[2] During the early 1970s, breakdancing arose during block parties, as b-boysand b-girls got in front of the audience to dance in a distinctive,frenetic style. The style was documented for release to a world wideaudience for the first time in Beat Street.
Origin of term
Coinage of the term hip hop is often credited to Keith Cowboy, a rapper with Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five. Though Lovebug Starski, Keith Cowboy, and DJ Hollywood used the term when the music was still known as disco rap, it is believed that Cowboy created the term while teasing a friend who had just joined the U.S. Army, by scat singing the words "hip/hop/hip/hop" in a way that mimicked the rhythmic cadence of marching soldiers.[3]Cowboy later worked the "hip hop" cadence into a part of his stageperformance, which was quickly copied by other artists; for example theopening of the song "Rapper's Delight" by The Sugarhill Gang.[3] Former Black Spades gang member Afrika Bambaataa is credited with first using the term to describe the subculturethat hip hop music belongs to, although it is also suggested that theterm was originally derisively used against the new type of music.[4]
Contributing historical conditions
The reasons for the rise of hip hop are found is the changing urbanculture within the United States during the 1970s. Perhaps mostimportant was the low cost involved in getting started: the equipmentwas relatively inexpensive, and virtually anyone could MC along withthe popular beats of the day. MCs could be creative, pairing nonsenserhymes and teasing friends and enemies alike in the style of Jamaican toasting at blues parties or playing the dozens in an exchange of wit. MCs would play at block parties, with no expectation of recording, in the way of folk music.The skills necessary to create hip hop music were passed informallyfrom musician to musician, rather than being taught in expensive musiclessons.
Another reason for hip hop's rise was the decline of disco, funk and rock in the mid- to late 70s. Disco arose among black and gaymale clubs in America, and quickly spread to Europe, where it grewincreasingly sunny, bright and pop. Once disco broke into themainstream in the United States, and was thus appropriated, itsoriginal fans and many other listeners rejected it as pre-packaged andsoul-less. While many remember the white teens shouting "disco sucks"at every available opportunity, often in racist and homophobiccontexts, inner-city blacks were similarly rejecting disco anddisco-fied rock, soul and funk (which was virtually everything on theradio at the time). If disco had anything redeemable for urbanaudiences, however, it was the strong, eminently danceable beats, andhip hop rose to take advantage of the beats while providing a musicaloutlet for the masses that hated disco. Disco-inflected music (thoughcomparatively little actual disco) was one of the most popular sourcesof beats in the first ten or twelve years of hip hop's existence. In Washington DC, go go also emerged as a reaction against disco, and eventually mixed with hip hop during the early 1980s, while electronic music did the same, developing as house music in Chicago and techno music in Detroit.
Along with the low expense and the demise of other forms of popularmusic, social and political events further accelerated the rise of hiphop. In 1959, the Cross-Bronx Expresswaywas built through the heart of the Bronx, displacing many of themiddle-class white communities and causing widespread unemploymentamong the remaining blacks as stores and factories fled the area. Bythe 1970s, poverty was rampant. When a 15,000+ apartment Co-op Citywas built at the northern edge of the Bronx in 1968, the last of themiddle-class fled the area and the area's black and Latino gangs beganto grow in power.
Diversification of styles in later part of decade
In the mid-1970s, hip hop split into two factions. One sampled discoand focused on getting the crowd dancing and excited, with simple or norhymes; these DJs included Pete DJ Jones, Eddie Cheeba, DJ Hollywood and Love Bug Starski. On the other hand, another group were focusing on rapid-fire rhymes and a more complex rhythmic scheme. These included Afrika Bambaataa, Paul Winley, Grandmaster Flash and Bobby Robinson.
As the 70s became the 1980s, many felt that hip hop was a noveltyfad that would soon die out. This was to become a constant accusationfor at least the next fifteen years. Some of the earliest rappers werenovelty acts, using the themes to Gilligan's Island and using sweet doo wop-influenced harmonies.
With the advent of recorded hip hop in the late 1970s, all the majorelements and techniques of the genre were in place. Though not yetmainstream, it was well-known among African Americans, even outside ofNew York City; hip hop could be found in cities as diverse as Los Angeles, Washington, DC, Baltimore, Dallas, Kansas City, Miami, Seattle, St. Louis, New Orleans, and Houston.
Philadelphia was, for many years, the only city whose contributions to hip hop were valued as greatly as New York City's by hip hop purists and critics. Hip hop was popular there at least as far back as 1976 (first record: "Rhythm Talk", by Jocko Henderson in 1979), and the New York Times dubbed Philly the "Graffiti Capital of the World" in 1971, due to the influence of such legendary graffiti artists as Cornbread. The first female solo artist to record hip hop was Lady B. ("To the Beat Y'All", 1980), a Philly-area radio DJ. Later Schoolly D helped invent what became known as gangsta rap.
1980s
The 1980s saw intense diversification in hip hop, which developedinto a more complex form. The simple tales of 1970s emcees werereplaced by highly metaphoric lyrics rapping over complex,multi-layered beats. Some rappers even became mainstream popperformers, including Kurtis Blow, whose appearance in a Spritecommercial made him the first hip hop musician to be consideredmainstream enough to represent a major product, but also the first tobe accused by the hip-hop audience of selling out. Another popular performer among mainstream audiences was LL Cool J, who was a success from the release of his first LP, Radio.
Hip hop was almost entirely unknown outside of the United Statesprior to the 1980s. During that decade, it began its spread to everyinhabited continent and became a part of the music scene in dozens ofcountries. In the early part of the decade, breakdancing became the first aspect of hip hop culture to reach Germany, Japan and South Africa, where the crew Black Noise established the practice before beginning to rap later in the decade. Meanwhile, recorded hip hop was released in France (Dee Nasty's 1984 Paname City Rappin') and the Philippines (Dyords Javier's "Na Onseng Delight" and Vincent Dafalong's "Nunal"). In Puerto Rico, Vico C became the first Spanish language rapper, and his recorded work was the beginning of what became known as reggaeton.
Politicization
The first rap records (Fatback Band's King Tim III, Grandmaster Flash's "Super Rappin'" and The Sugarhill Gang's Rapper's Delight)were actually recorded by live musicians in the studio, with therappers adding their vocals later. This changed with DJ records such asGrandmaster Flash's "Adventures on the Wheels of Steel" (known for pioneering use of scratching, which was invented by Grandwizard Theodore in 1977) as well as electronic recordings such as "Planet Rock" by Afrika Bambaataa and Run DMC's very basic, all electronic "Sucker MC's" and "Peter Piper" which contains genuine cutting by Run DMC member Jam Master Jay.These early innovators were based out of New York City, which remainedthe capital of hip hop during the 1980s. This style became known as East Coast hip hop.
Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Fivereleased a "message rap", called "The Message", in 1982; this was oneof the earliest examples of recorded hip hop with a socially awaretone. In 1984, Marley Marl accidentally caught a drum machine snare hit in the sampler; this innovation was vital in the development of electro and other later types of hip hop.
Popularization
The mid-1980s saw a flourishing of the first hip hop artists to achieve mainstream success, such as Kurtis Blow (Kurtis Blow), LL Cool J (Radio) and especially Run-D.M.C. (Raising Hell), as well as influences in mainstream music, such as Blondie's Debbie Harry rapping in the first non-black hit to feature rapping, "Rapture". LL Cool J's Radiospawned a number of singles that entered the dance charts, peaking with"I Can Give You More" (#21). 1986 saw two hip hop acts in the BillboardTop Ten; Run-D.M.C.'s "Walk This Way" collaboration with Aerosmith, and the Beastie Boys"(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party!)". The pop success of bothsingles was unheard of for the time; "Walk This Way" has provedespecially memorable for its early mixture of hip hop and rock (thoughit was not the first such mixture), and it peaked at an unheard of #4on the pop charts. Also, the mid-1980s saw the rise of the first majorblack female group, Salt-N-Pepa, who hit the charts with singles like "The Show Stoppa" in 1985. Ice-T's seminal "6n' Da Mornin'" (1986) is one of the first nationally successful West Coast hip hop singles, and is often said to be the beginning of gangsta hip hop (along with Schoolly D, LL Cool J and N.W.A.).
In 1987, Public Enemy brought out their debut album (Yo! Bum Rush the Show) on Def Jam - one of hip hop's oldest and most important labels, and Boogie Down Productions followed up in 1988 with By All Means Necessary;both records pioneered wave of hard-edged politicized performers. Thelate 1980s saw a flourishing of like-minded rappers on both coasts, andPublic Enemy's It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Backbecame surprisingly successful, despite its militant andconfrontational tone, appearing on both the club and rap charts, andpeaking at #17 and #11, respectively. Aside from the lyricalinnovations, Public Enemy's Terminator X (along with Eric B., of Eric B. & Rakim) pioneered new techniques in sampling that resulted in dense, multi-layered sonic collages.
Rise of gangsta rap
The first gangsta rap album to become a mainstream pop hit, selling more than 2.5 million copies, was N.W.A.'s Straight Outta Compton (1988). N.W.A.'s controversial subject matter, including drugs, violence and sex, helped popularize what became known as gangsta rap (said to have begun with Ice-T's "6N' Da Morning"). Specifically, the song "Fuck Tha Police" earned the foursome the enmity of law enforcement, resulting in a strongly-worded letter of discontent from the FBI. N.W.A.'s most lasting impact, however, was placing the West Coast on the hip hop map.
Diversification
Though women, whites and Latinos had long been a part of the hip hopscene, it was not until the 1980s that groups other than young AfricanAmerican males began creating popular, innovative and distinctivestyles of hip hop music.
The first rap recording by a solo female was Philadelphia-based Lady B.'s "To the Beat, Y'All" (1980), while The Sequence became the first female group to record. It was, not, however, until Salt-N-Pepa in the middle of the decade that female performers gained mainstream success.
The first groups to mix hip hop and heavy metal included 1984's "Rock Box" (Run-D.M.C.) and "Rock Hard" (Beastie Boys). Later in the decade, Ice-T and Anthrax were among the most innovative mixers of thrash metaland hip hop. These fusions helped move hip hop into new audiences, andintroduced it to legions of new fans in the States and abroad.
Latin hip hop
In Puerto Rico, Vico C became the first mainstream Spanish language rapper, and his recorded work was the beginning of what became known as reggaeton. Hip hop had always had a significant connection to the Latino community in New York City including the first Latin DJ DJ Disco Wiz,and hip hop soon spread amongst Latinos. In the late 1980s and early1990s, most Latin rap came from the West Coast of the United States. In1989, Cuban-American Mellow Man Acebecame the first Latino artist to have a major bilingual single. MellowMan, referred to as the "Godfather of Latin rap", brought mainstreamattention to Spanglish rhyming with his 1989 platinum single"Mentirosa". In 1990, fellow West Coast artist Kid Frost further brought Latinos to the rap forefront with his single "La Raza." Cypress Hill,of which Mellow Man Ace was a member before going solo, would becomethe first Latino rap group to reach platinum status in 1991. Ecuadorianborn rapper Gerardoreceived heavy rotation on video and radio for his single "Rico,Suave." As a result of the success of these artists, countriesthroughout Latin America such as Cuba, the Dominican Republic andMexico created their own hip hop scenes.
Electro
While Run DMC laid the groundwork for East Coast rap, "Planet Rock" (Afrika Bambaataa) was one of the first electro tracks. Based on a sample from German rock group Kraftwerk (Trans-Europe Express), "Planet Rock" inspired countless groups, based in New Jersey, New York City and Detroit, among other places, to make electronic dance music (called electro) that strongly influenced techno and house music, and especially the burgeoning electro music scene in northern England, the Midlands and London.
"Planet Rock" influenced hip hop outside of New York as well, such as Latin hip hop (also Latin freestyle or freestyle) such as Expose and The Cover Girls, as well as Los Angeles-based electro hop performers like the World Class Wreckin' Cru and Egyptian Lover.
Further spread within U.S.
By the end of the 1970s, hip hop was known in most every major cityin the country, and had developed into numerous regional styles andvariations. Outside of New York City, New Jersey and Philadelphia,where hip hop had long been well-established, the 1980s saw intenseregional diversification.
The first Chicago hip hop record was the "Groovy Ghost Show" byCasper, released in 1980 and a distinctively Chicago sound began by1982, with Caution and Plee Fresh. Chicago also saw the development of house music (a form of electronic dance music) in the early 1980s and this soon mixed with hip hop and began featuring rappers; this is called hip house,and gained some national popularity in the late 1980s and early 90s,though similar fusions from South Africa, Belgium and elsewhere becamejust as well-known into the 90s.
Los Angeles hardcore rappers (Ice-T) and electro hop artists (Egyptian Lover) began recording by 1983, though the first recorded West Coast rap was Disco Daddy and Captain Rapp's "Gigolo Rapp" in 1981. In Miami, audiences listened to Miami bass, a form of sultry and sexually explicit dance music which arose from Los Angeles electro; it frequently included rapping. In Washington D.C. a hip hop-influenced form of dance music called go go emerged and incorporated rapping and DJing.
International spread
Beginning in the early 1980s, hip hop culture began its spreadacross the world. By the end of the 1990s, popular hip hop was soldalmost everywhere, and native performers were recording in most everycountry with a popular music industry. Elements of hip hop became fusedwith numerous styles of music, including ragga, cumbia and samba, for example. The Senegalese mbalax rhythm became a component of hip hop, while the United Kingdom and Belgium produced a variety of electronic music fusions of hip hop, most famously including British trip hop.Hip hop also spread to countries like Greece, Spain and Cuba in the1980s, led in Cuba by the self-exiled African American activist Nehanda Abiodun and aided by Fidel Castro'sgovernment. In Japan, graffiti art and breakdancing had been popularsince the early part of the decade, but many of those active in thescene felt that the Japanese language was unsuited for rapping; nevertheless, by the beginning of the 1990s, a wave of rappers emerged, including Ito Seiko, Chikado Haruo, Tinnie Punx and Takagi Kan. The New Zealand hip hop scene began in earnest in the late 1980s, when Maori performers like Upper Hutt Posse and Dalvanius Prime began recording, gaining notoriety for lyrics that espoused tino rangatiratanga (Maori sovereignty).
1990s
In the 90s, gangsta rap became mainstream, beginning in about 1992, with the release of Dr. Dre's The Chronic. This album established a style called G Funk, which soon came to dominate West Coast hip hop.Later in the decade, record labels based out of Atlanta, St. Louis andNew Orleans gained fame for their local scenes. By the end of thedecade, especially with the success of Eminem, hip hop was an integral part of popular music, and nearly all American pop songs had a major hip hop component.
In the 90s and into the following decade, elements of hip hop continued to be assimilated into other genres of popular music; nu soul, for example, combined hip hop and soul music and produced some major stars in the middle of the decade, while in the Dominican Republic, a recording by Santi Y Sus Duendes and Lisa M became the first single of merenrap, a fusion of hip hop and merengue.
In Europe, Africa and Asia, hip hop began to move from an underground phenomenon to reach mainstream audiences. In South Africa, Germany, France, Italyand many other countries, hip hop stars rose to prominence andgradually began to incorporate influences from their own country,resulting in fusions like Tanzanian Bongo Flava.
Rise of the West Coast
After N.W.A. broke up, Dr. Dre (a former member) released The Chronic(1992), which peaked at #1 on the R&B/hip hop chart and #3 on thepop chart and spawned a #2 pop single in "Nothin' But a 'G' Thang".. The Chronic took West Coast rap in a new direction, influenced strongly by P funk artists, melding the psychedelic funky beats with slowly drawled lyrics—this came to be known as G funk, and dominated mainstream hip hop for several years through a roster of artists on Death Row Records, including most popularly, Snoop Doggy Dogg, whose Doggystyle included "What's My Name" and "Gin and Juice", both Top Ten pop hits.
Though West Coast artists eclipsed New York, some East Coast rappersachieved success. New York became dominated in terms of sales by Puff Daddy (No Way Out), Mase (Harlem World) and other Bad Boy Recordsartists, in spite of often scathing criticism for a perceivedover-reliance on sampling and a general watered-down sound, aimeddirectly for pop markets. Other New York based artists continued with aharder edged sound, achieving only limited popular success. Nas (Illmatic), Busta Rhymes (The Coming) and The Wu-Tang Clan (Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)), for example, received excellent reviews but generally mediocre or sporadic sales.
The sales rivalry between the East Coast and the West Coasteventually turned into a personal rivalry, aided in part by the musicmedia. Many reporters were not aware that MC battles were an integralpart of hip hop since its inception, and that, generally, little wasmeant by open taunts on albums and in performances. Nevertheless, the East Coast-West Coast rivalry grew, eventually resulting in the still unsolved deaths of Tupac Shakur and Notorious B.I.G..
Diversification of styles
In the wake of declining sales following the deaths of bothsuperstar artists, the sounds of hip hop were greatly diversified. Mostimportant was the rise of Southern rap, starting with OutKast (ATLiens) and Goodie Mob (Soul Food), based out of Atlanta. Later, Master P (Ghetto D) built up an impressive roster of popular artists (the No Limit posse) based out of New Orleans and incorporating G funk and Miami bass influences, and distinctive regional sounds from St. Louis, Chicago, Washington D.C., Detroit (ghettotech) and others began to gain some popularity. Also in the 1990s, rapcore (a fusion of hip hop and heavy metal) became popular among mainstream audiences. Rage Against the Machine, Linkin Park and Limp Bizkit were among the most popular rapcore bands.
Though Caucasian rappers like the Beastie Boys (Paul's Boutique), Vanilla Ice (To the Extreme) and 3rd Bass (The Cactus Album) had had some popular success and/or critical acceptance from the hip hop community, Detroit-native Eminem's success, beginning in 1999 with the triple platinum The Slim Shady LP,came as a surprise to many. Like most successful hip hop artists of thetime, Eminem came to be criticized for alleged glorification ofviolence, misogyny, and drug abuse, as well as homophobia and albumslaced with constant profanity.
In South Africa, pioneering crew Black Noise began rapping in 1989, provoking a ban by the apartheid-era government, which lasted until 1993. Later, the country produced its own distinctive style in the house fusion kwela. Elsewhere in Africa, Senegalese mbalax fusions continued to grow in popularity, while Tanzanian Bongo Flava crews like X-Plastaz combined hip hop with taarab, filmi and other styles.
In Europe, hip hop was the domain of both ethnic nationals and immigrants. Germany, for example, produced the well-known Die Fantastischen Vier as well as several Turkish performers like the controversial Cartel. Similarly, France has produced a number of native-born stars, such as IAM and the Breton crew Manau, though the most famous French rapper is probably the Senegalese-born MC Solaar. The Netherlands' most famous rappers are The Osdorp Posse, an all-white crew from Amsterdam, and The Postmen, from Cape Verde and Suriname. Italy found its own rappers, including Jovanotti and Articolo 31, grow nationally renowned, while the Polish scene began in earnest early in the decade with the rise of PM Cool Lee. In Romania, B.U.G. Mafia came out of Bucharest's Pantelimonneighborhood, and their brand of gangsta rap underlines the parallelsbetween life in Romania's Communist-era apartment blocks and in thehousing projects of America's ghettos. Israel's hip hop grew greatly in popularity at the end of the decade, with several stars emerging from both sides of the Palestinian (Tamer Nafer) and Jewish (Subliminal) divide; though some, like Mook E., preached peace and tolerance, others expressed nationalist and violent sentiments.
In Asia, mainstream stars rose to prominence in the Philippines, led by Michael V., Rap Asia, MC Lara and Lady Diane, and in Japan, where underground rappers had previously found a limited audience, and popular teen idols brought a style called J-rap to the top of the charts in the middle of the 90s.
Latinos had played an integral role in the early development of hiphop, and the style had spread to parts of Latin America, such as Cuba,early in its history. In Mexico, popular hip hop began with the success of Calo in the early 90s. Later in the decade, with Latin rap groups like Cypress Hill on the American charts, Mexican rap rock groups, such as Control Machete, rose to prominence in their native land. An annual Cuban hip hop concert held at Alamar in Havanahelped to popularize Cuban hip hop, beginning in 1995. Hip hop grewsteadily more popular in Cuba, due to official governmental support formusicians.
Alternative hip hop
Though mainstream acceptance has been almost entirely limited to gangsta rap, isolated alternative rap artists, with a socially aware and positive or optimistic tone, have achieved some success. In 1988 and 1989, albums like De La Soul's Three Feet High and Rising, Gang Starr's No More Mr. Nice Guy and the Jungle Brothers' Straight Out the Jungle are usually considered the first albums in this genre, with jazz-based samples and intelligent lyrics (see jazz rap) strongly influenced by the Afrocentric messages of Bambaataa's Zulu Nation collective. Later alternative artists, many of whom were members of the Native Tongues Posse, including Tribe Called Quest (The Low End Theory), Mos Def (Black on Both Sides) and The Roots (
Permalink ¤