South Bronx 1980’s
A major contributor to the style and themes of rap and hip-hop came from the changing economic and infrastructural conditions of large cities taking place from the late 1970’s through the 1990’s. Steven Hager in his book “Hip Hop; the Illustrated History of Break Dancing, Rap Music and Graffiti,” cites three events prior to the emergence of rap and hip-hop that helped guide the genre to fame. First, in 1959, Rober Moses, the parks commissioner for the Bronx in New York, began building an expressway through the city. Unfortunately, this expressway would replace many neighborhoods, home to immigrant communities – German, Irish, and Jewish neighborhoods to name a few, which then migrated to new surburban communities. And as these neighborhoods disappeared, apartment complexes were built in their place. These new apartments became home to new families of poor African American and Hispanic. Simultaneously, reputable landlords began selling their holdings in urban areas – such as the Bronx, which will reappear later – to move to suburban areas. And to replace these landlords in the cities were the less-concerned “slumlords”. From this, properties became unkempt, vacant, and/or turned into squatter houses. These properties contributed to the growing concentrated areas of crime, drug addiction, and unemployment in these developing urban areas. But finally, the last link in the chain of events before the emergence of rap and hip-hop was the presence of gangs. Gangs of the time chose and selected their own culture, but that didn’t stop similarities between gangs from happening – one of these common elements was rap and hip-hop. Lyrical content in the genre, after this assimilation of the music into the gang culture soon found the same success of its prior sub-genre with “gangster rap”.
It is also worth noting that the Bronx is where DJ Kool Herc began hosting parties, painting graffiti, and developing the founding technique for what would later become known as hip-hop and rap, a large city and one of the many affected cities by the factors mentioned.
DJ Kool Herc “Merry go rounding”
DJ Kool Herc began hosting parties in 1973. The music he used for the parties was played on turntables, which he used to develop a technique for looping: using two turntables, Herc could repeat sections of songs for as long as he wanted. This technique, termed “merry go round”, became widely popular and a milestone in rap and hip-hop’s developing style. With turntables DJ’s were also able to add sound effects,change playback speed, pair songs to play together, and later – with the power of digital music – sample from popular songs to create new beats and rhythms for partygoers.
However, Herc thought that sometimes music alone just wasn’t enough; so, he recruited the help of his friend Coke La Rock to give lyrics over the music. This is the first time we see what is most similar to today’s style and concept of rap and hip-hop. And it is from this point we see these genres begin to develop and branch into new sub-genres to cover a range of issues, express different themes, and diversify in style.
“Feel Good” Rap
As mentioned, the early stage of rap and hip-hop did not yet cover any political subject matter – instead always maintaining an upbeat rhythm and light subject matter to keep the party going. This genre became DJ’s primary choice in selecting music for their parties, where it gained mass popularity, but did not break into mainstream charts until nearly seven years after its technique was inspired by DJ Herc. Young rap and hip-hop, having not yet received mainstream attention, remained as a growing genre of party music until 1979, when “King Tim III (Personality Jock)” by The Fatback Band was commercially released and became a top 30 hit in the genre’s charts. After the success of this song, in clubs and on the billboards, rap and hip-hop began to create a place for itself among America’s most successful genres, and paved the way for a posterity of music listeners. Some of the commercially successful songs of this early era in Rap and Hip Hop are provided below.
“King Tim III” – The Fatback Band
Rapper’s Delight – The Sugar Hill Gang
So You Wanna Be A Star – Mtume
Behind The Groove – Tenna Marie
More Bounce To The Ounce – Zapp & Roger
“Gangster” Rap
Much of the technique used by early DJ’s like Herc’s used popular music of the time to keep the party going, and with the use of MC’s to provide lyrics to the beat gave new narrative power to the genre – for achieving billboard success, telling a story, or both of these things. However, the lyrical content of these early songs in the genre had not yet begun discussing any political subject matter. This was soon to change with the emerging sub-genre of rap and hip-hop to become known as “gangster rap.”
Much of the music industry in America, at the beginning of the 1980’s, had not yet gotten around to discussing the economic inequality that was proliferating across the nation. Rap and hip-hop still had a soft edge to it that avoided political talking points. That is until groups like N.W.A., and solo artists like Tupac Shakur and Notorious BIG, began to take a more confrontational style with the lyrics they wrote to bring attention to politics of the time and what was happening on the streets of their neighborhoods. By detailing hardship and conflict with the police, rap artists were able to express their oppression – offering listeners a brief walk in the artist’s shoes. Songs and lyrics from this genre detail a narrative of continuous survival against the institutional systems of a primarily white nation. The roots of the genre start in city streets, between gangs but also between a struggling people that had and have been fighting for equality for too long. This art form became an outlet, one of the few chances available to express their stories for the wider, unknowing American public, and began the first discussion of politics within the rap and hip-hop genres. Below are several selected early verses of the sub-genre.
Ice-T “6 ‘N The Mornin’
“Mad with no music, but happy cause free
And the streets to a player is the place to be
Got a knot in my pocket, weighing at least a grand
Gold on my neck, my pistols close at hand
I’m a self-made monster of the city streets”
The Notorious BIG “Everyday Struggle”
“I know how it feel to wake up fucked up
Pockets broke as hell, another rock to sell
People look at you like you’s the user
Sellin’ drugs to all the losers, mad buddha abuser
But they don’t know about your stress-filled day
Baby on the way, mad bills to pay
That’s why you drink Tanqueray, so you can reminisce
And wish, you wasn’t livin’ so devilish, shit”
Tupac Shakur “Changes”
“I see no changes, wake up in the morning and I ask myself
Is life worth livin’? Should I blast myself?
I’m tired of bein’ poor and, even worse, I’m black
My stomach hurts so I’m lookin’ for a purse to snatch
Cops give a damn about a negro
Pull the trigger, kill a nigga, he’s a hero
“Give the crack to the kids, who the hell cares?
One less hungry mouth on the welfare!”
Gangster rap still maintains a large presence in today’s political climate, with songs like Eminem’s “White America” in response to mainstream America’s vilification of gangster rap on youth today in correlation with the recurring tragedies of mass shootings in schools and in public. And, more recently, Childish Gambino’s “This is America” in response to the continued prevalence of police brutality against minority communities with little repercussions to the officers. Movements like Black Lives Matter and March For Our Lives have rallied around anthems like this that give a larger voice to their causes, and have shown that music – especially with successful genres such as rap and hip-hop – has a strong voice in the fight for democracy we endure still today.