What is rap music? Learn about the origin of rap music, discover who invented rap, know the rap music definition, and examples of different types of rap music.
Updated: 11/21/2023
Rap Music | Definition, Origin & History
Table of Contents
- What Is Rap Music?
- Rap Definition
- What is Rap Flow?
- The Origins of Rap
- When Was Rap Created, and Who Invented Rap?
- Rap Music for Kids: A list of age-appropriate rap songs:
- Lesson Summary
Frequently Asked Questions
What is considered rap music?
Rap music is music that utilizes the dynamics of the rhythmic vocal style. Rap is performed over a DJ, a beatbox, or without any accompaniment.
How did rap start?
Rap emerged along with hip hop music. It came out of the parties in the Bronx in the 1970s, where early rappers would emphasize the DJ and facilitate the party.
What is the real meaning of rap?
Rap is a rhythmic vocal style associated with hip hop. Rapping is a part of a larger continuum of African oral tradition.
Does rap mean rhythm and poetry?
No, rap doesn't mean rhythm and poetry. Rap, colloquially, means to talk in a persuasive manner. The term "rap" has existed in the African American community long before hip hop emerged.
Table of Contents
- What Is Rap Music?
- Rap Definition
- What is Rap Flow?
- The Origins of Rap
- When Was Rap Created, and Who Invented Rap?
- Rap Music for Kids: A list of age-appropriate rap songs:
- Lesson Summary
Rapping, or emceeing, is a vocal style often associated with, or performed over (but not exclusively) hip hop music. Rapping combines rhythmic speech and contemporary urban colloquialisms in order to impart a specific message to the listener. The characteristics of rap include "content" (the topic that is being discussed), "flow" (the quality of the rhythm and the overall connectivity of the words), and "delivery" (cadence, tone, and vocal quality). Rap differs from spoken-word poetry in that it is usually performed in time to musical accompaniment. The word rap is often used interchangeably with the words hip hop, but while rap only describes the act of rapping (or a specific type of hip hop music), hip hop is used to describe the interrelated cultural movement of emceeing, DJing, breakdancing, and graffiti writing that emerged from the South Bronx in New York City in the 1970s.
Rap can be traced to the West African griot tradition, certain vocal styles of blues, jazz, Black Pentecostal and Baptist preaching styles, Jamaican toasting, and African American poetic forms. The modern form of rapping developed simultaneously with the emergence of the DJ as the central figure in the party scene that blossomed in the parks, and rec centers in the Bronx in the 1970s. Rappers were the masters of ceremonies at these events, where they would introduce the DJ and entertain the audience. As hip hop music became commercialized and more of a business as it entered the recording industry, the emcee began to overtake the DJ in terms of importance.
Rap is typically delivered over a drum beat in 4/4 time. That beat can be created by a DJ, a drummer, a beatboxer, or a rap can be performed without music. The word, which in standard English means a rapid series of audible blows, in the African American tradition colloquially means an engaging and captivating monologue that was persuasive. Indeed it is no coincidence that the Black Panther H. Rap Brown obtained the sobriquet "Rap" primarily for his facility with words. In the Black community, the term "rap" predates its usage in hip hop. It means talking to the people, inspiring and cajoling them with your patter. Rap is the very continuation of the West African oral tradition, as it has been maintained by the descendants of enslaved Africans.
 |
To unlock this lesson you must be a Study.com Member.
Create your account
You must cCreate an account to continue watching
Register to view this lesson
Are you a student or a teacher?
Create Your Account To Continue Watching
As a member, you'll also get unlimited access to over 88,000 lessons in math, English, science, history, and more. Plus, get practice tests, quizzes, and personalized coaching to help you succeed.
Get unlimited access to over 88,000 lessons.
Try it now
It only takes a few minutes to setup and you can cancel any time.
Already registered? Log in here for access
BackResources created by teachers for teachers
Over 30,000 video lessons
& teaching resources‐all
in one place.
I would definitely recommend Study.com to my colleagues. It’s like a teacher waved a magic wand and did the work for me. I feel like it’s a lifeline.
Jennifer B.
Teacher
Back
Your next lesson will play in
10 seconds
Rap is directly linked to the West African oral tradition. The griots of West Africa were important fixtures in African villages, imparting rhythmic parables over djembe drums as they entertained and informed their fellow villagers. As the transcontinental slave trade dispersed members of the African diaspora, they carried that tradition to the shores of the West Indies and the Southern United States. Many of the street-level performance methods of hip hop, which sees emcees standing in a circle "spitting" rhymes, can be traced back to the ecstatic, semi-religious "ring shouts" that were performed by enslaved Africans in New Orleans, Mississippi, and the West Indies. Other African American oral styles that influenced rap are things like schoolyard chants and taunts (referred to as "the dozens"), clapping games, jump rope rhymes, the poetry of Muhammad Ali, the rhyming boasts of Rudy Ray Moore, jazz scatting, and the extended talking monologues of soul musicians Isaac Hayes, and Lou Rawls. All were rhythmic forms of of vocal expression that existed well before rap.
It has been argued by some that rap is a continuation of the blues tradition, wherein the blues singer regales you with a compelling story. The blues is rooted in the plantation songs and Negro spirituals and influenced, both sonically and structurally, by West African musical traditions. The African American poet and writer Langston Hughes adapted the meter and rhythms of the blues form into his own form of poetry. Much later, acolytes of Langston Hughes attempted to translate the rhythms of jazz music, which is largely instrumental, into the spoken word. Poets like Bob Kaufman from New Orleans fused the spontaneous bop prosody of jazz, and rhythmically connected it with rhythmic patterns of speech, creating a new and exciting form of improvised poetry. Later, poets and performers like Gil Scott-Heron and the Last Poets further explored the rhythmic connections between jazz and poetry and performance. Many rappers, like Chuck D from the group Public Enemy, cite Heron and the last poets as profound influences. Jazz, which developed from the blues and other African American and European musical traditions, and originated around the beginning of the 20th century, has therefore influenced hip hop and has been cited as a precursor of hip hop.
To unlock this lesson you must be a Study.com Member.
Create your account
Flow is a difficult term to describe, but having a good flow is essential to being a good rapper. One way to describe flow would be to imagine that you are walking down a sidewalk on a bright sunny day. There is no one in your way, and as you walk along you are humming a song to yourself in your head. Flow would be the manner in which you walk to that internal song playing, the smoothness with which you glide along. The sidewalk would be the music. So essentially, flow is the ease with which an emcee exists over a beat. Yes it has to do with rhythm, but it has more to do with the consonance of words, the ability to choose sounds that are sonically pleasing to the ear, and to deliver those words in a cohesive way. Most students of rap would agree that the emcee Rakim is the one who single-handedly introduced flow into rap with his 1987 debut Paid In Full. Before Rakim, most rappers were high energy and bombastic. Rakim introduced a smooth, deliberate rhyme style that owed as much to the solos of John Coltrane, as it did to rap's founders. Indeed, Rakim, who was a tenor saxophone player in his high school band, admits that he got his style from transposing the rhythmic cadence of saxophone players, and translating them into his own rhymes.
To unlock this lesson you must be a Study.com Member.
Create your account
In the '70s, there was a cultural movement brewing in the Bronx. A DJ by the name of Kool Herc started throwing parties in the rec room of his apartment building. Soon Herc discovered that the dancers who attended his "jams" danced more enthusiastically over the instrumental breakdowns of certain soul and funk records he played. Herc came up with the idea to use doubles of the record to extend a 10-second break to any length he desired. By doing so, Herc created what is known as the breakbeat, which is the rhythmic foundation for hip hop music. At this point in hip hop history, the DJ was still the focus of hip hop culture. While there was always a mic there at the parties, it was only for making announcements. Soon Herc invited friends to do that job while he focused on mixing. The M.C.'s utilized witticisms and rhymes in order to make the announcements more appealing. They soon began to get more and more skilled at hyping up the DJ, or the crow, or even themselves. Later they started developing routines, and longer pre-written rhymes. This was the beginning of rap as we know it today.
As rap started to be recorded, it was groups like Grandmaster Flash and The Furious Five, and in particular their lead emcee Melle Mel , who shifted the course of rap away from the partying and boasting, and started using his rhymes to discuss the disenfranchisement and poverty that characterized the Bronx in the '70s. Melle Mel would write songs criticizing Reaganomics, the drug epidemic, famine and war, all with the voice of a prize fight announcer. It is Melle Mel who started the continuing rap tradition of speaking truth to power, and assuming the mantle of spokesman for the underrepresented.
 |
To unlock this lesson you must be a Study.com Member.
Create your account
The following is a list of rappers broken down by era, and a description of their contribution to the development of rapping. Because of the numerous influences that have contributed to the genre, this list is by no means extensive:
Proto-Rap (1900-1970s)-The artists that influenced the genre of rap.
- Jazz vocalist John Hendricks- Introduced a sing song way of scatting in the late 1950s that presaged rap.
- Melvin Van Peebles- His 1968 album Brer Soul is considered a proto-rap classic.
- Gil Scott-Heron-Poet and musician Gil Scott-Heron's 1970 album The Revolution Will Not Be Televised laid the groundwork for rap.
- Rudy Ray Moore- His 1970s rhyming albums performed under the name of Dolemite, told stories of pimps, prostitutes, and hustlers.
Old-School Rap (1975-1985)-The era where rap developed its sound and identity.
- Busy Bee- The man who helped popularize the term hip hop, Lovebug was an omnipresent personality in the early days of rap in the Bronx, and is very much the prototypical emcee.
- Kool Moe Dee- The man who literally wrested the title of King from his predecessor Busy Bee, Kool Moe Dee bridged the gap from the park jams, to rap's entrance into the recording industry.
- Melle Mel- Melle Mel brought a much needed political awareness to the frivolity that was going on in much of rap at the time.
Golden Era Rap (1985-1996) Widely considered the greatest era of hip hop.
- KRS-One: The Bronx bred rapper combined braggadocious flows, West Indian cadences, and contemplative lyrics to become one the greatest emcees ever.
- Rakim: One of the most influential emcees of all time, Rakim brought a relaxed and focused flow, and combined them with meditative and existential lyrics.
The Bling Era (1997-2007)- Hip hop was now a money-making powerhouse with the songs about wealth and conspicuous consumption.
- The Notorious B.I.G.- Brooklyn's finest; Biggie was witty, self-deprecatingly funny, and unabashedly fly.
- Tupac Shakur- Tupac combined revolutionary zeal, and an untempered street passion with a profound love for oppressed people.
To unlock this lesson you must be a Study.com Member.
Create your account
Ages 0-10
- Dj Jazzy Jeff and Fresh Prince: Parents Just Don't Understand
- Kris Kross: Jump
- Skee Low: I Wish
- JJ Fad: Supersonic
Ages 10-20
- De La Soul: Three Feet High and Rising
- A Tribe Called Quest: People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm
- Digable Planets: Reachin': A Refutation of Time and Space
- The Pharcyde: Labcabincalifornia
Ages 20-30
- Dr. Dre: The Chronic
- Nas: Illmatic
- Ice Cube: AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted
- Kendrick Lamar: To Pimp a Butterfly
To unlock this lesson you must be a Study.com Member.
Create your account
Rap is a rhythmic vocal style often associated with hip hop music. While the word rap is synonymous with hip hop, rap just refers to the vocal performance aspect. Hip hop is a culture that combines rapping, breaking, graffiti writing, and DJing. One can rap and not be a part of hip hop culture. Rapping is a continuation of the West African oral tradition that was brought over by enslaved Africans, and as a result has many antecedents, including spoken word, the blues, jazz, and poetry. Rap developed in the Bronx during the birth of hip hop during the 1970s. It combines flow, rhythm, and messages to impart messages about contemporary inner city existence.
To unlock this lesson you must be a Study.com Member.
Create your account
Video Transcript
What is The Difference Between Rap and Hip-Hop?
We have all heard rap before. Whether it is on a TV commercial, coming from a friend's car, or at a dance club, rap is one of the most popular and distinctive vocal techniques in the world today. Though rap is widely known, there are still several questions surrounding the genre. What's the difference between rap and hip-hop? Where does rap come from? Is rap a type of singing, or something else? Why is rap important? This lesson will try to answer these questions individually in order to place rap in its proper context.
Rap is a vocal technique, while hip-hop is a subculture. Rap only makes up one part of hip-hop, so the two terms are not interchangeable. Afrika Bambaataa was one of the most important figures in the early development of hip-hop and articulated the four elements that made up the subculture: DJing, b-boying (also known as breakdancing), graffiti writing, and MCing. Rapping is another word for MCing.
Rappers became the most visible and marketable proponents of hip-hop in the 1980s. For this reason, they came to represent the subculture as a whole in the minds of some people. Although many people familiar with hip-hop music in the 21st century may assume that rap is the most important pillar of hip-hop, in the early days of the subculture, the other pillars were perhaps even more critical.
Where Does Rap Come From?
Rap has two basic points of origin: Jamaica and New York City. Although many people associate Jamaica only with reggae, the island has been profoundly influential on numerous forms of popular music, including rap. In the 1960s, Jamaican DJs playing and mixing records at big outdoor parties started picking up the microphones and yelling at the crowd to dance. This practice came to be called toasting and was the precursor to rap.
Hip-hop culture, and rap more specifically, emerged in African-American and Latino neighborhoods in New York City during the early 1970s. The Bronx was the most important borough for the development of rap and hip-hop, but other boroughs like Queens were soon to follow.
DJ Kool Herc was born in Jamaica, but came to prominence in the Bronx. Familiar with the dance party culture, DJing, and toasting traditions of Jamaica, he transformed these styles into a vibrant form of youth culture that served as the basis for hip-hop. Other important figures in the Bronx during this early period included Afrika Bambaataa, Melle Mel, and Grandmaster Flash.
Rap and hip-hop came into being at a time when African-American communities in New York City and elsewhere were being neglected by municipal governments and falling into poverty. Rap music gave a voice and an empowering sense of identity to young people who felt like no one was listening to them.
Is Rap a Type of Singing or Something Else?
Rap is a vocal technique that falls somewhere between singing and chanting. The ability to rhyme different words is a vital component of rapping. Improvised rap is known as freestyling and is considered a highly prized skill, although most recorded rap is not improvised.
Rap is not as complex in its melody or harmony as traditional singing is, being very much focused on rhythm. The quality of a rapper's rhythmic pattern is sometimes referred to as flow. Everyone has different ideas about what makes a good flow or a bad flow, so hip-hop culture is filled with variance contingent upon individual preferences.
Since rap's inception in the early 1970s, an almost infinite number of different styles, individual interpretations, and subgenres have emerged. It is safe to say that rapping is different from singing, although many rappers include singing alongside rapping.
Why is Rap Important?
Rap is important because it's probably the most internationally recognized form of American popular music. Rap and hip-hop are performed throughout the world and in just about every language that you can imagine. The hip-hop subculture that rap is a part of is one of the most influential and controversial manifestations of American culture. Rap and hip-hop represent the best of American culture in terms of creativity and resilience, but they also reflect America's history of racism and inequality.
Lesson Summary
Rap is a vocal technique that emphasizes rhyme, rhythm, and individual expression. Rap is one component of hip-hop subculture, alongside break dancing, graffiti, and DJing. As the most well-known aspect of hip-hop, rap is one of the most important forms of American popular culture.
Points to Remember
 |
- Rap is both a type of music and a form of social expression
- Rap is one of the four pillars of the hip-hop subculture
- Rap has origins in New York and Jamaica
- Rap is focused on the rhythm, or flow, rather than musical melodies
- Some big names of early rap include DJ Kool Herc, Afrika Bambaataa, Melle Mel, and Grandmaster Flash
Learning Outcomes
When you are done, you should be able to:
- Explain what rap is and where it comes from
- Distinguish between rap music and hip-hop
- Name some of the major contributors to rap's early roots
- Discuss rap as a music form and as a form of social expression
To unlock this lesson you must be a Study.com Member.
Create your account
Register to view this lesson
Are you a student or a teacher?
Unlock Your Education
See for yourself why 30 million people use Study.com
Become a Study.com member and start learning now.
Become a MemberAlready a member? Log In
BackResources created by teachers for teachers
Over 30,000 video lessons
& teaching resources‐all
in one place.
I would definitely recommend Study.com to my colleagues. It’s like a teacher waved a magic wand and did the work for me. I feel like it’s a lifeline.
Jennifer B.
Teacher
Back
Rap Music | Definition, Origin & History
Related Study Materials
Explore our library of over 88,000 lessons
Browse by subject