Hip Hop Begining

Beginning of hip hop

There's been much controversy around the actual beginning of hip hop and rap. Being able to tell where it all began is quite tricky business. Phrases like "It all started with Dr. Dre" or "It all began with 2Pac" are extremely common. Although the contribution of these colossal artists to hip hop and rap is definitely indubitable, the answer goes to a point further back in time.
A brief incursion into a series of pertinent material on underground hip hop will soon prove that such affirmations, although somewhat excusable, can only refer to two things: either something not meant to describe the actual beginning of the genre, but a simple remark of utter enthusiasm and respect towards the artist, or simply a line coming from someone who is far from being experienced. A slightly wiser fan of underground hip hop (although not necessarily - perhaps of hip hop in general) may claim that the first hip hop tune ever recorded was "Rappers Delight" by Sugarhill Gang.

This, although not completely precise (but then again, when can one be completely precise?), would be far closer to the truth. It goes as follows. Although this too is arguable, it's generally believed that the substance of hip hop music is contained in the verses, while the beat is but a secondary element. Implicitly, in the beginning, artists used to deliver rhymes while the DJ played records in order to provide the suitable background. This, of course, evolved - in time, turntables appeared, as the art of producing distinct sounds instead of simply reproducing, and this tendency gave birth to whole generations of extremely skilled hip hop DJs. It soon became common for a group within underground hip hop and beyond to have several rhyming members and generally one, but sometimes two DJs who specialized in turntables. That, however, is another story.

Getting back to the root of the issue - the nature of the records initially played as background have had a huge influence on the development of underground hip hop as well as on the more commercial side of the genre. Well established, pre-existing genres such as reggae, dancehall, soul and many others brought their contribution. The most prominent precursor of hip hop and rap is, however, funk music. This is the reason why the second affirmation was almost correct: the song in question is a revolutionary fusion between the funk of the time and what we all know nowadays as hip hop and rap, together with the work of other contemporary artists. Although the scale leaned towards rapping more and more over the years, funk influences are still present as late as 90's artists such as Dr. Dre and even later than that.

Author: Ken Wilson

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