Grandmaster Flash

“In rap music, even though the element of poetry is strong, so is the element of the drum, and the implication of dance. Without the beat, its commercial value would certainly be more tenuous” Archie Shepp. For many years people have argued about whether or not rap is poetry and, the differences between the two. The most prominent question in this debate is, is rap poetry or its own form of literature. Both rap and poetry have been around for a very long time and have appealed to the senses of a…

Big hair, neon clothes, and parachute pants are some things you might about when you hear someone mention the 1980s. Nothing was understated and image became more important than ever, especially in the music world, during this decade. New music and new inventions in the 80s would change the way we listen to music forever. The creation of MTV was a big deal in the 1980s. MTV was the first television channel to only showcase music videos, the Buggles’ “Video Killed the Radio Star,” being the very…

Hip hop is an influential part of urban and pop cultures since its exponential rise in popularity since the early 1970s. The rise of hip hop in urban communities effectively reduced the increasing levels of gang related violence and injustice in society, regardless of the stigma of a negative influence imposed by the mainstream media. The absolute positive ideals of hip hop and its positive effects are evident in the history of hip hop culture, seen through Zulu nation, and even in present day…

Hip-Hop and Rap have been regarded to be genres that promote gun violence, gang affiliation, and drugs. This however is not true. Hip-Hop and Rap has moved people emotionally and mentally throughout the years. Impacting and connecting individuals in riots within communities, more specifically in the US. These are usually triggered by the musical structure of the piece performed, along with the message being foretold to the audience. Artists in other genres such as Bob Marley, have accomplished…

This was their first album under a record label that they created themselves so this is what happened to get there. The style of hip-hop prior to N.W.A was vastly different as what they rapped about wasn’t always about the streets. No one spoke up about living in poverty and witnessing or even engaging in gang violence but they instead spoke about the party life because that was what was sold to vast majority of the audience. When more artists who talked about their life as they see it instead…

Nigga is a colloquial term used in Black English Vernacular that began as an eye dialect form of the word nigger . Usage In practice, its use and meaning are heavily dependent on context. In addition to African Americans, other ethnic groups have adopted the term as part of their vernacular. There is conflicting popular opinion on whether there is any meaningful difference between nigga and nigger as a spoken term. Many people consider the terms to be equally pejorative, and the use of nigga…

ride around town. When he returned to Jackie’s home Robert would suddenly recite rhymes from Skeet’s car like “Go, Dog, Go!” or when Jackie was trying to put him to sleep while reading a book to him Robert would be singing himself to sleep with Grandmaster Flash and the Fabulous Five lyrics. Skeet introduced Robert to the music with his rides through town, and like Dr. Moore music is a reflection of the culture. According to Dr. Moore there is five things present in Hip-Hop culture: instant…

Today’s culture in America is a very diverse one. It derives from different ethnicities or groups of people. America as a country has the type of culture that is always changing. Weather that be a style of fashion, type of music, or even food, the American culture is always changing. One type of music in particular has had a huge impact on American culture as a whole. That type of music being Hip-Hop. This type of music changed the dynamic of the music industry from the moment it became popular…

significant. For many this was their first introduction to hip-hop music. Hip-hop exploded to the forefront in the 80’s when Blondie song “Rapture” became the first number 1 song in the US that featured rapping. The song mentions Fab Five Freddy and Grandmaster Flash, two prominent artists in early hip-hop. The music video features Fab Five Freddy, graffiti artist Lee Quinones, and Jean-Michel Basquiat. This was the beginning of America’s fascination with…

manipulating the vinyl records they played. At first, it became popular to play and replay the breaks in funk music, simply because crowds loved to dance to these parts. Kool DJ Herc is credited with originating this practice, and others, like DJ Grandmaster Flash, helped perfect the techniques, such as changing turntable speeds and turning the records manually.5 DJ Kool Herc, a.k.a. Clive Campbell, laid the first building block of hip-hop down in 1973. According to Abbie Fentress Swanson, “That…