Rap Music - History and Facts (a face in the crowd) Revealed

October 3rd, 2008 admin Posted in music |

By Sayid Aksa

Rap music worked its way to mainstream music around the late 70s to the early 80s. Those who study history would trace rap musics roots way back in American history when Griots or West African folk poets used to deliver their stories in a rhythmic tone accompanied by drums and other sparse instrumentation. Today, the art of rapping has evolved into something that spans cultural and lifestyle dimensions.

Folk roots meet Jamaican-style

Rap music combines the poetry of the Griots with Jamaican-style toasting. Toasting is used by Jamaican disc jockeys or DJs in dance parties to coax people to dance to their music. DJs are the first rappers or MCs (short for master of ceremonies). They would speak over their music to shout out slogans like Work it, work it and Move it to keep encourage continuous dancing on the dance floor. Soon, toasting became longer and became less about dancing and more about life and having fun. Contextually, these raps can be insult raps, news raps, message raps, nonsense raps, and party raps.

This early way of rapping was soon enhanced to include manual manipulation of the sound system to heighten the dance experience. It has been said that people dance because of the beat and not of the lyrics. And so, DJs soon incorporated other techniques like dubbing and scratching to the rap music appeal. Dubbing enhanced Jamaican toasting by cutting back and forth between vocal and instrumental tracks and isolating the beat for danceability. Scratching, on the other hand, is done by moving the record in the turntable from one direction to another and back again while the needle is still in the groove.

Rappers deluxe

Rap historians cite young Jamaican Clive Campbell as one of the proponents of rap music when he migrated to the Bronx and brought with him the art of Jamaican toasting. In the Brox, Campbell was known by his monicker, Kool Herc (short for Hercules). Other early rappers rappers were Jamaican toasters such as U Roy, Duke Reid, Sir Coxsone, and Prince Buster. They were followed by the next decade of rappers like MelleMel, Fatback Band, Sugarhill Gang, Grandmaster Flash, and Run-D.M.C.

The early nineties saw the entry of white American rappers like Ice Cube to the African-American-dominated world of rap music. Even women rappers surfaced in the mainstream rap music scene. Women rappers like Salt N Pepper, Monie Love, and Queen Latifah rapped over R&B melodies and expressed lyrics that touched on women-related issues.

The look of rap

From its origins in the gang dominion of Bronx and the dancehalls of downtown ghettos, rap music soon found its way into the mainstream music scene. Soon, not only African-Americans were dancing to rap music. Rap music evolved into lyrical reflection of urban life. Rastafari-clad youth wore oversized shirts and jackets paired with low-riding oversized jeans that exposed their underwear. Heavy chain accessories also became part of the rapper look.

Rap music, while considered by some to be a fad that would eventually lose its appeal, is really a form of musical art that has become a way of expression. Modern mouth percussion, vocal improvisation and stripped down melody, these elements of rap music make it a unique musical experience.

Sayid Aksa is the author of http://musicmars.com

You can watch best rap music videos and other cool music videos from various genres on his site.

Rock Music - History and Facts Revealed
By Sayid Aksa

Rock music is often associated with heavy instrumentation, reverberating through a sound system, and played by hyperactive musicians wearing all-black garb. This kind of music has enjoyed over half a century of popularity with its strong beat and catchy melody.

Rock music started in the 1940s and the 1950s as a fusion of rhythm and blues, gospel music, and country music. Originally known as rock and roll, as branded by disc jockey Alan Feed from Ohio, rock music combined influences resulted in simple blues-based style that was fast and danceable.

Instrumentation for rock music often include electric guitar, bass guitar, drums, and keyboards. Others add to their line-up reed instruments like the saxophone and the French horn. String instruments like the mandolin and the sitar are occasionally seen in the realm of rock music. Of all these instrumentations, it is the guitar that is considered to be the star of the show. Guitars come as solid electric, hollow electric or acoustic.

The electric guitar was played rock and roll style by early rock legends Chuck Berry, Link Wray and Scotty Moore. Texas blues guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan played a fusion of blues and rock. As multitrack recording was developed by Les Paul along with electronic sound treatment by Joe Meek, it was not long after when rock music artists like Jackie Breston and Bill Haley came out with their first rock and roll records. Breston released his record Rocket 88 under recording label Sun Records. And then several years after, Haleys Rock Around the Clock was launched and topped the charts of Billboard magazine in terms of record sales and airtime plays. Sun Records also produced rock and roll king Elvis Presleys first single labelled Thats All Right (Mama). Shake, Rattle & Roll of Big Joe Turner was also topping the Billboard R&B charts during this time.

The fusioning of rock music extended into the 1960s and the 1970s, with rock music being combined with folk music to create folk rock, with blues to create blues-rock, and with jazz to create jazz rock. Electrical instrument ambiance was incorporated into rock music to create the carefree psychedelic rock. Influences from soul, funk and latin music were integrated with rock music to pave way for subgenres as soft rock, heavy metal, hard rock, progressive rock, and punk rock.

Rock music took a metallic turn in the 1980s and 1990s with the entry of rock bands like Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Queen, Aerosmith, Kiss, AC/DC and Black Sabbath. Hard rockers heightened the commercialization of rock and roll with albums and concerts being launched all over the country. Arenas and other similar big venues were used as a places to gather crowds and crowds of rock music fans. Live performances in rock concerts had rock fans screaming and going wild over rock bands performing to full performance level complete with stage design and pyrotechnics.

Some of the other developments in rock music are retro style grunge, theatrical glam rock (Lou Reed, Iggy Pop, and the New York Dolls), intense Britpop (John Lennon and the Beatles), indie rock and nu rock (Police, Duran Duran, Eurythmics, and the Culture Club).

Rock music has not been as popular with music critics at some point in time owing to its dark and overly loud metallic sound. But innovations and developments in look, style and sound has slowly developed a following for rock music not only in the young crowd but for the public in general as well. Rock music still manages to chalk up big hits in popular music.

Sayid Aksa is the author of http://musicmars.com

You can watch best rock music videos and other cool music videos from various genres on his site.

Pop Music - History and Facts Revealed
By Sayid Aksa

One genre that appeals to most everyone is pop music owing to its light and catchy qualities. Pop music is so aptly called because it is a categorization that is largely based on the popularity of a song. There is no clear and distinct parameters to classify a song as pop music. For the most part, its popularity should translate to records sold and radio air times.

Pop music is a combination of various styles influenced by the evolving music forms. The development of pop music is one that is progressive, rolling over from generation to generation to snowball into its current form. As this is so, pop music has taken so many forms through each decade to reflect the musical preference of a particular generation.

Rich Vocals

During the 50s, popular tunes were those that were vocally rich with a string accompaniment and a vocal chorus back up. Country music and American folk music were great hits along with variations of standard formats. Great American songbook classics, crooners and big band singers adopted other musical techniques to give their music a modern twist. The listening public lapped these enhancements up and caused songs like Mack the Knife and Singing the Blues to top the charts. In contrast to these classics, rock and roll likewise rocked the American music industry with fast and infectious beats of Rock Around the Clock, Heartbreak Hotel, and Tutti Fruitti. These tunes not only rocked the airwaves, they also rocked the dance floors.

All in the Band

The next decade brought in what is called as the novelty song characterized by humorous lyric combined with melodies that are simple yet catchy (i.e. Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini, California Girls, and Good Vibrations). Worthy of note is the fact that the vocal harmonies and lyrics of these songs revolved around Californias surf, girls and cars. Thus the label Surf pop. Other popular music during the sixties were youth-oriented band music in up-tempo beat, I Want to Hold Your Hand,Cant Buy Me Love, Downtown, and To Sir With Love.” African American music likewise joined the popular music scene with its doo-wop style that gives prominence to melodic sounds and vocal harmonies. Rhythm and blues as well as Motown soul music were also chart-toppers during this period.

Cacophony of Sounds

From the 1970s to the present, pop music is as diverse as they come. A slowdown in musical tempo was seen in the early seventies when folk-based artists took center stage. Popular during these times were songs written by the singers themselves. Tempos picked up again towards in the second half of the decade when disco-dancing became a favorite pastime among the youth. Dance tunes Play That Funky Music, Staying Alive, and YMCA dominated the airwaves and the disco scene.

The 1980s and 1990s music scene was composed of music soundtracks, international hits, rock and roll, and pop icon duets. Another music development in this decade is the advent of charity records where artists put their talents together to raise funds for a cause. Particularly characteristic of the last two decades are the prevalence of songs by female artists like Mariah Carrey, Celine Dion, and pop icon Madonna. The new millennium kept with soulful ballads, hip hop pieces and dance tracks. Movie soundtracks remained chart-toppers.

Pop music is a genre that will always be around. People will always listen to music and music labels and radio stations will continue to track what songs people are listening to. For as long as people are playing and listening to music, there will always be a chart-topper.

Sayid Aksa is the author of http://musicmars.com

You can watch best pop music videos and other cool music videos from various genres on his site.

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