Rap Music is one of the most important elements of the hip hop culture. This culture originated somewhere in the 70’s in New York City. Although it was started by both Latinos and African Americans, the hip hop culture is mostly associated with African Americans. There are many more other elements that contribute to the development of this culture such as scratching, graffiti writing, break dancing and hip hop music which is a stylized rhythmic music. Most hip hop music is accompaniment by raping which is a rhythmic way of speaking (a sort of chanting). Music in general is constantly evolving and many rap artists seek online mixing and mastering services to give their songs a more modern sound and make them as successful as possible.
Most people think that rap and hip hop music are one and the same thing. The difference lies in how the lyrics are performed over the rhythmic instrumental music, also known as a beat. Beats are usually played by a DJ over a turn table and they can be parts of the DJ’ s known songs or pieces improvised on the moment. Modern rap songs also use drum machines or live bands. Many times that DJ plays a very important part in a how a song with sound and online mixing and mastering services are highly sought after by people who prefer various music genres, including rap.
Rap music started out as a type of street art and it was mainly performed by teenagers. The first rap song that was recorded belonged to Sylvia Robinson but it was the Sugarhill gang and their Rapper’s Delight that truly put the rap beats on the producer’s map. The rap audience started growing a lot once rap started to be listened on the radio. In African American communities, rapping was considered a skill and rappers were very popular. There were even a lot of rapping contests that were organized on regular occasions and they consisted in impromptu rapping. White people were also starting to be interested in this genre and they made numerous rapping attempts. However, the African American community did not accept white rappers until Eminem, which is considered to be one of the best rappers in the world.
By the early 90’s rap music started to be more complex. The simple lyrics were replaced by deeper and more sophisticated messages. The TV played a great role in the development of rap. Soon enough rappers were considered role models by their fans who dressed, acted and talked like them. Women also started to be accepted as rappers ( Missy Elliot being the most successful one). However it all took a turn for the worse when rapping turned into gangsta rap which was a more aggressive music with more violent messages. There were numerous conflicts between gangsta rappers and some ended in death. Notorious B.I.G and Tupac are considered to be the best rappers in history but their life ended abruptly due to the gangsta wars.
Despite the fact that music preferences have evolved in the last decades, rap music is still one of the most popular genres. The most well known rappers in the world are Notorious, Tupac, Puff Daddy, Snoop Dog, Eminem, Missy Elliot, Busta Rhymes, Coolio, Cypress Hill, Jay Z, Dr. Dre, Ice Cube and Bon Thugz.
