Hip Hop: The Good, the Bad, The Ugly

We already listened to one of the first Rap / Hip-Hop songs, when we discussed Disco music. Do you remember the Sugarhill Gang’s “Rapper’s Delight”; rhyming rapped over looped vamp sampled from Chic’s “Good Times”?

But what is Hip-Hop? It is important to note that “Hip-Hop” firstly refers to a subculture; particularly an African American subculture that developed in the Bronx in New York City in the 70s. Part of Hip Hop is a creative expression through art (graffiti writing), dancing (B-boying), as well as music in the form of DJing and MCing. DJing refers to the use of synthetic instruments like a turn table, drum machines, and music editing controllers to “sample,” “loop,” “scratch,” and so on. MCeeing refers to “rapping,” in which the rapper / MC perform rhythmical rhymes, or poetry put to beat. The MC may also “beatbox,” which is the act of mimicking percussion instruments, i.e. drums, using one’s mouth and voice.

In the 1970s, particularly in the Bronx area, youth had parties (e.g. “block parties” and “tennis court discos”) in which DJs created dance music. The music were often a combination of sampled snippets from the popular songs of the day, for instance Chic’s “Good Times.” Over these sampled rhythms people would perform their rhymes.

One of the first DJ’s during this time was Clive Campbell (aka DJ Kool Herc), known as the “Father of Hip Hop.” DJ Kool Herc sampled beats from different songs and mixed them together, or one after the other, to create syncopation and polyrhythm. DJ Kool Herc’s prodigy was Joseph Saddler (aka Grandmaster Flash).

Watch a part of an episode called “The Perfect Beat,” from a series called “Rock & Roll,” below. While listening to it, try to answer this question: How is Hip-Hop music different from all the other established genres of music?



Below is a list of some representative Hip-Hop music:

• Sugar Hill Gang: “Rapper’s Delight” (1979)
• Kurtis Blow: “The Breaks” (1980)
• LL Cool J (with Rolando Hudson): “I Need Love” (1987)
• DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince (Will Smith): “Summertime” (1991)
• Will Smith: “Men in Black” (1997)
  

Traditionally Hip-Hop music made social commentary, expressed political concerns, and contemplated personal issues; however, the themes in Hip-Hop have evolved to less noble topics.

Thematically Eminem’s song “Lose Yourself” (2002) is quite positive. How would you summarize this song? In other words, what are the topic, idea, and theme of this song?



Unfortunately few contemporary Hip-Hop songs are so inspirational. Instead, Hip-Hop music have has become a medium for promoting a warped idea of masculinity and gender violence (misogyny). Learn more about these issues at the Independent Lens’ Hip-Hop page.

Following is a trailer for the great documentary Beyond Beats & Rhymes, which is well worth seeing.



You can learn more about this documentary at the Independent Lens website. The website also includes a timeline of Hip-Hop’s development and a glossary of common terms when discussing Hip-Hop music.

Disco

We’ve already heard how rhythm gained more focus in Funk. This continued, so that a new genre evolved focussing primarily on dancing. Disco is a type of dance music that originally catered for an African-American audience, but later gained a wider audience. It is often associated with gay-culture.

Saturday Night Fever and the Bee Gees

The movie Saturday Night Fever epitomizes Disco, so let’s look at some sections from this cult classic.



The soundtrack for this movie is by the Bee Gees. Some people is of the opinion that the Bee Gees and this movie is the beginning of Disco. This is, however, not the case. When “Saturday Night Fever” came out in 1977, Disco was already going for a number of years. Let’s look other prominent names in Disco.

Barry White

In 1973 Barry White and the Love Unlimited Orchestra recorded “Love’s Theme,” a purely instrumental piece. While listening to the music, try to describe the melody, harmony, and especially the rhythm.



Now listen to another song by Barry White and the Love Unlimited Orchestra, “I’m Gonna Love You, Just a Little More Baby.” The video is from a concert he performed in Sao Paulo, Brazil. What would you say is the main element in this song?


Now listen to “It’s Ecstasy When You Lay Down Next to Me.” Again, notice the very prominent rhythm.



The Jackson Five

Quite influential during the 70s were the Jackson Five. Listen to them perform one of their great singles, “I Want You Back,” from 1972. Also listen to “ABC” thereafter.




Especially in “ABC” one can very clearly hear the vamp. The vamp, which was a distinctive element of Funk, is also a common feature in Disco music since it adds to the songs dance quality.

KC and The Band’s “That’s The Way I Like It”

The song “That’s the Way I Like It” is another great Disco classic. While listening to the song, try to identify all the jazz influences in this song.


You’ll also notice that there is not much lyrics. Most of the words of the song consists only of it’s hook: “That’s the way uh-huh uh-huh, I like it!” There is also a very clear vamp. Something you may have noticed by now is that Disco music often neglected lyrics in favor of rhythm. Words became mere tools to reinforce the rhythm, by repeating the words on the beats.



Chic





While Chic’s music was not that different from other Disco music of the time, they were probably the cause of one of today’s most successful pop genres, namely Hip-Hop. In the following song you will hear a very important rhythm. Tom Zarecki explains:

Interestingly, the instrumental, non-vocal parts of "Good Times" before and after the singers were singing, were used more and more in nightclubs as the rhythm track while people in the club grabbed the mic and would recite rhymes over the infectious music. This technique, using "Good Times" as well as hundreds of other popular dance tracks of the day, later formed the foundation of what later became known as hip hop / rap music. In fact, the bass and rhythm for "Good Times" became the foundation track of the first crossover hip hop song, "Rapper's Delight" by the Sugarhill Gang.

Here is Sugar Hill Gang’s “Rapper’s Delight”: