Old school hip hop
Overview
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
(approximately from 1979–1984), and the music in the period preceding it from which it was directly descended (see Roots of hip hop
Roots of hip hop
Hip hop music is an element within Hip hop culture, which includes MCing, DJing, graffiti and b-boying. Hip hop music originated within early-1970s block parties in New York City, specifically African American sections of The Bronx, as an alternative to ethnic gangs that proliferated during that era...
). Old school hip hop is said to end around 1983 or 1984 with the emergence of Run–D.M.C., the first new school hip hop
New school hip hop
The new school of hip hop was a movement in hip hop music starting 1983–84 with the early records of Run-D.M.C. and LL Cool J. Like the hip hop preceding it, it came predominately from New York City. The new school was initially characterized in form by drum machine led minimalism, often tinged...
group. However, some old school rap stations cover 1980s hip hop in general, occasionally extending even into the mid 1990s.
The image, styles and sounds of the old school were exemplified by figures like Afrika Bambaataa
Afrika Bambaataa
Afrika Bambaataa is an American DJ from the South Bronx, New York who was instrumental in the early development of hip hop throughout the 1980s. Afrika Bambaataa is one of the three originators of break-beat deejaying, and is respectfully known as the "Grandfather" and the Amen Ra of Universal...
, The Sugarhill Gang
The Sugarhill Gang
The Sugarhill Gang is an American hip hop group, known mostly for their 1979 hit, "Rapper's Delight", the first hip hop single to become a Top 40 hit. The song uses the instrumental track from the classic hit "Good Times" by Chic as its foundation....
, Spoonie Gee
Spoonie Gee
Spoonie Gee is one of the earliest rap artists, and one of few rap artists to release records in the 1970s. He has been credited with originating the term 'hip hop' and some the themes in his music were precursors of Gangsta rap....
, Treacherous Three
Treacherous Three
The Treacherous Three was a pioneering hip hop group that was formed in 1978 and consisted of DJ Easy Lee, Kool Moe Dee, L.A. Sunshine, Special K and Spoonie Gee , with occasional contributions from DJ Dano B, DJ Reggie Reg and DJ Crazy Eddie...
, Funky Four Plus One
Funky Four Plus One
Funky Four Plus One was the first Hip-Hop/Rap group from The Bronx, New York, United States to receive a recording deal. They were notable for having a female MC, and were the first rap group to perform live on a national television broadcast...
, Kurtis Blow
Kurtis Blow
Kurt Walker , better known by his stage name Kurtis Blow, is an American rapper and record producer. He is one of the first commercially successful rappers and the first to sign with a major record label...
, Fab Five Freddy
Fab Five Freddy
Fred Brathwaite , more popularly known as Fab 5 Freddy, is an American Hip hop historian, Hip hop pioneer and former graffiti artist...
, Busy Bee Starski
Busy Bee Starski
Busy Bee Starski born October 26, 1962, in the Bronx, New York, is an old school hip hop musician, and MC...
, Lovebug Starski
Lovebug Starski
Lovebug Starski is an American MC, musician and record producer. He began his career as a record boy in 1971 as hip-hop first appeared in the Bronx, and he eventually became a DJ at the Disco Fever club in 1978.Starski recorded his first single, "Positive Life," on the Tayster record label in 1981...
, Doug E. Fresh
Doug E. Fresh
Douglas E. Davis , better known by the stage name Doug E. Fresh, is an American rapper, record producer, and beat boxer, also known as the Human Beat Box...
, LL Cool J
LL Cool J
James Todd Smith , better known as LL Cool J , is an American rapper, entrepreneur, and actor...
, The Fat Boys
The Fat Boys
The Fat Boys are a successful African American hip-hop music trio from Brooklyn, New York City, that emerged in the early 1980s. Briefly, the group was known originally as the Disco 3.-Members:*Mark Morales a.k.a. "Prince Markie Dee"...
, The Cold Crush Brothers
The Cold Crush Brothers
The Cold Crush Brothers is a hip hop group that formed in 1979 in the Bronx, New York City, New York, alongside other early hip hop acts.-Formation:...
, Kool Kyle, and Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five
Grandmaster Flash and The Furious Five
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five was an influential American hip-hop group formed in the South Bronx of New York City in 1978. Composed of one DJ and five rappers Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five was an influential American hip-hop group formed in the South Bronx of New York City in...
, and it is characterized by the simpler rapping
Rapping
Rapping refers to "spoken or chanted rhyming lyrics". The art form can be broken down into different components, as in the book How to Rap where it is separated into “content”, “flow” , and “delivery”...
techniques of the time and the general focus on party related subject matter.
Old school hip hop is noted for its relatively simple rapping
Rapping
Rapping refers to "spoken or chanted rhyming lyrics". The art form can be broken down into different components, as in the book How to Rap where it is separated into “content”, “flow” , and “delivery”...
techniques compared to later hip-hop music.
