Rap was a major part of my music listening in the 1980's.As far as I can remember my first exposure to the music came from a Detroit radio station, which I used to be able to pick up in Canada here.My initial reaction to the music was one of awe or excitement, though I dislike an awful lot of today's rap.

But enough about that.To the roots of Rap:

The rap vocal part itself has very strong roots in the black American traditions of toasting and rhythmic talking (something that has been well discussed in previous posts).Going back ultimately to Africa the tradition has varied in style, from the lighthearted childrens rhymes, beat poetry, to rhythmic preachers.It has been used in a variety of black styles such as blues, black gospel quartet, the 50's rock'n'roll of Bo Diddley, reggae,disco, soul and funk.But another factor that has influenced rap vocals is the rhythmic flow of the musical accompaniment, originaly done in a very simple 4/4 rhythm that matched the flow of the percussive beats (sampled or otherwise).

Rap as we know it today began in the early 70's as a unrecorded musical form.In it's earliest stage it was primarily a blend of funk beats manipulated on a turntable by a dj and simple rhythmic talking.Soul records were also sometimes used (a style related to funk).But this underground scene of the 70's would also see another strong stream of disco based rap, which appears to have begun with DJ Hollywood.While disco-rap would eventually fade out in the 80's, some of the first recorded rap is pure disco music, the only difference being the vocals on top.A good example of this is the 1979 track "Rapper's Delight" by the Sugar Hill Gang.The very first recorded rap song is often cited to be the Fatback's "King Tim III (Personality Jack)" which is also from 1979.But this song is by a live band doing very disco type music with rapping, not the turntable/hiphop stuf.

From my perspective the Jamaican connection to this 70's hiphop & rap is more in the borrowing of ideas than the direct use of reggae rhythmns, through the Jamaican immigrant DJ Kool Herc (previosly mentioned).Such things as dj's manipulating beats or tracks and talking over "toasting" was already done in reggae.The actual rythmic flow of the raps were very different (sounding closer to the rhthmic talking of the black American tradition).If you ever get a chance to hear Otis Reddings late 60's soul song "The Tramp", it includes some sections where drums are accompanied by rhythmic talking, sounding very close to that of the rap genre (and sometimes sampled by rappers).It sounds alot closer to rap then the old Jamaican toasting I've heard so far.

For a more detailed look at the history of 70's rap, hear is this article:

http://www.hiphop-network.com/articles/general/kurtisblow/versionofhiphop.asp

Well I'm not actualy finished yet.I will continue my look at 70's rap and other rap connections in the future.I'm forced to stop now for sleep sake.