The 70s
There were MCs before there were rap songs and rappers. The DJ’s role was to spin records, while the MC’s job was to provide the party’s voice. Special attendees were recognized by the MCs, who would frequently spit brief freestyles on what was going on at the party. In the 1970s, the South Bronx district of New York City saw the emergence of an underground urban movement known as “hip hop,” which focused on emceeing (or MCing), breakbeats, and house parties. The movement began in DJ Kool Herc’s high-rise residence at 1520 Sedgwick Avenue and quickly spread throughout the neighborhood. Rap originated both within and outside of hip hop culture, and it began in earnest in the United States in the 1970s with street parties held by Kool Herc and others in the Bronx district of New York—
After hooking up with DJ Herc in 1973, Coke La Rock is remembered for being the first rapper to spit lyrics, and the two are considered the original founding fathers of Hip Hop. Rap music began as a form of underground music. After Coke La Rock spewed his initial rhymes, the rest of the world swiftly picked it up. Cats were rhyming everywhere at parties in New York before you realized it. The Fatback Band’s “King Tim III” was the first legitimate rap song, yet it didn’t come out until 6 years later. The majority of people believe that Sugarhill Gang’s song “Rappers Delight” was the first widespread rap song, yet it wasn’t released until the winter of 1979, just months after “Kim Tim III.” Other artists of the 70s included Afrika Babataa, The Ghetto Brothers, The Watts Prophets, Kool Moe Dee, Funky Four Plus One, etc.
Female MCs/Rappers
Not only were the boys keeping it down, but Sha-Rock was also present in 1976. In the Bronx, MC Sha-Rick began her career as a b-girl and break-dancer. She went on to become the “First Female MC/Rapper in Hip Hop Culture.” She is a founding member of the famed rap trio The Funky Four Plus One and is known as the “Mother of the Mic.” MC Sha-rock is recognized for being the first female MC to complete a full circle in an MC rhyming war with groups like Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five in the 1970s. She is revered as a Hip Hop legend, a role model, and, most importantly, the mother of female MCs.
The Golden Age – 80s
Artists like Run DMC, N.W. A., Public Enemy, Kurtis Blow, and others take us on a tour through the early 1980s. These rappers began making hip hop songs with catchy melodies, resulting in a popular style known as rap-rock. Rap made a big splash on the Billboard R&B charts in the 1980s, but it never caught on with the general public. The major break came in 1986 when Run DMC transformed an old Aerosmith song into an 80s Hip Hop smash. The Beastie Boys’ debut album, Licensed To III, became hip hop’s first number one album when they began yelling raps instead of singing. Many hip-hop beats were being developed in the late 1980s. When groups like Public Enemy began demanding political change and an end to injustice and racism in the late 1980s, a new form of political hip hop emerged.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYzZ_v3M85k
The rap game evolved. It was then artists like Biz Markie, Dougie Fresh, Salt N Peppa, Eric B and Rakim, Bell Biv Devoe, Queen Latifah, and many more who stepped out during the late 1980s. Many hip hop beats were generated in studios by the late 1980s, using drum machines, synthesizers, and samples from classic funk and disco songs. Eric B. & Rakim, a New York pair, released Paid In Full in 1987, which is considered one of hip hop’s best albums, with Rakim rapping over Eric’s sample-heavy sounds.