What is rap in literature? Brief definition. Rap dictionary - all concepts and jargon of Rap

Voca-Beat vocal school tells you about musical genre Rap.

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Rap (English rap, rapping) is rhythmic text or poetry that is read to music, usually with a heavy beat. A person who raps is a rapper, or MC.

Rap is considered one of the most important components of hip-hop; Many people consider the terms “rap” and “hip-hop” to be synonymous. However, rap is used in a variety of genres of music, for example, in drum and bass, rock music (rapcore, nu metal, alternative rock, alternative rap). Rap is also often an element of pop and R-n-B compositions.

When rap was just emerging in the African and Latino communities of the Bronx, New York, in the first half of the 1970s, it was party music.

It was created by disc jockeys (DJs), and often their work boiled down to repeating the musical passage of someone else’s dance composition. Over time, local DJs began selling cassette tapes of party routines that cleverly combined rhythms and bass lines filmed from various compositions, and the MCs would rap over them. At that time (1974 - 1978) there were no studios or official releases of rap compositions: this activity was amateur.

The first recording in the rap style is considered to be the single “Rapper’s Delight” performed by “The Sugarhill Gang”, released in the USA in 1979. It was thanks to this 11-minute track that the American general public learned about the phenomenon of hip-hop. This composition made a splash in the American market popular music, however, most people believed that this genre would not develop further.

However, by the mid-1980s. hip-hop has changed: it no longer focuses exclusively on parties, rappers began to raise serious topics in their lyrics.

Rap by the end of the 1980s. has reached high level popularity, it can be compared with the level of popularity of rock, country and pop. MC Hammer, Kris Kross and others became the personification of this popularity. They addressed their music to a wider audience, and this served as the basis for the even greater development of hip-hop.

There is a well-known rivalry between rappers from the West and East coasts of the United States that began in the mid-1990s. It ended with the deaths of Tupac Shakur and Notorious B.I.G., representatives of both sides. This outcome of the confrontation caused a wide resonance in the media, and therefore rap gained even greater popularity: throughout 1997, rappers occupied the top lines of the US charts. During this same period, there was intense commercialization of hip-hop. It is often associated with the name of rapper Puff Daddy, who promoted a glamorous lifestyle. At the end of the 20th century, the white rapper Eminem gained fame, who tried to revive the charge of provocation and social protest in hip-hop music.

In 2004, for the first time in history, the Grammy Award was awarded in the most prestigious “super-genre” category - “for best album"- was awarded to rap artists - the duo OutKast.

Rap appeared in Russia in 1984, when in Kuibyshev disc jockey Alexander Astrov, together with the group Chas Rik, recorded a 25-minute program, which was soon distributed throughout the country.

Hip-hop in Russia gained wide popularity in the second half of the 1980s, when the passion for breakdancing began. The first Russian-speaking group, " Bad Balance", appeared in the 1989s. This group is rightfully considered legendary. The Russian hip-hop industry was formed only in the late 1990s, at which time many groups of this genre appeared.

Many of the Russian rappers compared the life of African Americans in the ghetto with the difficult times in Russia, most often the 90s. Russian and American rap They are somewhat similar, but Russian hip-hop has a different history, more lyrical digressions. In today's Russia, hip-hop is widespread in youth environment and continues to develop.

Sources:
www.rapcity.com.ua
Wikipedia

The word “rap” comes from the English rap, rapping, which is usually translated as “knock, hit.” It is not difficult to draw an analogy between knocking (and tapping the rhythm) and the rhythmicity of pronouncing song lyrics. Of course, there are also theories that rap is nothing more than an abbreviation. So, it was deciphered both as “Radical American Poetry” (Radical American Poetry) and as “Rhythm and Poetry” (Rhythm and Poetry) ... and as soon as they were deciphered, but such theories arose among the non-English-speaking population, and the word never was written in capital letters, so the first definition of rap most accurately reflects its entire essence.

And thanks to The Sugarhill Gang’s track “Rapper’s Delight” (1979), the word “rapper” also appeared and became widespread. Earlier, even before the appearance modern name rap artists, they were called spinners. This name takes its roots from the English spin - to rotate - initially the rapper's work was limited to manipulating the player's disk.

But enough of the terms. What is rap and what is its essence? So, rap is a form dance music, which is characterized by short musical phrases, simple harmonies and jagged rhythm. In his modern form rap appeared in the 70s. The place of his birth was the American Bronx, and his ancestors were the black population of the country. But rap was brought to America by visiting Jamaicans. It was the symbiosis of African traditions and Jamaican music that led to what began to be called rap in the 70s.

The spread of rap was greatly influenced by black amateur radio, which played this type of music every now and then. In those years, African-Americans had severely limited rights compared to the white population, to the point that there were establishments only for whites. Therefore, blacks had fun as best they could, including actively rapping. But more for pleasure, not for profit.

At first, rap was heard in black clubs in New York. It was mainly disc jockeys who specialized in this music and selected the repertoire for dancing. At this time, even minimal musical skills were not required to perform it. In addition, rap is almost the only type of music in which vocals were absent; they were replaced by special shape singing - recitative.

Later, in 1977, rap reached the streets and became breakdancing. And the youth’s passion for the music of Parliament, Chic, Sly And The Family Stone and James Brown led to the merging of rap with some other styles in which these performers also worked.

Soon rap went beyond the ghetto and gradually began to conquer the minds of white Americans. And such artists as Ice Cube, Ice-T, Run DMC and Public Enemy made significant changes in the stylistic coloring of this music, which led to the use of some of its elements in all directions of rock, from techno to hard rock and from house to soul .

But rap went even further than just conquering the white population of America, it began to conquer the rest of the world, even to the point that it reached Russia. So, in the 80s, with the advent of the first discos and disc jockeys in the USSR, this musical direction began to spread. And it is to rap and its influence that we owe the song “Carnival” by Sergei Minaev, which contains some of its elements.

Among the many musical genres and trends, rap music stands out. This trend is rightfully considered popular, because its appearance had nothing to do with commerce.

The Origins of Rap

In Africa, for many centuries there has been a tradition of talking about various news and events, accompanying the speech by playing drums. Wherein important information They diluted it with various jokes, prayers, and anecdotes. Gradually, some things began to change. Rhythmic lyrics spoken to music became a way of self-expression for African Americans. Young people composed hits right on the streets, telling them about everything that was happening around them. Sometimes it turned into a kind of competition, a test of the ability not only to pronounce meaningful texts, but also to compose new ones, rhyme and create original and very interesting recordings.

Subsequently, it became so interesting and unusual that rap culture quickly spread throughout the world. Today you can listen to your favorite songs online completely free of charge! Music is available on our website. Clear navigation and convenient search will allow you to quickly find the desired song, download mp3 without registration and enjoy high-quality sound.

Free rap is a real find for connoisseurs, a unique manifestation of youth, emotional nourishment. Today, rap goes beyond music, turning into a specific culture, which is characterized by certain behavioral characteristics. Even the clothes of rappers are different from what we are used to, and talented listeners often learn the art of creating rhymes and share their lyrics with the world.

Rap is one of the most popular genres modern music. This trend gained mass popularity in the nineties of the last century and has since become firmly entrenched in the world of show business.

On this moment rap is used in many others, and the compositions annually take first place in the top lists of radio stations and music channels.

Description

Rap is the performance of verbal recitative to rhythmic music. The rapper reads the lyrics to the beat, which can also be accompanied by electronic music. The subject of the texts is absolutely any, as is the main message. There are several types of rhyming. The most complex are the so-called “square rhymes” (that is, double rhymes). A stream with a powerful emotional message is called a "punchline". It is often used during battles - verbal competitions between two rappers. The style of recitative is called “flow” (from the English flow - to lay).

Various styles

The rap artist is also called "MC" (from the English MC - master of ceremony). Rap is not only independent genre, it can also be part of a song in other styles. Rapcore is a mixture of fast aggressive recitative accompanied by heavy music using guitars. One of the most prominent representatives of this genre- French hardcore band Rise of the North Star.

The birth of rap culture

Rap songs appeared back in the seventies of the last century in poor areas of New York, inhabited by black people from Africa. Presumably, the fashion for quickly reading rhymed text was brought from Jamaica. The first rappers were DJs and read out their lyrics during discos. Gradually, rap migrated to the streets.

Black poets demonstrated their skills to passers-by and did not even think about commerce, but made music for their own pleasure.

The first rap battles also began to be held. Two people took turns reading out peculiar pamphlets with the aim of insulting their opponent or otherwise showing their superiority over him. Ten years later, the first paid songs began to appear on records. Rap began to conquer Europe. Until the mid-nineties, it continued to be positioned as a genre for bandits and gangsters. However, they began to pay great attention to the rap scene. At the end of the nineties there was a famous confrontation between the Eastern and West coast. Musical battles took place between the leading performers of the two camps - Tupac Shakur and Notorious B.I.G.. As a result, both were shot dead in a street showdown. The events of those days seriously influenced the entire rap culture as a whole.

Since then, the question of the so-called “truness” has often been raised (from English word true - real) rap artists.

Russian rap

In Russia they learned about rap for the first time after the collapse Soviet Union. The first songs were recorded on pirated tapes, or less often on disks. Since at that time there was almost complete absence of copyright control in the post-Soviet space, selling your albums foreign performers it was extremely unprofitable. However, after a short period of time, domestic performers. Russian rap, of course, succumbed to the enormous influence of foreign rap, so the pioneers of this genre often simply copied famous performers like Dr. Dre or Eminem. But some features of the specifically Russian style were also noticeable.

Representatives of Russian emigration in Germany and Great Britain occupied a serious place on the hip-hop scene. Under the auspices of the German rapper Kul Savash, they released rap songs on the Optik Russia label. The main style was battle rap. Groups such as “Shock” and “First Class” gained enormous popularity in the post-Soviet space and set the direction for the development of the genre for several years.

New time

However, over time, more and more performers appeared.

For the reason that rap music itself is simple, and its creation does not require serious skills, this genre is the most widespread in a quantitative sense. Essentially, all you need to create is a microphone and a computer. The ease of mixing has encouraged young people to become increasingly involved in rap culture. In addition to classical themes, songs with beats have also become a means of conveying their political or social protest. Thus, the hardcore rap genre was formed. It is often used by performers with radical political views. Typically, concerts of such groups are not advertised, and only representatives of a specific subculture are allowed to attend.

Rap culture

Russian and foreign rap They are also unique and usually differ in their behavior, clothing style and social self-identification. The clothes used are spacious, bright clothes, most often semi-sportswear. A special feature in the rapper's wardrobe are sneakers and baseball caps. Also, the clothing style is characterized by an abundance of various attributes such as watches, bracelets, chains, bandanas and other things.

Although this mainly concerns young people in Western countries. The post-Soviet space was hardly affected by such trends.

Rap culture is also closely related to other elements of hip-hop. For example, a hobby for skateboarding or cycling. Events are often held in which young people compete in the skill of riding a bicycle or skateboard, and then in the ability to eliminate their opponents with rhymes. In Russia the most famous show such direction - "Snickers Urbania". So rap is not only music, but also a lifestyle.

Unfortunately, the history of modern Russian rap, although it goes back over 20 years, is small and has little to be proud of. However historical background, just formed that modern Russian rap culture that has captured the minds of our youth.

The first event associated with the emergence of rap in the USSR, oddly enough, took place in the city of Kuibyshev (now Samara). In 1984, DJ of the student disco "Canon" Alexander Astrov, together with local group“Rush Hour” recorded a 25-minute program, which was soon distributed throughout the country in the form of a magnetic album “Rap”. The album was recorded under the influence of albums by Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five and Captain Sensible. The text of the first recitative was:

“Everything with text is extremely difficult,” they have been saying for many years
That it is simply impossible to do rap in Russian.
Like, our words are longer, and rhyming is difficult
Besides, there is too little rhythm in our language...”

Two rock and roll and the most danceable compositions of “Rush Hour” (“Saturday”, “Time Passes”) were diluted with frankly disco numbers recorded non-stop in the style of “Stars On 45”. Within one composition, primitive rap monologues were sampled (from reading the alphabet to the multiplication table), “clippings” from “Let’s Twist Again,” fragments of boogie, beat, funk and other rock standards.

“Hey, disc jockey! Spin faster! Get everything done! And don’t yawn!” - this is the 84th year, Kuibyshev, magnetic album “Rap”.

In addition to these experiments, hip-hop in Russia gained popularity, rather narrowly, in the second half of the 80s, when the breakdancing craze began, although the actual English-language rap compositions were little known to music lovers. They were mainly replenished by those few citizens of the USSR who had the opportunity to visit other countries.
Many sources indicate that in the early 90s, breakdancing enjoyed some success, then the craze for graffiti appeared, and then the craze for rap.
The first Russian-speaking rap artists appeared in the early 1990s, Bogdan Titomir and the group “Malchishnik” enjoyed fame, on the other hand, more underground forms of Russian hip-hop (“MD&C Pavlov”) were not successful.

“Russian rap” itself is a young phenomenon, compared to, say, Russian rock. Just like rock at a tender age, “Russian rap” has one the main problem- imitation. Many do not perceive “Russian rap”, perhaps rightly considering it a copy of Western models, with all the inherent attributes of the “black brothers” style.

At the same time, “Russian rap” is very unique. He strives to stick to the roots of hip-hop, but it often looks ridiculous when performed by Russians. Sometimes it is so ridiculous that it contradicts Russian traditions and reality. On the other hand, rap is beginning to appear in Russia, which is trying to be tied exclusively to domestic norms - perhaps this is what it is the right way, but at the same time something very important, integral disappears; such rap often happens without a “zest”.

Today, the main problem of Russian rap is that there are very few “folk” talents in rap and there are too many prejudices around this topic, which puts rap in Russia at a disadvantage. A very interesting fact is that if hip-hop originated as the music and subculture of the “Negro ghetto” with a sharply aggressive attitude towards the white population (and this is true not only for the USA, but also, for example, for France), then in Russia it appeared as international culture, perceived predominantly by the “white” part of the population, therefore there can be no talk of any “ghetto subculture” in Russia.

In this sense, the leaders of hip-hop in Russia found themselves in a strange situation, since there were no objective social reasons for the emergence of hip-hop in our country. However, a way out of the situation was found, and now the texts in the spirit of Russian rock are adapting to the new musical forms, that is, to rap. The opposition is not based on race, but on social (poor - rich), cultural (conformists - non-conformists) and other characteristics. This approach paid off in the 90s.

One of the first rap groups that existed throughout the 90s and became pioneers of rap culture were members of the St. Petersburg group “Bad Balance”. It was founded by young St. Petersburg students who already won the Grand Prix of the All-Russian Rap Festival in 1991.

Throughout the 90s various groups, as well as people from “Bad Balance” (LA (DJ), SheFF and Mikhey (MC)) form rap culture. Basically, the passion for rap was the lot of metropolitan cities, and in the regions of Russia small fan clubs were formed, mainly of Western performers. It was the concentration of rap culture in the two cities of Moscow and St. Petersburg that laid the foundation for “commercial rap” in our country.

The market for Russian hip-hop as an industry was formed only in the late 1990s, confirmed by the emergence of many groups of this genre (“Bad Balance”, “Casta”, “Legal Business”, “Ellipsis”). In 1999, the global revival of breakdancing contributed to its re-invigoration in Russia.

Russian hip-hop is controversial, like its Western original, with elements of rap occasionally included by various musicians in their songs. After the 90s in Russian show business formed large companies who were interested in the development of various youth styles of music. They needed the youth of Russian megacities.

Due to the historical system of integration of Western innovations in our country, both in business and in culture, domestic show business leaders focused on the so-called group of “innovators”. “Innovators” in marketing are the group of people who try “new things” first and are opinion leaders. There are only about 2.6% of them. However, these innovators shape the consumer preferences of the entire remaining consumer audience. Among young people, such “innovators” are representatives of the “golden youth”. Children of “rich and noble” parents, who have unlimited funds, constantly organize and participate in “get-togethers and parties.”

Russian “golden innovators” travel around the world quite often and know the latest innovations. One of these new products after 2000 was musical style R&B (rhythm-and-blues). In Russia it was called r`n`b. We will not dwell in detail on the features of this style and its long history, but we will only briefly touch on the influence of hip-hop on rhythm and blues.

The fusion of rhythm and blues with hip-hop began in 1984 and resulted in three stages:

The first stage (1987-1993) - the so-called “new jack swing” - was mixed with heavy funk and stood out among the rhythm and blues mainstream by borrowing the tradition of rhythmic improvisation from hip-hop. New Jack Swing was aimed at an audience of teenagers. The performers who worked within this movement diligently maintained an aggressively sexual image “ bad boys and girls,” which was dissonant with the “proper boys and girls” of standard rhythm and blues;

The second stage (1993-1998) - the period of “hip-hop-soul” - marked a closer rapprochement between the two musical styles. Rhythm and blues borrows from hip-hop its unpredictable rhythmic pattern, the compositions become less homogeneous and more energetic. Distinctive feature records from this period - general atmosphere bodily sensuality and even cynicism. The lyrics of many performers, frank to the point of foul, testified to the maturation of the audience of this movement: in comparison with “New Jack Swing”, these were not only older teenagers school age, but also older layers of youth;

Third stage - Modern stage- “neo-soul” (nu soul). This somewhat retrospective direction is to return to the vintage sounds of classic soul from the 1960s and 1970s. In addition to classic soul, “neo-soul” actively absorbs elements of alternative hip-hop, jazz and even classical music. The more commercially oriented direction of rhythm and blues, represented primarily by Usher and Beyoncé, continues to develop in line with the hip-hop soul of the 1990s.

Focusing on “innovators,” domestic show business companies are beginning to create various domestic projects that perform in both R`n`B and rap styles. However, all rap begins to bear the imprint not of music, but of lifestyle. This important difference leaves a major imprint on the formation of the subculture.

The requirement to live “richly and beautifully” transforms R`n`B into “richly & beautiful”. The style of behavior, jargon, and clothing of participants in rap culture begins to be commercialized, becomes widespread and has a non-musical origin.

Modern Russian clubs for modern youth are not so much a place to relax and listen to music, but rather to show themselves, to demonstrate compliance with certain group standards. For such places, rap that talks about everyday problems, social and political unrest is not suitable.

New faces of Russian rap Timati, Legalize, Band "Eros, Bianca are welcome guests at parties in R&B clubs. It must be stated that hip-hop is no longer street music, but quite a light entertainment genre. For some who want to hear “shocking ""dirty rap" groups of a similar rap style are being created - Krovostok. For fans of the so-called intellectual rap, other less "pop" groups are being created - 2H Company, Trash-Shapito, Kach.

The Ukrainian-Belarusian project “Seryoga” is experimenting and mixing rap and r’n’b, whose participants lured the laureate of the “Slavic Bazaar-2003” pop competition Maxim Sapatkov into their team.

For young people who were interested in “chanson” show business, young groups from Rostov-on-Don are being created. Teams such as “Caste”, “Godfamily” and “YUG” talk about what is happening around them: about poverty, about crime, about fights, about love and about the hopes of a new generation.

The only niche for ordinary rap fans who want to follow the rules of the “old” or “new” school” in our country has become the Internet. A kind of community of self-taught rappers is being created, who write their own lyrics, mix samples, record and post their works on the Internet. Runet is so far the only place where domestic show business companies have not penetrated, for which rap is first of all a business, and only then a musical culture.

Although it is worth noting that these companies are looking for “new rap stars” and performers on the Internet. Recent successful discoveries have allowed a wide mass of young people to get acquainted with St1m, Noize MC, and rapper Mad-A.

In 2005 and 2006, Russia was visited by a large number of American rappers of the highest echelon. Moscow clubs welcomed DMX, Busta Rhymes, Ja Rule. They performed on Red Square Black Eyed Peas, whose members signed their first contract back in the early 90s with the father of gangsta rap Eazy-E.

In 2006, the leading music television channels of the Russian Federation elected rappers as winners of their awards. Missy Elliott was invited to the MTV RMA ceremony, and a little earlier, 50 Cent, the author of the best-selling rap album of the previous year, was invited to the Muz-TV awards ceremony....