In 1983. Herbie Hancock recorded the song “Rockit”, which became the first hip-hop hit, No. 1 played by MTV and all radio stations. Isn’t it strange that the first hip-hop hit was recorded by a jazz musician? Maybe it wasn’t hip-hop music, it was jazz? Because Herbie is not a REAL hip-hop artist!
I’ve always been annoyed by arguments and scuffles in this environment.At every step you can hear from the rappers that they are truly hip-hop. They do a real rap, “realer” than others! Only, is there such a thing as a true rap style?
Oldest means real?
Rap is by far the fastest growing and widest music genre in history.
At the very beginning there was party playing. DJs as ghetto stars rhymed to their own scratches during Block Parties or invited MCs to stimulate the audience with shouts and funny party stories. Soon after, they started playing a little harder, and songs like “The Message” were created, which is the cry of young people who are fed up with living on the edge of society. The continuation of this protest, enriched with party beats, was the music of Public Enemy. This, in turn, adapted and transformed by the NWA became gangsta rap. Teenagers who did not support NWA aggression created the “love movement” Native Tongues, where they promoted Afrika Baambaata slogans such as “Peace, love unity and having fun”. The “golden age of rap” has begun, full of musical and thematic diversity. Some taught, others talked about parties, others about the problems of everyday life, about love, about life. But everyone played with words, sound, flow, rhyming technique and the way of making music.
It’s 2013, and the new millennium has brought countless more rap styles. Mixed with electronics and every new musical fashion. The next generation raised on rap has grown up enough to be able to rap on its own, and suddenly they say they want to do REAL HIP HOP.
I’m asking… So what exactly?
Is Herbie Hancock a hip-hop artist?
A decade ago, El-P interviewed Herbie Hancock, where he asked the jazzman if he had consciously made a hip-hop song. Herbie told him that he was making a record, he was making music. Hip hop was something new and fascinating for him, so he decided to invite DJ Grand Mixer DST (now Grand Mixer DXT) to scratch and accidentally created a classic of the genre that influenced the work of artists associated with rap.
Hip hop is such a great culture because of its diversity. There’s a lot of talk these days about what hip hop should be, but the people involved in making the history of this culture have never dictated one path it should follow. They were always different paths that were united by mental belonging. The youngest generation of rappers is looking for completely new means of expression, new ways to achieve their goals. Such is the nature of every young person. It is thanks to these youthful ideas that hip hop is still a culture full of freshness. Personally, I like Boom Bap productions from the early 90s the most, but I have my head open to novelties, because for me real rap is one that arises from passion.
Herbie Hancock – Rockit:
http://youtu.be/TN5ltss0NMA