Harper's Finding of Hip Hop: Random Interesting Facts of Hip Hop

By Jessica Eason

Hip Hop was born November 12, 1974, in the South Bronx, New York. The forefather is a Jamaican DJ named Clive Campbell; also known as “Kool Herc.” The four main elements of hip hop are MCing, DJing, break dancing, and graffiti.

Hip hop can be divided into two eras, old school hip hop 1970-1985, and the golden age 1985-1993.

The first rapper to be sign to a major label was Kurtis Blow to Mercury Records. Kurtis Blow’s first record is “Christmas Rappin’.” “It’s Yours” by T La Rock and Jazzy Jay was the first record to bear the Def Jam logo. “The Breaks” by Kurtis Blow is the first hip-hop gold single. Flashdance brought B-boying (break dancing) to the silver screen. The first rap group to be appear on a national television show was The Funky 4 +1, on Saturday Night Live. From 1979 to 1984 rap was discovered by the music industries, by print media, and the fashion world. “La-Di-Da-Di” by Doug E. Fresh and Slick Rick is the first hip hop recording with the words bitch and pussy. Afrika Bambaataa was a DJ who combined the “jams” of Hip Hop with the spirit of the black power movement into his music. Bambaataa is one of the founders of the Zulu Nation. Much of Hip Hop is rooted in African griots (storytelling and history holders) the art of storytelling with a rhythm over a beat. Biz Markie made his first appearance on “Get Retarded” by Roxanne Shante. Funkmaster Flex was the originally DJ for Deuces Wild. Graffiti artist used their area to express themselves; their canvases were sides of train and brick buildings. Graffiti artist would use their favorite songs and create morals of what the song meant to them. DJ Kool Herc attended trade school to become an auto mechanic but a robot took his place, and he turned to music to fill that void. Many DJ’s attended trade school, and just by the time they graduated a robot was a cheaper form of labor.

Sugar Hill Gang is the rap group to perform “Rappers Delight.” “Rappers Delight” first appearance was on 92 WKTU in October 1979. 50,000 copies of “Rappers Delight” were sold daily after the release of the song. It reached number four on the Billboard pop singles chart, and number 46 on the R&B charts. “Rappers Delight” went double platinum, and since it sold so many copies in 1980 it was named “Black Single of the Year,” by the National Association of Recording Merchandising. “Rappers Delight” is not the first rap record, two months before the Fatback band release “King Tim III,” the only problem was the label Spring Records wasn’t willing to take the risk of promoting the album. Grandmaster Caz of the Cold Crush is the ghostwriter for “Rappers Delight.” Sylvia Robinson a co-owner in Sugar Hill Records released “Rappers Delight” in 1979.

KRS-One was the first rapper to be pictured on the cover of The Source. The Source was founded in 1988 and is an all about Hip Hop magazine. It gave light to what new things were happening in the Hip Hop to world. In 1992 Chicago Police Department sent a protest letter to Warner Bros. Record about Ice-T’s “Cop Killer.” The Chicago Police Department was going to boycott Warner Bros. products movies and amusement parks until the song was removed from record stores and the media.

Over the year the flow of rapping has changed. Now a day’s rapping has become irregular and jagged, compared to old school rap that was more regular and repetition based. Also today’s rappers often deliver lines more rapidly. Many old school rappers claim that they could never make a comeback because of how the flow of rapping has changed so much from the old school.

MTV didn’t give rap a chance until 1989 when the “Yo MTV Raps” pilot appeared. It was then that black rappers were appearing more frequently on the station. In the mid-1980s another music station BET appeared. Their goal was to give black musicians a home of their own. Old school rap videos have the same main themes of local neighborhood, and their local posse or crew.

Tupac’s parents were Black Panthers. Before Tupac was shoot outside of the recording studio him and Big were friends. Easy-E a member of N.W.A. (Niggas with an Attitude), died of AIDS on March 26, 1995. Tupac’s All Eyes sold five million copies the most albums sold in history for a hard rap album. Notorious B.I.G. made his break by appearing in The Source in a column named feature hip-hop unknowns. Others found from the feature hip-hop unknowns were Mobb Deep, DMX, and Common. BIG’s Life After Death is one of the top five selling Hip Hop albums of all time. The East Coast, West Coast beef was created by the media. BIG wasn’t supposed to be in Los Angles March 9, 1997 the day he was shot, he was supposed to have left for London of March 7th.

He didn’t leave because he was enjoying the sunshine too much and didn’t want to go to overcast London, plus his dislike European food. DMX used to stand for Divine Master of the Unknown. Dr. Drew didn’t like Snoop Dogs raps from the beginning. Jay Z ghostwrote Dare’s verse for “Forgot about Drew.” After recording Ready to Die BIG taught himself how to memorize his lyrics in his head. Which he later taught to Jay Z, who taught it JaRule; none of them right lyrics down. Jay Z and Nas were known as the biggest ghostwriters during the 90s. Eminem used to sound like AZ. Eminem has two top five selling albums they were The Marshall Mather LP, and The Eminem the Show.

The top selling Hip Hop album of all time is “Speakerboxxx/The Love Below” by Outcast with a grand total sale of 5.5 million but since it is two CDs the total is 11 million. The number one Hip Hop song of all time is Public Enemy’s “Fight the Power.”

Biggie, Jay Z, and Busta Rhymes all attend the same high school in Brooklyn. Busta Rhymes and Jay Z battled in the halls of their high school, Busta Rhymes was an upper class man and Jay Z beat him in the end. Sauce Money ghostwrote “I’ll Be Missing You” for Puffy. Mase, Cam’ron, and Master P all had a chance to play in the NBA. Every Rapper in State Property is Muslim except Young Chris. 50 Cent and JaRule lived on the same block in Jamaica, Queens. Nas wrote “New York State of Mind” at the age of 17. Nas dropped out of school in the eighth grade. Nas has been playing the trumpet since the age of four; his father was a jazz musician. Jay Z is the number one solo act with 11 number albums on the Billboard 200. Hip Hop is an urban youth culture based on rap music fashion and DJing.