The History Of Rap Music

Mackenzie Wealot
2 min readApr 26, 2021

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The start of rap music began in the early 1970’s around the time of disco, soul, and funk music. MC’s ( known as rappers today ) were the first artists to interact with there audience. As time went by is was commonly known that rappers would rhyme and stay in sync with their music. Rap music songs such as “ The Sugar Hills gang”, “ Rappers Delight”, and “ The Breaks” were the first top hit music in the year 1971. Dj Grand Wizard Theodore was one of the first and most popular rap artists in the world, having accidently creating the term “scratching” ( The term of pushing the record back and forth so it scratching against the needle).

DJ Grand Wizard Theodore

Facts about DJ Grand Wizard Theodore

  1. He created the scratching of the record accidently
  2. He was born March 5th 1963 in New York City making him 58 years old today
  3. His real name is Theodore Livingston
  4. He is an American hip hop/ rap dj

5. Theodore also apprenticed under Grandmaster Flash.

The biggest difference between rap music back then vs. today is the reasoning behind the music. Today rap music is just about going with the lyrics, Back then there is more of a story behind the lyrics. There are actually female rappers today unlike back then like Laruen Hill. It is said though today that the music today is more repetitive while back then it was more inspiring.

As said in The Knight Crier article by Esther Belizaire they quote “ Although rap has changed over the years, there are still rap artist who rap to inspire people. Sadly, most popular artists today make songs that lack meaning once so prevalent in rap music.”

Sources:

A look at rap music then and now — The Knight Crier

The Birth of Rap: A Look Back : World Cafe : NPR

About Grand Wizzard Theodore: Hip hop DJ (1963-) | Biography, Facts, Career, Wiki, Life (peoplepill.com)

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