Where did Rap Come from?

fallenarch

THE SLOW RIDER
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You may not know this brother but his poetry/music was amazing. Gil Scott-heron is often called the Father of RAP, but in many ways, he is the best of the RAPPERs by far. Not only was he a poet and Rapper, he was also an accomplished pianist. Here is his bio:

Gil Scott-Heron

Gilbert "Gil" Scott-Heron (April 1, 1949 – May 27, 2011) was an American soul and jazz poet, musician, and author, known primarily for his work as a spoken word performer in the 1970s and '80s. His collaborative efforts with musician Brian Jackson featured a musical fusion of jazz, blues, and soul, as well as lyrical content concerning social and political issues of the time, delivered in both rapping and melismatic vocal styles by Scott-Heron. His own term for himself was "bluesologist", which he defined as "a scientist who is concerned with the origin of the blues." His music, most notably on Pieces of a Man and Winter in America in the early 1970s, influenced and helped engender later African-American music genres such as hip hop and neo soul.

Here are some of his lyrics:

This is from "Work for Peace", he's talking about the military-industrial complex:
The Military and the Monetary
Get together whenever they think its necessary
They turn our brothers and sisters into mercenaries
They are turning the planet into a cemetery

In the same song he says:
 
Has rap devolved since the beginning? Much of the rap that's popular might have. There's still some that is real art if you give it a hard look. The irony of Little Orphan Annie in this number is brilliant. Good art takes you out of your comfort zone. High art should make you feel something you don't normally feel. It's a safe way to get close to the things you don't experience in your everyday life so you're aware of those things.

 
I re-edited my first post but it would not let me save the changes. Here is an interesting one from Gil from 1980 called "Gun":
It amazes me how his messages are still current even today, 40+ years later.

Rap started as spoken jazz, usually an outlet for poetry. This was loosely connected to what later started in the clubs as spontaneous rhymes spoken over DJ music. This went commercial, and it evolved into gangster Rap.
 
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