Origin of Rap and Hip-Hop

The difference between rap and hip hop is that rap is one of the expressions of hip hop, while the latter is a whole culture that encompasses other aspects besides the musical part.

If we focus on the musical part (rap), with the arrival of Africans in the US as slaves, their traditions and songs expanded, especially for work (although in a very discreet way due to the restrictions they had to express themselves).

Rap is known worldwide as a musical trend based on rhyming words very quickly on a rhythmic basis, encompassing two main profiles: DJ (creates and plays tracks, who is responsible for creating the basis for the rhyme of the MC) and the MC himself (master of ceremonies, person who performs).

On August 11, 1973, a new musical and cultural current began at a party in the Bronx (New York): hip hop. That day the young Cindy Campbell decided to throw a party for the start of classes. Her older brother, Clive, was already known as Dj Kool Herc. At the party he created the 'break' sound, because that's the part of the song where she breaks the rhythm selection by spinning two records on the mixer. What she achieved was to lengthen the instrumental part of the songs while introducing scratchy sounds that achieved new rhythms. Herc's friend, Coke La Rock, grabbed a microphone and started rapping; That's where hip hop was born. From then on, the break became popular and began to be used as the basis for songs to which rappers rhymed and breakdancers showed off their movement and dance skills. This genre has given the world countless hits and artists: Wu-Tang Clan, Tupac Shakur, Notorious BIG, Wyclef Jean, Jay-Z, Kanye West, Eminem, P. Diddy, Grandmaster Flash or Public Enemy, among many others.

The origins of rap predate hip-hop culture, rap, as we mentioned at the beginning, goes back to its African roots. Centuries before there was hip hop music, griots West Africans told stories rhythmically using drums and other instruments. The meeting of different currents that were joining rap gave life to a lifestyle called Hip-Hop, encompassing something much bigger, a cultural expression in constant change and movement, which incorporates new aspects and influence (being rap a of his most important and deep-rooted musical expressions).

There are several theories about the meaning of the word rap, the most common is the one that understands it as the acronym for Rhythm and Poetry (rhythm and poetry) or Recite Poem (to recite a poem). Although there are many styles of rap, the main ones are Boom Bap (New York), G-Funk (California), Dirty South (by the hand of UGK, Goodie Mob or Outkast), and this sub-style has evolved until that in the 2000s what is now known as trap appeared, with pioneers like Three 6 Mafia, the first group African-American to win an Oscar for Best Song for Craig's Independent Film Soundtrack Brewer Hustle & Flow (2006) 

As for the Drill, we can say that it is one of the most innovative aspects, already treated in another installment of our Magazine. This new aspect was born in Chicago in 2011 and had its first impact on a global scale the following year with the theme I Don't Like of Chief Keef. It's very similar to trap, at least musically (same slow boom and same hi-hat). The difference is based on the fact that if the trap is interested in the narcotics industry, the drill deals more with the violence with firearms and the wars between gangs.

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