{I’m speaking on the history of hip hop at HSPVA in a few weeks; in preparation for that, m and I are working on some playlists. This is the first in a series of posts meant to be listening guides for those playlists.}

Hip Hop History Part 1: Origins through 1982

Amen, Brother by The Winstons (1969). This is the most sampled song in hip hop history, specifically the drum solo about halfway through, which is so popular, it is known as “the Amen Break.”

When the Revolution Comes by The Last Poets (1970) and The Revolution Will Not Be Televised by Gil Scott-Heron (1974). The link between these songs and hip hop is one of cultural continuity, not direct artistic lineage. We’ll talk more about this, but in many ways these songs were far more influential on hip hop in the 1990s and 2000s than the 1970s and 1980s.

Wake the Town by U-Roy (1970). U-Roy was one of the earliest practitioners of toasting, a Jamaican tradition of speaking over repeated rhythms. Many of the early DJs and MCs were first generation immigrants from the Caribbean, and while the direct impact of toasting on early MC styles isn’t totally clear, it is clearly present (as are speech styles from radio dee-jays of the 1950s and 1960s).

Rapper’s Delight by The Sugarhill Gang (1979). Claims to be “the first” are usually eventually disproven, but this is probably the most important of the initial songs to feature rapping throughout the entire song. There is a lot here, from the (currently) bizarre notion of a fifteen minute song to the classic structure of a series of MCs taking turns introducing themselves to the way in which the famous lines prefigure beatboxing.

That’s the Joint by Funky Four Plus One (1980). Included because the Funky Four Plus One were an important group in the early days, and because of the sampling of this song on a later De La Soul cut. They were the first group to have a female rapper (Sha Rock), and, like many of the early groups, went through numerous variations both in name and composition.

The Breaks by Kurtis Blow (1980). The first rap record to reach certified Gold status–and only the 2nd 12″ to achieve that level of sales. Certified Gold means over 500,000 records sold through official channels–yes, that implies the presence of various gray markets and the fact that other hip hop singles likely broke 500,000 units sold as well.

Rapture by Blondie (1980). The question of the role and relevance of white artists in hip hop exists from the very beginning (and looms even larger once you consider the roles of producers like Rick Rubin). Also, while Fab 5 Freddy reached his greatest fame as the host of Yo! MTV Raps in the late 1980s and early 1990s, he was an important and influential figure in early hip hop, especially as a conduit between music being made uptown in the Bronx and the downtown art scene (dominated at the time by punk generally and the performance space CBGB’s specifically).

The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the Wheels of Steel by Grandmaster Flash (1981). Hip hop is usually defined as containing four related art forms (DJing, MCing, breakdancing, and graffiti art), and while MCs dominate the industry over the past several decades, the early stars were the DJs. This album captures a live performance by Grandmaster Flash. Listen for other songs you’ve heard, both here and elsewhere.

Busy Bee vs Kool Moe Dee (1981). This is the most important early rap battle, and set the stage for “the battle” as an important part of hip hop. Busy Bee was an influential early MC, but here Kool Moe Dee (at that point part of The Treacherous Three) just destroys him. Annihilates. Obliterates. Pick your verb. Pay attention to the structure of the sets: Busy Bee comes in with a standard set of verses, then Kool Moe Dee gets started. Note how he raps about specific parts of Busy Bee’s verse, and then continues to complicate the rhythmic patterns until he hits a series of doubletime verses that are a decade ahead of their time.

Don’t Stop … Planet Rock by Afrika Bambaataa & The Soul Sonic Force (1982). It’s very hard to date this track: Bambaataa was performing it for several years before it was recorded. There is probably no more intimidating figure in early hip hop than Afrika Bambaataa–a pivotal force in the transition of The Black Spades from a gang into the community organization, The Zulu Nation, and a huge man, he was one of the original three DJs (along with Kool DJ Herc and Grandmaster Flash) that dominated the early days. While the impact is often overstated, the song is clearly influenced by German electronic pioneers Kraftwerk.

The Message by Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five. It took a while for the MC lineup of The Furious Five to stabilize (Cowboy, Melle Mel, and Kidd Creole were original members, Rahiem came from the Funky Four Plus One, and Scorpio came last). However, only Melle Mel was involved in The Message, one of the most important songs in hip hop history. The song was written by Ed “Duke Bootee” Fletcher, a Sugar Hill session musician, and Sylvia Robinson (we’ll talk more about her) had a hard time convincing the group to perform a song that was so clearly not a “party song.” Melle Mel and Fletcher split the verses (Rahiem lip-syncs Fletcher’s lines in the video). While politics is present throughout early hip hop, both implicitly and explicitly, The Message has a legitimate claim as the first successful political hip hop song.

That’s it. Part 2 will see the rise of the supergroups, the birth of beatboxing, and the explosion of political consciousness into hip hop. That will only take us up to around 1987 or so!

The Spotify Playlist for Part 1 may be found here: http://bit.ly/hiphophspva-1

DeepCuts

“Songs” appear in quotation marks, Albums in italics without quotations, and Artists in bold.

The entire DeepCuts playlist can be found here: http://bit.ly/hiphophspva-deep . This playlist will be added to as each installment is published.

#Samples and Other Influences

“Funky Drummer” by James Brown; Mothership Connection by Parliament. “Drop the Bomb” by Trouble Funk; “Maggot Brain” and “One Nation Under a Groove” by Funkadelic.

The Last Poets by The Last Poets, The Watts Prophets, Pieces of a Man by Gil Scott-Heron; Dennis Alcapone; I-Roy.

#1979 – 1982

“Rappin’ and Rocking the House” by Funky Four Plus One; “Christmas Rappin'” by Kurtis Blow; “Looking Good (Shake Your Body)” by Eddie Cheba; “The New Rap Language” by Spoonie Gee and the Treacherous Three; “8th Wonder” by The Sugarhill Gang; “Looking for the Perfect Beat” by Afrika Bambaataa & The Soul Sonic Force; “Scorpio” by Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five; “Rockin’ It” by The Fearless Four.

#Political Hip Hop

“How We Gonna Make the Black Nation Rise?” by Brother D with Collective Effort.

{Continue on to Part 2}