Key Influences and Themes in Early Hip-Hop

Jelly Roll Morton - 'Dirty Dozens'

Old blues, piano + playful verbal insults. Early dozens example.

Bo Diddley - 'Say Man'

Afro-Cuban beat, joking insult dialogue between two men.

Rudy Ray Moore - 'Signifying Monkey'

Spoken dirty folklore, trickster figure using clever language.

Last Poets - 'When the Revolution Comes'

Political spoken word, no music, angry repeated chant.

Parliament - 'P-Funk (Wants to Get Funked Up)'

Funk groove + DJ style intro. Spacey, laid-back.

Augustus Pablo & King Tubby - 'King Tubby Meets Rockers Uptown'

Dub reggae. Heavy bass, echo effects, NO lyrics.

James Brown - 'Give It Up or Turn It Loose' (Live)

High-energy funk. Call-and-response, horns blasting.

Chic - 'Good Times'

Disco anthem. Famous funky bassline. Smooth 'Good Times' vocals.

Eddie Kendricks - 'Keep on Truckin'' (Tom Moulton Edit)

Smooth falsetto, stretched disco remix. Light and dancey.

Sequence + Spoonie Gee - 'Monster Jam'

Early male/female party rap. Funky, disco roots.

Funky 4 + 1 - 'Rapping and Rocking the House'

Live, back-and-forth crew rhymes. Fun party vibe.

Sugarhill Gang - 'Rapper's Delight'

'Hip hop the hibbit...' Classic party rap over Chic's bassline.

Spoonie Gee - 'Spoonin' Rap'

Solo MC storytelling. Smooth funky beat.

Grandmaster Flash - 'Adventures on the Wheels of Steel'

Scratching, turntablism. Mashing up Queen, Chic, Blondie.

Busy Bee vs Kool Moe Dee (Battle)

Busy Bee = playful; Kool Moe Dee = technical diss. Battle shift.

Grandmaster Flash and Furious Five - 'The Message'

Dark beat. Urban struggle. 'Don't push me 'cause I'm close to the edge.'

Afrika Bambaataa - 'Planet Rock'

Electro synths. Robotic chant 'Rock rock to the Planet Rock.'

Lovebug Starski - 'Live at the Fever'

Party hypeman energy. Fast, playful rhyming.

Run DMC - 'It's Like That'

Sparse beat, raw delivery, lyrics on social problems.

Run DMC - 'Rock Box'

Heavy rock guitar + rap. Early rock-rap fusion.

UTFO - 'Roxanne Roxanne'

Playful electro beat, rejected by Roxanne storyline.

Roxanne Shante - 'Roxanne's Revenge'

Solo freestyle dissing UTFO. 14-year-old attitude.

LL Cool J - 'Can't Live Without My Radio'

Loud, pounding beat. Bragging about his boombox.

Doug E Fresh & Slick Rick - 'La Di Da Di'

Human beatboxing + nursery rhyme-style rap storytelling.

Eric B & Rakim - 'Paid in Full'

Deep hypnotic beat. Calm monotone complex rhymes.

Stetsasonic - 'Talkin' All That Jazz'

Jazzy beat. Defense of hip-hop sampling.

De La Soul - 'Me, Myself and I'

Funky, playful. Funkadelic sample.

A Tribe Called Quest - 'Bonita Applebum'

Jazzy flirt rap. Soft whispered delivery.

Queen Latifah & Monie Love - 'Ladies First'

Militant beat. Strong feminist lyrics.

Public Enemy - 'Fight the Power'

Loud, chaotic protest anthem.

Public Enemy - 'Don't Believe the Hype'

Noisy layers. Critical of media lies.

Brand Nubian - 'Wake Up'

Soulful Roy Ayers sample. Black nationalist message.

X Clan - 'Heed the Word of the Brother'

Funk sample + Afrocentric chants. Revolutionary language.

Eric B & Rakim - 'Follow the Leader'

Futuristic beat, complex metaphors, Rakim's cool delivery.

Schoolly D - 'P.S.K.'

Raw early ******* rap. Slow beat, grimy vocals.

Ice-T - '6 In the Mornin''

Minimal beat. Crime storytelling. Calm voice.

Eazy E - 'Boyz N the Hood'

High voice, funky beat. 'Cruisin' down the street in my '64...'

NWA - 'Straight Outta Compton'

Explosive entry. Angry, violent, real.

Dr. Dre ft. Snoop Dogg - 'Deep Cover'

Dark creeping bass. Snoop's laid-back yet sinister flow.

DJ Kool Herc

Invented breakbeat looping at Bronx parties.

Grandmaster Flash

Refined cue-mixing and scratching.

Grandwizard Theodore

Invented scratching.

Sylvia Robinson

Founded Sugar Hill Records. Produced 'Rapper's Delight.'

Tricia Rose

Wrote Black Noise. Rap is technological and resistant.

Imani Perry

Wrote Prophets of the Hood. Hip-hop uses signifying.

3 main movements of early hip-hop

Bronx party scene → Studio crossover → Radicalization.

Sampling

Using past music to build new work; recontextualizing Black sound.

Signifying

Saying one thing, meaning another; coded, clever language.

How did Def Jam change hip-hop?

Brought rock influences, polished sound, mainstream crossover.

Why was early hip-hop revolutionary?

Turned consumer tech (turntables) into musical instruments.

Cross-Bronx Expressway

Robert Moses' project that destroyed Bronx neighborhoods.

South Bronx collapse (1970s)

White flight, heroin epidemic, lost jobs, mass arson.

Bronx Gang Truce (1971)

Ghetto Brothers helped unify gangs; block parties rose.

Wild Style / Style Wars

Films capturing early hip-hop, graffiti vs art tension.

Crack epidemic and LAPD militarization

Sparked rise of ******* rap in Los Angeles.

'Fight the Power' by Public Enemy

Anthem of protest against systemic racism (Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing).

'Straight Outta Compton' by NWA

Raw depiction of police brutality, urban rage.

'P.S.K.' by Schoolly D

Early hardcore gangster rap style, inspired West Coast.

'6 In the Mornin'' by Ice-T

Storytelling about crime and survival, early L.A. realism.