A little hiphop History

Hip hop dates back farther then the 1960’s. It was argued to be blues, but was later found to be so much different. Between 1979-1984 old schools Rap kicked off. This consisted of relatively simple raps. Old school artist focused less on lyrical skill and more on simply having a good time. The late 80’s to early 90’s introduced the type of rap music we hear today. This consisted of lyrical skill and creative word play.” Critical masses of mic prodigies were literally creating themselves and their art form at the same time.”- William Jelani Cobb. Lyricism was established as a necessity, and 1993-1994 was established as the end of lyricism’s most innovative period. This is the point when a great vocabulary became a secret weapon.

The golden age was the name given to the period in mainstream hip hop where lyricism was introduced this era marked the importance of vocabulary. No one wanted to hear old school rap anymore. In fact for awhile it didn’t sale. Music now had meaning. People had reasons for liking song other then “it has a nice beat.” The most exciting thing about this new found style was the word play. The fact that a person could take the English language and create a message in rhythmic form was mind blowing.

A lot of the golden age rappers were freestyle artist. When you freestyle, every line comes from off the top of your head. Without an awesome vocabulary they would have come off very repetitious. Personally if you’re repetitious on a song, I feel you lack creativity. I can’t stress enough how important vocabulary is to hip hop would you feel if your favorite artist came on the radio and said “I pull up on a zebra” a couple times in every verse? Not only is this a stupid thing to say, it’s repeated over and over again. Repetition screams bad artist.

Of course people listen to more than an artist’s lyrics, but eight out of ten rap fans believe in a topic or subject. I personally despise artist that talk about the same subject in every song. This in a lot of cases its women, money, cars or clothes. A good artist has versatility, and the only way to obtain versatility is by having a great vocabulary. Everything hip hop ties into the level of your vocab. Music is an expression. Artists create these songs out of feelings and self experience. How would it be possible to express your feelings on paper without a decent word box?

As of today Vocabulary is still the key to a good rap song. No doubt there are other factors like the music, but I don’t remember hearing any music when martin Luther King gave his famous speech. After the Golden age hit old school rap didn’t sale anymore. In conclusion, if you want to become a successful hip hop artist or maybe just write a good song, you need a well built vocabulary.