Unit3-Part3-Reading

Rapping. The history of rap music, also known as hip -hop music, begins in the early 70s.

It has its origins in the African -American and Latino street culture of New York City.

Unlike other music styles, rap songs are generally not sung but spoken.

Lyrics have rhyming words and are accompanied with music that has the beats and rhythms

of soul, funk, or rock genres.

Rap songs originated from the stories which Caribbean folk artists and African singing

poets told rhythmically with the beats of a drum.

Rap lyrics mostly deal with problems of city life such as crime.

Rappers also often rap about their own lives or personal problems.

They may express their political or social views too.

Rapping started out as a street art in the crowded, poor neighborhoods of New York City

and was performed by African -American and Latino teenagers.

Soon it became a popular music time across the US.

When rap music was broadcasted on the radio in the late 1970s, its audience began to grow too.

And in 1979, when the band Sugar Hill Gang released their hit Rapper's Delight,

record producers took notice of this new genre.

By the 1980s, more rap artists and groups had emerged in the US

and even white rap bands were reaching the top of the music charts.

In the 1990s, rap songs began to include more complex lyrics with more serious messages.

After the 90s, the popularity of rap music rose with artists like Jay -Z, 50 Cent and Eminem.

Today, rap is one of the most popular forms of music both in America and across the world.