Rapping is an artistic form of vocal delivery and emotive expression that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and [commonly] street vernacular". It is usually performed over a backing beat or musical accompaniment. The components of rap include "content", "flow", and "delivery". Rap differs from spoken-word poetry in that it is usually performed off-time to musical accompaniment. It also differs from singing, which varies in pitch and does not always include words. Because they do not rely on pitch inflection, some rap artists may play with timbre or other vocal qualities. Rap is a primary ingredient of hip-hop music, and so commonly associated with the genre that it is sometimes called "rap music".
3rd Bass was an American hip hop group that was active in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Formed by MC Serch, Pete Nice, and DJ Richie Rich, the group was notable for being one of the first successful interracial hip hop acts. Along with Beastie Boys and producer Rick Rubin, MC Serch and Pete Nice were two of the very few white hip hop artists who were widely respected in the community. The group dissolved in 1994 and again in 2000 and 2013 after short-lived reunions. The group released two studio albums in their initial career and both of them were certified gold by the RIAA.
The Cactus Al/Bum is the debut album by hip hop trio 3rd Bass, released on Def Jam Recordings on November 14, 1989. The album received positive reviews from the hip hop press and is also notable for featuring the recording debut of rapper Zev Love X of KMD, later known as MF Doom, on "The Gas Face". It was certified gold by the RIAA on April 24, 1990.
Miami bass is a subgenre of hip hop music that became popular in the 1980s and 1990s. The use of drums from the Roland TR-808, sustained kick drum, heavy bass, raised dance tempos, and frequently sexually explicit lyrical content differentiate it from other hip hop subgenres. Music author Richie Unterberger has characterized Miami bass as using rhythms with a "stop-start flavor" and "hissy" cymbals with lyrics that "reflected the language of the streets, particularly Miami's historically black neighborhoods such as Liberty City, Goulds, and Overtown".
Turntablism is the art of manipulating sounds and creating new music, sound effects, mixes and other creative sounds and beats, typically by using two or more turntables and a cross fader-equipped DJ mixer. The mixer is plugged into a PA system and/or broadcasting equipment so that a wider audience can hear the turntablist's music. Turntablists typically manipulate records on a turntable by moving the record with their hand to cue the stylus to exact points on a record, and by touching or moving the platter or record to stop, slow down, speed up or, spin the record backwards, or moving the turntable platter back and forth, all while using a DJ mixer's crossfader control and the mixer's gain and equalization controls to adjust the sound and level of each turntable. Turntablists typically use two or more turntables and headphones to cue up desired start points on different records.
Jeffrey Allen Townes, known professionally as DJ Jazzy Jeff, is an American DJ and producer. He was one half of the hip hop duo DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince, along with rapper-turned-actor and fellow Philadelphia native Will Smith. He is credited, along with DJs Spinbad and Cash Money, with popularizing the transformer scratch.
Hip hop or hip-hop is a culture and art movement that was created by African Americans, starting in the Bronx, New York City. Pioneered from Black American street culture, that had been around for years prior to its more mainstream discovery, it later reached other groups such as Latino Americans and Caribbean Americans. Hip-hop culture has historically been shaped and dominated by African American men, though female hip hop artists have contributed to the art form and culture as well. Hip hop culture is characterized by the key elements of rapping, DJing and turntablism, and breakdancing; other elements include graffiti, beatboxing, street entrepreneurship, hip hop language, and hip hop fashion. From hip hop culture emerged a new genre of popular music, hip hop music.
Peter J. Nash, known by his stage name Prime Minister Pete Nice or simply Pete Nice, is an American baseball historian and author, member of the Society for American Baseball Research, Hip Hop historian, and former rapper and record producer. Nash gained recognition as one-third of Def Jam's golden age hip hop group 3rd Bass.
Hip hop production is the creation of hip hop music in a recording studio. While the term encompasses all aspects of hip hop music creation, including recording the rapping of an MC, a turntablist or DJ providing a beat, playing samples and "scratching" using record players and the creation of a rhythmic backing track, using a drum machine or sequencer, it is most commonly used to refer to recording the instrumental, non-lyrical and non-vocal aspects of hip hop.
Fondle 'Em Records was a hip hop record label founded and owned by Bobbito Garcia from 1995 to 2001, based in New York City. Garcia formed the label after realizing that the many unsigned rappers making guest appearances on The Stretch Armstrong and Bobbito Show, a program Bobbito co-hosted with DJ Stretch Armstrong on Columbia University radio station WKCR 89.9 FM, did not have a proper outlet for their talents.
The music of Miami is a diverse and important field in the world of music. The Greater Miami area has long been a hub for diverse musical genres. For example, South Florida has been a hub for Southern Rap. Miami, in particular, is a "hub" for Latin Music in the United States. Miami bass, a prominent hip-hop genre in the late 1980s and early 1990s, got its start in Miami; Luther "Luke Skyywalker" Campbell and his 2 Live Crew were among the more prominent Miami Bass acts, largely because of an obscenity scandal fomented by Broward County, Florida Sheriff Nick Navarro. Moreover, although not a South Florida native, Jimmy Buffett rose to prominence after moving to Key West, Florida and has long been associated with the "South Florida lifestyle". Other notable South Florida-based musical performers include Gloria Estefan, Marilyn Manson, Leslie Grace, Tony Succar, Vanilla Ice, DJ Laz, and Pitbull.
Dingilizwe Dumile, known professionally as DJ Subroc, was an American hip-hop artist and a member of KMD and Constipated Monkeys.
Jorge Antonio Alvarez, better known by his stage names Kurious or Kurious Jorge, is an American hip hop recording artist from New York City.
A Constipated Monkey is the debut studio album by American rapper Kurious. It was released on January 18, 1994, through Hoppoh Recordings/Columbia Records/Sony Music Entertainment. The recording sessions took place in New York at Chung King Studios, Rampant Recording Studio, and LGK Studios. The album was produced by the Beatnuts, Stimulated Dummies, Pete Nice and DJ Richie Rich of 3rd Bass, and Bosco Money of Downtown Science. It features guest appearances from Casual, MF Grimm, Psycho Les, Kadi and the Omen. The album peaked at No. 68 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and No. 31 on the Heatseekers Albums in the United States. A Constipated Monkey produced three singles: "Walk Like a Duck", "Uptown Shit" and "I'm Kurious".
Dust to Dust is a studio album by former 3rd Bass members Prime Minister Pete Nice and Daddy Rich. It was released on April 27, 1993, via Def Jam Recordings/Columbia Records/Sony Music Entertainment, a year after the breakup of 3rd Bass. The album features numerous disses towards their former bandmate MC Serch. The recording sessions took place in New York at Rampant Recording Studio, Chung King Studios, and LGK Studios. Production was handled by Pete Nice, DJ Richie Rich, The Beatnuts, KMD, and Sam Sever of Downtown Science.
Hip hop or hip-hop, also known as rap and formerly as disco rap, is a genre of popular music that originated in the early 1970s from the African American community. Hip-hop music originated as an anti-drug and anti-violence genre consisting of stylized rhythmic music that often accompanies rapping, a rhythmic delivery of poetic speech. In the early 1990s, a professor of African American studies at Temple University said, "Hip-hop is something that blacks can unequivocally claim as their own." By the 21st century, the field of rappers had diversified by both race and gender. The music developed as part of the broader hip-hop culture, a subculture defined by four key stylistic elements: MCing/rapping, DJing/scratching with turntables, breakdancing, and graffiti art. While often used to refer solely to rapping and rap music, "hip hop" more properly denotes the practice of the entire subculture. The term hip hop music is sometimes used synonymously with the term rap music, though rapping is not a required component of hip hop music; the genre may also incorporate other elements of the culture, including DJing, turntablism, scratching, beatboxing, and instrumental tracks.
Raheem Devon Gibson, also known as Rah Nyse, is an American record producer and songwriter. He produced "Let Me Find Out" for the hip hop trio Naughty By Nature as well as "I Want the World to See" for the rapper G-Dep, which appeared on his album Child of the Ghetto (2001).
Deric Michael Angelettie, also known by his stage names D-Dot, Papa Dot, and the Madd Rapper, is an American record producer. He served as executive producer and A&R for the album No Way Out (1997) by Puff Daddy & the Family, which won a Grammy Award. He has since done so for three other albums nominated for the award, and won the BMI Urban Award in 2001.
The Stretch Armstrong and Bobbito Show was an underground hip hop radio show broadcast in New York, originally on 89.9 WKCR-FM, the student radio station at Columbia University, and later on 97.1 WQHT-FM. The show was hosted by Adrian Bartos and Robert "Bobbito" Garcia, and functioned as an alternative to commercial hip hop radio by airing unsigned artists, rarities and B-sides from commercial artists, and live freestyles and DJ scratch sessions. The show has been credited with introducing the world to Biggie Smalls, Eminem, Jay-Z, Big L, Big Pun, Fat Joe, Wu Tang Clan, Fugees and many other names which would rise to prominence in the mid to late 1990s.
