Rapping is a musical form of vocal delivery that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and street vernacular", which is performed or chanted in a variety of ways, usually 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 in time to musical accompaniment. Rap being a primary ingredient of hip hop music, it is commonly associated with that genre in particular; however, the origins of rap precede hip-hop culture. The earliest precursor to modern rap is the West African griot tradition, in which "oral historians", or "praise-singers", would disseminate oral traditions and genealogies, or use their rhetorical techniques for gossip or to "praise or critique individuals." Griot traditions connect to rap along a lineage of black verbal reverence, through James Brown interacting with the crowd and the band between songs, to Muhammad Ali's verbal taunts and the poems of The Last Poets. Therefore, rap lyrics and music are part of the "Black rhetorical continuum", and aim to reuse elements of past traditions while expanding upon them through "creative use of language and rhetorical styles and strategies". The person credited with originating the style of "delivering rhymes over extensive music", that would become known as rap, was Anthony "DJ Hollywood" Holloway from Harlem, New York.
The 40th Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 25, 1998, at Radio City Music Hall, New York City. They recognized accomplishments by musicians from the previous year. Rock icon Bob Dylan, Alison Krauss, and R. Kelly were the main recipients with three awards each.
Nathaniel Thomas Wilson, better known by his stage name Kool G Rap, is an American rapper from Queens. He began his career in the mid-1980s as one half of the group Kool G Rap & DJ Polo and as a member of the Juice Crew. He is often cited as one of the most influential and skilled MCs of all time, and a pioneer of mafioso rap/street/hardcore content and multisyllabic rhyming. On his album The Giancana Story, he stated that the "G" in his name stands for "Giancana", but on other occasions he has stated that it stands for "Genius".
Freestyle is a style of improvisation with or without instrumental beats, in which lyrics are recited with no particular subject or structure. It is similar to other improvisational music, such as jazz, where a lead instrumentalist acts as an improviser with a supporting band providing a beat. Improv/freestyles are improvised in this way.
Mohandas Dewese, better known by his stage name Kool Moe Dee, is an American hip hop MC prominent during the late 1970s through the early 1990s. Kool Moe Dee was a member of the rap group Treacherous Three, and also one of the first rappers to earn a Grammy Award and was the first rapper to perform at the Grammys.
Antonio Hardy, better known by his stage name Big Daddy Kane, is a Grammy Award-winning American rapper and actor who started his career in 1986 as a member of the rap collective the Juice Crew. He is widely considered to be one of the most influential and skilled MCs in hip hop history.
Pauline Matthews, better known by her stage name Kiki Dee, is an English singer born in Little Horton, Bradford, West Riding of Yorkshire. Known for her blue-eyed soul vocals, she was the first female singer from the UK to sign with Motown’s Tamla Records.
Paris Moore-Williams, better known by his stage name P Money, is a British grime MC, rapper and songwriter from New Cross, South East London, who is also active in the bassline scene. He is best known for his live performances as well as for songs such as Slang Like This, Anthemic and Round the Clock. He was a founding member of Lewisham-based grime crew OGz and has released one album with the group entitled OGz Season Vol. 1. He also appeared on the sixth edition of highly popular grime DVD Lord of the Mics in a grime clash (battle).
Daniel Peter Seraphine is an American drummer, record producer, theatrical producer and film producer. He is best known as the original drummer and founding member of the rock band Chicago, a tenure which lasted from February 1967 to May 1990.
¡Adios Amigos! is the fourteenth and final studio album by the American punk rock band the Ramones. It was released on July 18, 1995, through Radioactive Records. The Ramones disbanded a year after its release and the subsequent tour.
Richard Kylea Cowie Jr,, better known by his stage name Wiley and in his early career Wiley Kat, is a British grime MC, rapper, songwriter, DJ and record producer from Bow, East London. He is regarded as a key figure in the creation of grime music and often labelled the "Godfather of Grime". In the early 2000s, he independently released a series of highly influential eskibeat instrumentals on white label vinyl, most notably the first in the series "Eskimo" and rose to fame as a grime MC both for his solo work and for material released with his crew Roll Deep.
Bobby Robinson was an American independent record producer and songwriter in New York City, most active from the 1950s through the mid-1980s.
Roll Deep are a British grime crew. They were founded in 2001 by Wiley shortly before the disbandment of UK garage crew Pay As U Go Cartel. The crew distributed a number of mixtapes and vinyl singles independently before being signed to a major label and releasing their debut album In at the Deep End in June 2005. Four singles were released from the album: "Heat Up", "The Avenue", "When I'm 'Ere" and "Shake a Leg". They won an Urban Music Award.
Welcome 2 Detroit is the debut studio album by American hip hop recording artist J Dilla, released on February 26, 2001. The album followed his group Slum Village's critically acclaimed Fantastic, Vol. 2, and kicked off BBE's "Beat Generation" series.
Enta da Stage is the debut album of American East Coast hip hop group Black Moon, released on October 19, 1993, through Nervous Records. The album was produced by Black Moon member DJ Evil Dee along with Mr. Walt of Da Beatminerz. Enta da Stage features the debut of underground hip hop duo Smif-N-Wessun, as well as appearances from Havoc of Mobb Deep and Dru Ha, the co-founder of Duck Down Records.
Standing in the Spotlight is the first solo studio album by Dee Dee Ramone released in 1989, under the rap moniker Dee Dee King. The album is sometimes considered to be one of the biggest failures in recording history.
"Cotton Tail" is a 1940 composition by Duke Ellington. It is based on the rhythm changes from George Gershwin's "I Got Rhythm". The first Ellington recording is notable for the driving tenor saxophone solo by Ben Webster. Originally an instrumental, "Cotton Tail" later had lyrics written for it by Ellington. Later, more lyrics were written, based on the 1940 recording, by Jon Hendricks, and recorded by Lambert, Hendricks and Ross.
A hype man, in hip hop music and rapping, is a backup rapper and/or singer who supports the primary rappers with exclamations and interjections and who attempts to increase the audience's excitement with call-and-response chants. Music writer Mickey Hess expands the term as follows: "a hype man is a figure who plays a central but supporting role within a group, making his own interventions, generally aimed at hyping up the crowd while also drawing attention to the words of the MC".
James Dewitt Yancey, better known by the stage names J Dilla and Jay Dee, was an American record producer and rapper who emerged in the mid-1990s underground hip hop scene in Detroit, Michigan, as one third of the acclaimed music group Slum Village. His obituary at NPR stated that he "was one of the music industry's most influential hip-hop artists." He is considered by some as the "godfather of lo-fi hip hop".
"Best Mistake" is a song by American recording artist Ariana Grande that features American hip hop recording artist Big Sean. The song served as a promotional single from Grande's second studio album, My Everything (2014), and was released at midnight on August 12, 2014. Written by Denisia "Blu June" Andrews, Brittany Coney, Grande, Big Sean, and produced by Key Wane, the song is a ballad with piano, string, and drum machine instrumentation that lyrically deals with a couple trying to decide on what their future, troubled relationship is going to be like.
