HipHopBreakdownPodcast

Hip-hop podcast hosts discuss their favorite rappers and their influences. They also talk about the origins of hip-hop in New York City in the 1970s, with DJs extending instrumentals and adding drums. They mention the early 80s when MCs started rapping on these tracks. They also mention the political and anti-drug messages in rap, as well as the feuds between East Coast and West Coast rappers in the 90s. They briefly mention the origins of hip-hop in Houston and Chicago, and discuss different subgenres of rap such as melodic rap and drill music. They mention common elements in rap, such as similar rhymes and patterns, street art, and the difference between hip-hop and rap. Hi, I'm Hannah Solis. I'm Aiden Andrews. And this is our podcast. And this is our podcast. So we're going to start by asking each other who our favorite rappers are and then go down the list of their influences. You want to start? Yeah, so one of my favorite rappers is Drake, and he was influenced by Jay Z and Lil Wayne. And Lil Wayne was influenced by Missy Elliott. Yeah, I think Missy Elliott kind of gave him more that, like that rapping fast and punch, punch, what's it called? Punch line. Yeah. With like, kind of like witty rap. Yeah. With like, what was it? G staying silent like lasagna. I think so. Classic Lil Wayne bar. Yeah. Okay, my, my favorite rapper is Lil Yachty, who was influenced by Coldplay, Soulja Boy, Lil B, and Drake. Drake, because they're like best friends now. I think Coldplay probably influences newer alternative album recently. But um, and Lil B and Soulja Boy. I don't see the Soulja Boy that much. But yeah, Lil B because he's kind of like an alternative rapper, kind of like Lil Yachty. Yeah, so it makes sense. Yeah. Yeah. All right. So I guess we can talk about how like hip hop kind of originated. So where did it originate? So it originated in New York by a DJ called, I think it was MC Cool D? Wait, what was it again? MC Cool D. Something. I think it was just MC. I'm not sure. No, no, no. That was like the first MC. Or it was like a DJ MC. Wait, wait. DJ MC Cool. Wait, who? I'm just gonna look up. We're not adding this. Sabrina cut this out. Yeah. We'll just cut this part out. Oh, it was DJ Cool Herc. DJ Cool Herc. Yeah. I think he had like a, a, like a hip hop party. It was like the first, like first instance of hip hop, which was like 1971, I think. And then people like DJs would keep doing what he did, which was, they would extend like instrumentals of songs on turntables, and they would add like some drums. And that's just how hip hop started, like with samples. Oh, and in like the early 80s, they, MCs would hop on them. And like by the mid 1980s, they had, they started to have hip hop records by African Americans. Wish I had that. I don't know if I was supposed to make that. Because like, they didn't have any power in the music scene. But there was some African instances. Yeah, we can say like, that's where it originated, though. Yeah. Should we say that part again? We can, we can go over that part again. Should we do it right now? Yeah. All right. This is the take for how it originated. You asked the question again. All right. Okay, so I guess for our next section, we can talk about how hip hop originated. Mm hmm. So where did it originate? It originated in New York, by DJ Kool Herc, who had the first hip hop party. And it was basically just him with, he would like extend instrumentals on turntables. And like people would like eventually they started like, rapping on it. And they were called MCs. But it first started when they were just like in the club. And then like, somebody would just like hop on the mic. And that turned into people actually like recording records by the like, early 80s to the mid 80s. Do you want to talk about different locations now? Yeah. So another place that hip hop originated is from Houston. So that is where DJ Screw originated, who founded the chop and screw method that gave Houston its own sound. Some popular rappers that came from Houston is Travis Scott and Lil Wayne. Well, actually, can you cut it? I think Lil Wayne didn't come from Houston. Wait, where did he come from? Okay, cut that part out. Lil Wayne came from, he moves around a lot. Rap groups began to form that allowed them to share their experience being in the streets of New York. The first record to speak on these issues and receive commercial success was The Message, created by Grandmaster Flash and Furious 5 back in the early 80s, which some claim to be the first rap song ever. Already from the beginning, rap was very political and it was also anti-drug due to New York City's drug problem. So rappers were able to spread their message to others. They also feuded with rappers from California in the mid-1990s, specifically with rappers Tupac and Biggie. And Biggie came from New York and eventually came to LA. The Tupac-Biggie rivalry was kind of like Tupac was from New York with, uh, who was it? It was Tupac and then Fawcett. Um, so, wait, what was the last thing you said? Um, I think I just ended with New York. Okay. So yeah, Biggie came from New York and then he eventually came from LA to LA. Yeah, um, that was after, uh, the Tupac-Biggie beef and Tupac went to jail, thinking that Biggie set him up, um, for a couple of years, um, and then started, like, beefing with him, uh, with Rhymes. Um, but, uh, LA was one of the homes of gangster rap, um, which was fueled by police brutality, especially in the 80s and 90s, um, and pioneered by artists like Ice-T, Ice Cube, Stoop Dogg, um, like we said, Biggie and, uh, Dr. Dre. Um, and then also another, another home for a sub-genre of rap is, uh, Houston, um, home of the late DJ Screw, who founded the Chop and Screw method that gave Houston its own sound, inspiring rappers like Travis Scott and also other, uh, inspiring artists such as Lil Wayne and A$AP Rocky. All right, another location is Atlanta, which is one of the most popular areas in rap music right now. Uh, this is primarily trap sound, giving us, uh, rappers like Lil Baby, Future, Young Thug, Playboi Carti, Migos, and a lot of other trap artists. Um, trap just started booming in the 2010s. I think it was Atlanta and Chicago. Chicago. Yeah, another location that, um, originated was, uh, Chicago, um, which is drill music, which originated in the south side of Chicago in the early 2010s. It was created by Chief Keef. Yeah, Chief Keef was one of the pioneers. Um, drill music was kind of like trap music, but it was just a little bit more, like, hype, more, like, energy. Um, like, you can hear, like, guns and songs and just, like, um, like, higher tempos, I would think. I think so. Which I think was, uh, uh, highly inspired by, like, their chaotic environment around them. Yeah. The, the Chi, the Chi-Rack. Yeah. Yeah. Uh, what other artists, drill artists are there? Um, there's, uh, Lil Dirk. Lil Dirk. Um, uh, what's his name? His apprentice, King Von. King Von. Who died in 2020, I think. Um, yeah. Who also came from Chicago. Yeah. Um, there's not, there hasn't been a lot of, actually, there's more, like, underground drill artists now. But I feel like Chicago is such a close-knit community that a lot of the artists that they listen to, we probably wouldn't listen to. Um, but, um, okay. Um, should we ask a new question now? Yeah. Move on from locations. Yeah. I guess we could talk about how, uh, what does all hip-hop have in common? Um, well, rapping, but, I mean, rapping can take different forms, different sub-genres, as, like, for example, like, my favorite rapper, Lil Yachty, who did, um, like, melodic rap, which is, like, kind of, like, you're rhyming, like, doing, like, it's just, like, not, like, I don't know, I don't know how to explain it, because rap can be, like, anything. Yeah. It, like, has, like, a rhythm, like, a sort of, I guess. Yeah. But, like, rap's not even the same as it was in the 80s, where they would do the extended loops, because, like, sample clearance issues make it, like, impossible for artists to even do that regularly. Like, I don't want to speak about this guy, but Kanye, like, for example, like, Ozzy Osbourne didn't let him use a sample. Um, who else? Some other person didn't let him use a sample. Um, I don't think I remember, no. Yeah, but, um, just, like, things like that, taking away from the music. Um, oh, also, um, breakdancing. I think that was more, that was more apparent in the 80s with the artists, like, the, wait, who, who did the, oh, oh, oh, I know, MC Hammer, MC Hammer. MC Hammer, yeah. He, like, made it more popular. Yeah, I mean, just, like, his whole thing with the, yeah. What was the song? Yeah, yeah. He was, like, the first, like, global icon in the rap, his rap scene. Like, he was a pop star, rap star, first, you know. Yeah, yeah, I think so. Um, but it's not, like, too popular anymore. He's, like, Michael Jackson, if he invented, or if he was a rapper. Yeah. Because, like, he does the dancing, too, and he's not bad, like, he's, I mean, he hasn't done anything late. Yeah. Neither has Michael, but. Yeah, no. Um, what else? Street art. I mean, I think that's just because rap originates in the ghetto areas. Yeah, yeah. Um, but, yeah, I mean, they use it a lot in music videos. As an expression. Expression, yeah. I guess, like, it's more common now in, like, music videos, more so. Um, also similar rhymes slash patterns. Yeah, a lot of, like, for example, a lot of rappers, uh, base some of their lyrics or some of their, um, it's called interpolating, interpolating. Yeah. Which Drake does a lot, um, which is where you, you, like, say, like, a bar that somebody else, like, you just, like, take something from some, someone else, but you say it in a different way. Um, so it's, like, you're stealing the lyric, but not the way, yeah, it's not the way you're saying it. Um, which is different than sampling, which is, like, taking something that someone said or someone made and using it, incorporating it into your own music. Either, like, the whole, like, beat is a, like, a loop of the same thing, or it's, like, a part of the song, or they, like, wrote it down, or they, yeah, you just feel like you can do anything with it. A lot of things about that. All right. Um, uh, what specifically is, like, the difference between, like, hip-hop and rap? Um, well, hip-hop is, like, a whole, like, cultural movement, where rap is more, like, the vocal delivery given in, um, hip-hop slash rap songs. But, um, yeah, I'm not, I mean, hip-hop is, it sounds weird, like, when you, like, break it down. Yeah. But, like, when you, like, think about, like, hip-hop, you think, like, a hip-hip-hop to the hip, the hip-hop to the hip-hip-hop to the hip-hip-to-hop, or I don't remember that song. But, like, that was, like, I don't know, like, people would, like, talk like that back in the, like, 80s. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. All right, well, I think that's all the time we have for our episode. Um, we'll be back next week to talk about, um, more rap news. More of our favorite rappers, artists. Oh, wait, let me start it over. Um, that's all the time we have for now. Uh, check in next week, and we're going to be talking about newer updates in the rap community. All right, this is Hannah Solis. And Aiden Andrews. All right, and we'll see you next week.