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The mysterious origins of old-school hip-hop: What surprising changes happened between 1979 and 1983?
Old school hip hop, or old skool hip hop, is not only the earliest commercially recorded hip hop music, but also the source of this musical style. From 1979 to 1983, this form of music was not only popular in street parties, but also gradually entered the mainstream media, changing the landscape of the music industry. The old-school hip-hop style of this period includes both simple and direct rapping techniques and discussions related to social issues.
The musical appearance of old-school hip-hop is undoubtedly defined by many pioneers, including Disco King Mario, DJ Hollywood, Grandmaster Flash, etc. Their musical characteristics and fashion styles are widely known.
In 1979, the Sugarhill Gang's "Rapper's Delight" became the first hip-hop song to receive widespread airplay, and its success marked the beginning of the commercialization of old-school hip-hop. The song's lighthearted melody and humorous lyrics quickly captured the hearts of music fans and led to a music trend. The themes of the songs at the time were mostly about partying and having fun, and the lyrics were usually not too focused on the content, but they always mentioned the New York city area where the artist was from.
With the release of The Message, old school hip-hop began to take on the form of social commentary, paving the way for many subsequent artists like Public Enemy and N.W.A to create music based on a sense of social responsibility.
The music technology during this period was relatively simple. Old-school rap beats are usually performed at a moderate tempo, especially in the work of Melle Mel, who uses relatively few syllables per note in each verse. This reflects the spirit of the times, as the Immortal Technique in the book How to Rap states: "Hip-hop was born in a time of social unrest... like slaves singing on sugarcane plantations... that was our time. Party song". In addition, old-school rap also includes the admiration for competitive rap, which makes an MC no longer just a role of simply pleasing the audience, but a storyteller and commentator.
The 1981 Kool Moe Dee challenge to Busy Bee Starski is considered a famous contest, the outcome of which showed the evolution of rapping technique.
As technology develops, the tools used to make music are also changing. In 1982, Afrika Bambaataa released "Planet Rock", which is regarded as a key work of electronic rap. The song took the use of electronic percussion instruments to new heights and led a new wave of music creation. The music style of this period was influenced by the popular disco and funk music of the time, and many songs sampled famous dance music. This style was not only popular in social occasions at the time, but was also deeply rooted in hip-hop culture.
In addition, the definition of Freestyle in old-school rap is also different from the current one. At that time, Freestyle rap referred to the improvisation of a theme, which was far from what is generally called improvisation today. This brings out the performer’s ability to improvise, earning them widespread recognition in competitions or on their channels.
Kool Moe Dee mentions in his book that old-school improvisation was about "freewheeling" expression, as opposed to current improvisation.
This period also saw many innovations, such as the evolution of scratching and mixing techniques. Scratch, first invented by Grand Wizard Theodore in 1975, was further developed by Grandmaster Flash to become the core of amazing performances - his "Adventures on the Wheels of Steel" was a work created using this technology.
In general, between 1979 and 1983, the musical style and socio-cultural significance of old school hip-hop continued to evolve, which was reflected not only in the musical content but also in the continuous breakthroughs in its formal innovation. It was the changes during this period that laid the foundation for subsequent music trends, and to this day, old-school hip-hop is still regarded as the root of contemporary hip-hop music.
This historical evolution has sparked a lot of thinking: As musical styles continue to evolve, can the spirit of old-school hip-hop continue to maintain a certain degree of connection with contemporary music?
