Rap Music: An American Delight

Its themes of bravado and self-creation couldn’t have come from anywhere else.

Hip-hop was born in New York in the 1970s. There's some disagreement over the first use of the term “hip-hop” or “rap” to describe the burgeoning music, but it’s widely agreed upon that it was started by African-American DJs in the Bronx in the late 1970s. DJ Kool Herc is often credited with first using two record players to create the beats and breaks we associate with hip- hop. Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five coined the term “hip-hop,” and The Sugarhill Gang released “Rapper’s Delight,” putting “rap” on the map.

Hip-hop is a distinctive American art form. There’s bravado, bragging, one-upmanship. And it’s beautiful. Who is the best? Who sold the most? Who is most respected? Who is not to be trifled with? It’s the musical equivalent of “U-S-A! U-S-A!” chants. It’s so American it could only have been founded here. Subscribers, click here to read the full magazine. Not a subscriber? Click here to become a Patriot member today and receive access to The American Spectator in print and online! So many rappers write odes to American cities that their names become linked with the place. Jay-Z, New York. Kanye West, Chicago. Ludacris, Atlanta. Eminem, Detroit. The Roots, Philadelphia. Dr. Dre, Los Angeles. And so on. They tell the tales of those cities — broken and unhappy or glistening and successful, sometimes all of those at once.

A common thread in hip-hop music is the biographical story told by each rapper. They’re not all the same story, though they do often follow a similar theme. The lyrics speak of triumph over adversity and very much living the American dream. So much of hip-hop is about starting at the bottom and climbing to the top. No one has a hip-hop career handed to them. There’s no way not to have to work. Recent rap phenomenon Cardi B got her start on the reality show Love & Hip Hop. On the show, her producer doesn’t take her seriously, and she frequently has to fight to be heard. There’s no way to skip the line to hip-hop success. ...