The most popular and influential form of African-American pop music of the 1980's and 1990's, rap is also one of the most controversial styles of the rock era. And not just among the guardians of cultural taste and purity that have always been counted among rock 'n' roll's chief enemies--Black, White, rock and soul audiences continue to fiercely debate the musical and social merits of rap, whose most radical innovations subverted many of the musical and cultural tenets upon which rock was built.

Most people refer to rap as “ a noise that black people make”. Well it is not. Rap is defined as signifying, testifying, and shining of the titanic. Rap started in the south bronx section of New York.(Davey D. 7) Most of the rap that is heard today draws its rots from the jamacian art form known as toasting.(Davey D. 4)

Another definitoin of rap which is most known, is saying rhymes to the beat of music. The main musical insturnments used in a rap song are, keyboards, turntables, drums, and musical bass.(busboy.com) The original rap started back in the 1940’s with Cal Calloway. He is known for his signature “Hi-de-hi-de-hi-de-ho” which was a chant from the “ Minnie Moocher” In the 1940's, Calloway used a call and response format with his audience, which is one of the foundations of rap. (busboy.com)

In the early 1800’s, a new form of a music player came out, it was called the sampler. A sampler is an electronic device which can precisely replicate an existing sound or track of music. Today, we call this kind of device a drum machiene. Rappers use this machine to duplicate music tracks so that they don’t have to have someone doing it for them all the time. This tool became verry useful in the music industry, today, almost all of the bands that you see in concert are using a drum machine, or a sampler.(busboy.com)

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