History Of Rock Music example essay topic

380 words
History Of Rap In the 50's it was Rock'n'roll, in the 70's it was folk music and disco. But in the 80's it was rap. Rap evolved from African people in general, and black people who were born in U.S.A. Rap began in inner city school yards and street corners in the 1970's. This music style was slowly growing in popularity amoung black teens in New York City, Washington D. C and Philadelphia. As early as 1974, neighbourhood block parties in New York featured early forms of rapping. But it wasn't until the commercial success of "Rappers Delight" by the Sugar Hill gang in 1979 that major record labels took notice of this new sound.

Rap's audience started to grow extremely and gain many fans with groups such as Public Enemy and Ice-T. In the 80's, many raps were the telling on the hardship in the ghetto life, warnings about drugs and about teenage love or lust. Those topics led some parents to fear that rap encouraged youths to turn to violence and illegal substance use. Now that there are artists such as Kid Rock and Eminem, African Americans are not the only people listening anymore. Also, the female audience has grown with artists such as Queen Latifah and Li'l Kim. History Of Rock Rock music originally started in the 1950's in the United States as a fusion of rhythm and Blues, Gospel, Jazz, Folk and country music. It shows that rock music has both "black" and "white" roots.

The "black" roots came from rhythm 'n' blues (R&B), gospel and jazz. The "white" roots came from country and folk music. It all started when R&B began to gain wider audience in the late 1940's. In 1951, DJ Alan Freed used the term Rock 'n' Roll.

Some of the early rock stars included Chuck Berry, Elvis Presley and Bill Haley. Rock music was helped along in the mid 1950's by radio. T. V was taking over as a source of entertainment, so radio stations played rock music to capture audiences. Rock music has come a long way since the 50's to today bands such as Pearl Jam and the Red Hot Chili Peppers.