37 Amazing Facts About Rap Music: You Probably Didn't Know About!

Rap music is also known as hip-hop music.

It is a style of music where rhythmic and/or rhyming speech is recited along with music accompanied with it. The music which is accompanied by the recitation often includes digital sampling which is a method of extracting music from music recordings.

The word hip-hop is used to accredit a broader cultural movement including rap, graffiti painting, deejaying, and breakdance. In August 1973, a young Jamaican-born New Yorker known as DJ Kool Herc threw a party in the South Bronx.

With a pair of turntables, he improvised a technique that isolated and repeated musical breaks. That technique would lay the foundation for a genre known as hip hop.

Some of the most well-known hip-hop artists of the modern generation are Snoop Dogg, Big Daddy Kane, Benjamin Andre, Kenny Rogers, Dr. Dre, Rick Ross, Nate Dogg, Joey Badass, and Jay Z.

Hip-hop music or rap music is a genre of popular (pop) music that originally began among the African Americans in New York, the United States in the '70s. Puerto Ricans and Jamaicans were the ones who played a key role in the development and growth of the hip-hop culture in the Bronx borough of New York City.

Read on to know more about hip-hop facts related to the evolution of your favorite rap group. After reading these facts about rap music also check Mexican music facts and metal music facts.

Who is the world's greatest rapper?

Here are some of the best and most famous rappers of hip hop:

• Tory Lanez: Tory Lanez is a Canadian rapper, singer, and record producer who got famous after his debut mixtape 'Conflicts of My Soul'. His hit singles 'Say It' and 'Luv', from the album 'I Told You', made it to the Billboard 100. He released a studio album called 'Love Me Now?'. Lanez has amassed a huge fan following.
• Joyner Lucas: Joyner Lucas is from Massachusetts and is a rapper, singer, lyricist, actor, and producer. His music video for 'I’m Not Racist' was a phenomenal hit on YouTube. It was even nominated for a 2019 Grammy Award. 'Devil’s Work' and '10 Bands' are his freshest singles.
• Logic: Logic has a high list of hit tracks and albums, which included the number-one album 'Confessions of a Dangerous Mind'. The hit track 'Homicide' featuring Eminem is also a part of the album. Logic has also released a novel titled 'Supermarket', which became a New York Times Best Seller. He even brought out a soundtrack by the same name.
• Pusha T: Pusha surfaced in the rap world as a part of the duo Clise along with his brother. He even showed up with Kanye and Linkin Park. He is an international sensation, well regarded for intelligent lyrics. His album 'Daytona' was also nominated for a Grammy Award and was a great success.
• Drake: After an acting stint in the TV show 'Degrassi', Aubrey Drake Graham took a detour to the music industry for good. 'Thank Me Later', which is his debut solo album blew up the chart at the top position. His very next release 'Take Care' was awarded Best Rap Album at the Grammy Awards. He is now known as one of the world’s top-selling music artists.

Which rapper was the first to win a Grammy?

Will Smith from Philadelphia was the very first rapper to ever win a Grammy. In his early teens, he began rapping and met Jeff Townes.

• The two became fast friends and formed the duo DJ Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince.
• The pair steered clear of the controversial subject matter of rappers like NWA and Public Enemy.
• Will Smith showed that rap could be fun and friendly. So he kind of offended a lot of the stereotypes people can have about rap, he also showed that it could be award-winning.
• At the 31st Grammy Awards on February 22, history was created when the first award for Best Rap Performance was received by DJ Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince for their hit singles 'Parents Just Don’t Understand'.

Who invented Rap music?

The official date as to when rap music was started has always been in debate. Rap began as a musical genre in New York when DJs used to extract percussive elements from disco, funk, and soul as a way to create a recurring beat.

• To give a kick-off to this genre of music, DJ Kool Herc is very well-known and credited. Back-to-back school parties were thrown by him in the 1970s where he created loops by recording two turntables, playing the same beat over again, and extending the instrumental part of a song.
• After that, the Bronx sensation which is also known as hip-hop was unstoppable. In the '70s, all the DJs flourished that also included other Bronx-based legends like Grandmaster Flash and Afrika Bambaataa.
• The first rapper-singer who was signed to Mercury Records in 1979 was Kurtis Blow in 1979. Mainstream records which were released by Sugar Hill Gang and Fatback Band hit the Billboard Top 40 in the coming year.
• DJ Grand Wizard Theodore in the 1980s, accidentally created an innovative art of 'needle drop' and scratching which pushed rap not only to the next level but even the physical act of DJing.
• From the 2000s, new technology and streaming developed and advanced which allowed for more nuance in the genre.

When was rap music invented?

Hip-hop music emerged from house parties in the Bronx and spread like wildfire between friends and neighbors at block parties.

• The new sound was electrifying. Within a few years, it had become an underground cultural movement and its distribution was homemade.
• As its influence deepened and broadened, the music spread from the underground onto the radio.
• A group from suburban New Jersey released 'Rapper’s Delight' in 1979 which was one of the first hip-hop records. And The Sugarhill Gang’s hit was just the beginning.
• As hip-hop evolved, it became a passion shared by millions of young Americans who used it to articulate their identity and their politics, creating a vibrant multicultural community across the country.

First Rap Song Ever

Many people think or rather consider that the first mainstream rap song released was Sugarhill Gang’s song 'Rapper's Delight'. However, 'Rapper's Delight' was released in the winter of 1979 after the release of 'Kim Tim III' (Personality Jock) which was actually the first commercially released rap song.

• In the following year in 1980, 'Rapper's Delight' reached the top 40 in the billboard charts.
• Although technically we can not say that 'Rapper's Delight' was the first rap song to release commercially, we can say the first rap group was the Sugarhill Gang to have a rap song released commercially.

Did You Know...

• Before Kanye West made it big, he was so embarrassed that he only had a 36 in. (91.4 cm) television in his new jersey apartment that he rarely let people in.
• All of the skits on Kendrick Lamar’s 'Good Kid-m.A.A.d City' were inspired by real-life events. He later explained that all those were real scenarios, the fact that he took his mother’s car, was all real.
• 50 cent got his nickname from Kelvin 50 cent Martin, a criminal infamous for robbing rappers.
• Hit Boy who produced 'Edward in Paris', put that whole song together in 15 minutes using the fruity loops audio software he has used since he was 15 and does not like using anything else.
• Eminem recorded all the verses for 'Losing Yourself' in one take while taking a break on the set of '8 Mile'. He also wrote the song there when he was bored between takes.
• Ne-Yo wrote Beyonce’s 'Irreplaceable' and Rihanna’s 'Unfaithful' and 'Take a Bow'.
• Rapper singer Angel Hayes originally went to school to major in neurological science and minor in psychology.
• Jay Z and Snoop Dogg are amongst the most recognized rap artists globally.
• Throughout the history of hip-hop, various new styles of music and genres containing rap have emerged. Many genres such as rap rock and rapcore and rap metal which came from rap rock, or hip house were the result of the fusion of rap and other various styles of music.
• There has been an increase in the popularity of music more among UK rappers who are visiting America.
• Beltaine’s Fire, a Celtic hip-hop band from Oakland has recently received attention for their Celtic fusion sound. This sound is made with a combination of hip-hop beats with Celtic melodies. They perform live on stage without synths, samples, or drum machines unlike the majority of hip-hop artists, which signifies them demarking comparisons to Rage Against the Machine and The Roots.
• The majority of rappers around the world are typically male, however, there are still a number of rappers who are females such as Missy Elliott, MC Lyte, Nicky Minaj, Lauryn Hill, Cardi B, Khia, and many more.
• Interestingly, in the rap world, there is even a deaf rap artist known as Signmark.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly facts for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for 47 amazing facts about rap music: you probably didn't know about! then why not take a look at film music facts, or house music facts.