Rap for the Masses: Poetry and Trash

IN the 1970s, a cultural movement sprang up out of dance music. Disc jockeys at clubs and block-party dances began to talk over the beat, using wit and rhyme to please the crowd. All but a very few of these DJs and masters-of-ceremonies (MCs) were African-American, as was true of their early audiences. They often described the problems of inner-city America, providing an alternative to saccharine soul and vacuous disco.These new musicians tried to describe reality. Sometimes it was poetry, and sometimes it was garbage. Now, if you walk into any music store, or pry the headphones off a teenager - whatever his or her race - you're likely to hear rap or hip-hop music. This week the Monitor talks with three rappers, different in style, sex, and race, about their music. * Today: Queen Latifah. * Tomorrow: Ice-T takes music to its abrasive limits as the godfather of hardcore rap. * Friday: The multiracial group 3rd Bass aims for rap that agitates for change but still makes people want to dance.

You've read 3 of 3 free articles. Subscribe to continue.
QR Code to Rap for the Masses: Poetry and Trash
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/1991/1104/04102.html
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe
CSM logo

Why is Christian Science in our name?

Our name is about honesty. The Monitor is owned by The Christian Science Church, and we’ve always been transparent about that.

The Church publishes the Monitor because it sees good journalism as vital to progress in the world. Since 1908, we’ve aimed “to injure no man, but to bless all mankind,” as our founder, Mary Baker Eddy, put it.

Here, you’ll find award-winning journalism not driven by commercial influences – a news organization that takes seriously its mission to uplift the world by seeking solutions and finding reasons for credible hope.

Explore values journalism About us