ABSTRACT
Rap is dj and MC music. Like talk over and toasted reggae it relies on pre-recorded sounds. In the case of rap the basic beat comes from hard funk rather than Jamaican rhythms, and it is true that there are important differences between rap and reggae. But the process leading to the production of dj reggae and rap is basically the same. The MCs “rap” — speak and in some cases half sing-their lines in time to rhythms taken from records. And the content of these raps is similar, too. There are boast raps, insult raps, news raps, “message” raps, nonsense raps, party raps and motherly or fatherly, sisterly or brotherly advice raps, just as there are in dj reggae. There are also other similarities. Just as reggae is bound up with the idea of roots and culture, so rap is rooted in the experience of lower class blacks in America’s big northern cities.
