Rap
Rhythmic speech-song, a central element of hip-hop.
What it means
Rap is a rhythmic speech-song and a central element of hip-hop. The text is spoken in time with a beat, often in rhymed lines. Important features are rhyme, the rhythm of the speech (flow), wordplay and content: stories, observations, boasting, criticism. The speaker is called a rapper or MC.
Musical use
Rap arose in the 1970s in the Bronx in New York in African American and Latino youth culture. DJs such as Kool Herc played extracts of funk and soul records over which MCs spoke. The four elements of hip-hop include, besides rap, DJing, breakdancing and graffiti. Rapper's Delight (1979) by the Sugarhill Gang is regarded as one of the first successful rap records. Today rap is a worldwide musical style in many languages.
Rap should be distinguished from speech-song in classical music, in which the pitch is controlled, and from spoken word, which is delivered without a fixed beat.
Performance practice
When you rap, work on the rhythm first: put the stressed syllables on the beats and play with accents between the beats. Breathe at sensible places and pay attention to clear diction so that the text stays intelligible.