Tuesday, October 9, 2012

A Brief Glance At Early Mainstream Rap Records

By Rashad Brown


'Rappers Delight" was the very first rap song to be a key success. It was by a group called the Sugar Hill Gang. Their label was referred to as Sugar Hill Label and was owned by Joey and Sylvia Robinson. Rappers Delight was considered to be a nonsense rap. 'White Lines" was against drugs, and 'The Message" was a rap concerning the life in black ghettos. These songs had been tailored for the white audience. The president of Def Jam Records, Russell Simmons, states that inside the areas where rap music was invented, these songs had been not almost as well-known.

As soon as, although the well-known DJ Junebug played 'The Message" in a nightclub, another DJ by the name of Ronnie DJ threatened Junebug by putting a gun against his head. He instructed Junebug to quit playing the song or he would kill him. Junebug destroyed the record although the whole club was seeking.

This attitude might have been accurate for specific rappers but I've my doubts if this attitude was a true reflection of how a majority of African-Americans felt who liked rap music. I base my assumption on the reality that when I utilised to frequent clubs, two of one of the most requested records were "Rapper's Delight" and "The Message". (These clubs were predominately attended by blacks.)

The first African American rap group to win a following with the white audience was known as Run-D.M.C. Their albums 'Run-D.M.C.' and 'King of Rock' broke through to this audience. These two albums were the leaders and initiators for rap music to enter music the mainstream music industry.

The members of the group, Run and D.M.C did not come from rough neighbourhoods, they were middle-class. They did not have experience becoming in gangs and they in no way struggled to survive. But their dress sense and their music did not indicate this. They had been signed to Def Jam Label which was founded by a Jewish rocker by the name of Rick Rubin.

Russell Simmons, Run's brother, was to later take manage of the Def Jam label in 1989, nonetheless this can not take away from the truth that this so-called militant rap group was at 1 time being produced by a white person.

What is even far more startling is that among the most militant rap groups, Public Enemy, was also produced by Rick Rubin. Just as Run-D.M.C. came from middle-class households so did Public Enemy. Members of Public Enemy grew up in suburban Lengthy Island towns with successful middle-class professional parents.

1 can not deny that whites had been starting to have an impact on the rap music that had originally begun within the black neighborhood. But this would be to be expected any time an art form starts to gain recognition with mainstream white America.

Similarly, it's not impossible that something that was at 1st common with white Americans, then grows a following amongst the black or minority communities. It's a reality that wants to be acknowledged and accepted.




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