Old-School Hip-Hop
tagStarted 1979Peak 1979-1985Last big hit 1986
Located in 1 route
The foundational style: breakbeat loops, disco and funk grooves, party-rocking call-and-response and straightforward end-rhyme cadences. Vocals are warm and conversational, beats are danceable and uncluttered, and the energy is communal, geared to keep a crowd moving rather than to showcase lyrical complexity.
History
Codified when Sugar Hill Records released 'Rapper's Delight' in 1979, the term retroactively names hip-hop's first vinyl era, rooted in Bronx park jams by Kool Herc, Flash and Bambaataa. Artists rhymed over disco breaks and early drum machines until Run-DMC's harder 1983-84 records signaled the new school and pushed the old style out of fashion.
Defining artists
Essential listening
Sources
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old-school_hip-hop
- https://www.allmusic.com/style/old-school-rap-ma0000004449
- https://www.britannica.com/art/hip-hop