A thought and question about rap

[Oklin]

I have been thinking about this for a lil while now and wanted to write it.
Please correct me if some of the following is not true

We all know that hiphop started with the DJ, and the MC was just standing there to hype up the crowd right?

But when did the rap begin to be more intellectuel and when did it become important to do double rhymes, punchlines etc., cuz we are focusing more on such things in hiphop music than other music genres right?

[jeromechickenbone]

There was originally no MC whatsoever.  DJ's rocked the party.  They were playing the records, announcing the cuts they were getting ready to play. DJ getting the crowd involved.  Things like "call & response" started happening - the DJ would shout out certain things to bring in the crowd more "When I say oooh, You say ahhhh, OOH / AHH OOH / AHH" etc.

That evolved into more interaction lead by the DJ, and he'd begin saying things like "Throw your hands in the air, wave em like you just don't care".  Just real simplistic commands, it rhymed, and they'd say it in cadence to the beat - again all getting the crowd hyped and involved in the whole production. 

From there there were 2 more major evolutions - some DJ's coming up with even more rhyming phrases, constantly hyping the crowd; and other DJ's that really studied hard to perfect their scratch game.  They'd do all kinds of shit like scratchin behind their back, using their feet, using their chin, spinning around - all kinds of crazy showmanship and yet still rockin the party and keeping everything on time.  Thing is, if you're really devoting all of your energy into crazy scratch techniques, it becomes very difficult to rock a party with the mic.  Hence the DJ might bring one of his homies to rock the crowd. 

So by this point, you've got the DJ bustin crazy techniques - wowing the crowd with how quick he can mix, all the innovative ways he can scratch while at the same time, his homie is up there next to him doing the call and response, bustin off some little rhymes here & there.  Before you know it, the MC has amassed numerous rhymes, might throw in some jokes, and might come off the dome a little bit - shout out one of his friends, or somebody breakdancing all while still keeping a flow to the rhythm.  And basically that's the birth of the MC.

That's what Hip Hop is fundamentally - a DJ & an MC.

As far your question on when did the MC evolve into double rhymes, punchlines, and more complex rapping?  It's difficult to pinpoint one MC, but Rakim was basically THE REVOLUTIONARY when it came to cats spittin rhymes.  KRS One is a close 2nd.  Kool Keith being an honorable mention.  They each brought something as an MC that had really never been done before.  Rakim brought the crazy rhyme schemes, KRS brought the initial gangsta elements, and Kool Keith brought the craaaaaaaazy multi-sylabic rhymes.  Those 3 are the true fore-fathers to revolutionize the MC in my opinion.

[floatin_above_everything]

I have been thinking about this for a lil while now and wanted to write it.
Please correct me if some of the following is not true

We all know that hiphop started with the DJ, and the MC was just standing there to hype up the crowd right?

But when did the rap begin to be more intellectuel and when did it become important to do double rhymes, punchlines etc., cuz we are focusing more on such things in hiphop music than other music genres right?

I think that in the mid 90's the double rhyme schemes came into play ( Busta Rhymes, E-40 come to mind ), and the while punchlines have always been there imo, The East Coast mixtape game of the late 90's, early 00's set the standard as far as punchlines go.

[Oklin]

There was originally no MC whatsoever.  DJ's rocked the party.  They were playing the records, announcing the cuts they were getting ready to play. DJ getting the crowd involved.  Things like "call & response" started happening - the DJ would shout out certain things to bring in the crowd more "When I say oooh, You say ahhhh, OOH / AHH OOH / AHH" etc.

That evolved into more interaction lead by the DJ, and he'd begin saying things like "Throw your hands in the air, wave em like you just don't care".  Just real simplistic commands, it rhymed, and they'd say it in cadence to the beat - again all getting the crowd hyped and involved in the whole production. 

From there there were 2 more major evolutions - some DJ's coming up with even more rhyming phrases, constantly hyping the crowd; and other DJ's that really studied hard to perfect their scratch game.  They'd do all kinds of shit like scratchin behind their back, using their feet, using their chin, spinning around - all kinds of crazy showmanship and yet still rockin the party and keeping everything on time.  Thing is, if you're really devoting all of your energy into crazy scratch techniques, it becomes very difficult to rock a party with the mic.  Hence the DJ might bring one of his homies to rock the crowd. 

So by this point, you've got the DJ bustin crazy techniques - wowing the crowd with how quick he can mix, all the innovative ways he can scratch while at the same time, his homie is up there next to him doing the call and response, bustin off some little rhymes here & there.  Before you know it, the MC has amassed numerous rhymes, might throw in some jokes, and might come off the dome a little bit - shout out one of his friends, or somebody breakdancing all while still keeping a flow to the rhythm.  And basically that's the birth of the MC.

That's what Hip Hop is fundamentally - a DJ & an MC.

As far your question on when did the MC evolve into double rhymes, punchlines, and more complex rapping?  It's difficult to pinpoint one MC, but Rakim was basically THE REVOLUTIONARY when it came to cats spittin rhymes.  KRS One is a close 2nd.  Kool Keith being an honorable mention.  They each brought something as an MC that had really never been done before.  Rakim brought the crazy rhyme schemes, KRS brought the initial gangsta elements, and Kool Keith brought the craaaaaaaazy multi-sylabic rhymes.  Those 3 are the true fore-fathers to revolutionize the MC in my opinion.

Ahh thanks Jrome!

I knew i could count on you

I was just thinking that everyone nowadays say that hiphop music sucks if the mc isnt spitting fire.. but at the beginning all he had to do was shouting "yeah! when i say this, you say that"

Again thanks for the answer

[eazye]

Props to Jrome for the knowledgeable post.Very interesting read