The Origins
Before asking ‘how did French rap evolve through the year?’, what is rap? The word itself means “a quick sharp hit or knock” or “a type of popular music with a fast strong rhythm and words which are spoken fast, not sung” (OXFORD, 2010). To understand the origins of rap we need to look back at America and Africa. Mize (2014) narrates it perfectly in his article on the history of rap. He explains that the use of the word was seen around Britain as early as the 15th century and made its way to (1) Griots and education in African villages
America in the 60s in the black community to describe someone speaking or talking. However, the roots of it come from Africa where storytellers played instruments while telling stories. Mize (ibid) writes “This style of talking while music is playing is rap music as we know it at its root form”. It was kept during slavery where the people would sing during labor: one leader would sing a part and the group would answer it (which is now called ‘emceeing’).
Extract from Unit 8 Research Report.
