{"id":4908,"date":"2023-07-04T15:15:36","date_gmt":"2023-07-04T20:15:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/read.streamapse.com\/?p=4908"},"modified":"2024-12-31T19:21:28","modified_gmt":"2025-01-01T00:21:28","slug":"rappers-delight-global-impact-has-been-massive-so-too-efforts-to-keep-it-real","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/streamapse.com\/Magazine\/?p=4908","title":{"rendered":"Rapper\u2019s Delight Global Impact Has Been Massive; So Too Efforts To Keep It Real"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"legacy\">After \u2018Rapper\u2019s Delight,\u2019 <span class=\"nobr\">hip-hop<\/span> went global \u2013 its impact has been massive; so too efforts to keep it real.<\/p>\n<p>Soon after the fall 1979 release of \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=mcCK99wHrk0\">Rapper\u2019s Delight<\/a>,\u201d versions of the first commercially successful rap recording began cropping up around the world.<\/p>\n<p>Two Portuguese-language versions, \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=byP2Ex4swlg\">Bons Tempos<\/a>\u201d and \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=1e5dg4gvEjQ\">Mel\u00f4 Do Tagarela<\/a>,\u201d were put out in Brazil. One version from Jamaica provided a relatively faithful <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/wMp6bSEgk4c\">recreation of the Sugarhill Gang original<\/a>, while \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/V4GMOL-t7YM\">Hotter Reggae Music<\/a>\u201d slowed down the track, transforming it into reggae. Other local language versions came from the Netherlands with \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=RjdqUQnfB7k\">Hallo, Hallo, Hallo<\/a>,\u201d Venezuela with \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=U9YyqFF_m0Q\">La Cotorra Criolla<\/a>\u201d and Germany with \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=6pQ5Xqv6bQk\">Rapper\u2019s Deutsch<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Within a few years, one could hear the song\u2019s DNA being altered in disparate parts of the world, as in Japanese artists Yellow Magic Orchestra\u2019s 1981 \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=MHZ1GWEoiP0\">Rap Phenomena<\/a>,\u201d Nigerian Dizzy K. Falola\u2019s 1982 \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=HrMwSSt1Hd8\">Saturday Night Raps<\/a>\u201d and the French duo Chagrin d\u2019amour\u2019s 1982 \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=ZLiyZdkkEJU\">Chacun fait (c\u2019qui lui plait)<\/a>.\u201d Even Soviet Russia got into the act with Chas Pik\u2019s \u201cRap\u201d in 1984.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><iframe id=\"embedPlayer\" style=\"width: 100%; max-width: 660px; overflow: hidden; border-radius: 10px; transform: translateZ(0px); animation: 2s ease 0s 6 normal none running loading-indicator; background-color: #e4e4e4;\" src=\"https:\/\/embed.music.apple.com\/us\/album\/rappers-delight-the-best-of-the-sugarhill-gang\/65616560?app=music&amp;itsct=music_box_player&amp;itscg=30200&amp;at=1010lLq2&amp;ls=1&amp;theme=auto\" height=\"450px\" frameborder=\"0\" sandbox=\"allow-forms allow-popups allow-same-origin allow-scripts allow-top-navigation-by-user-activation\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h2>\u2026 and on and on<\/h2>\n<p>The rapid spread of \u201cRapper\u2019s Delight\u201d is an important milestone in <a href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/us\/topics\/hip-hop-50-135779\">hip-hop\u2019s first 50 years<\/a>. It marked the beginning of the globalization of rap music and the broader hip-hop culture in which it is embedded, which includes deejaying, break-dancing and graffiti-tagging.<\/p>\n<p>More milestones in hip-hop\u2019s global spread soon followed. In 1984 in France, \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/9nctOWroU1g\">H.I.P.H.O.P.\u201d hosted by DJ Sidney<\/a> became the first nationally televised weekly show devoted to rap, preceding \u201cYo! MTV Raps\u201d in the U.S. by some four years. In the early 1990s, a vibrant French rap scene produced the first internationally touring, platinum-selling rap star outside the U.S.: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.latimes.com\/archives\/la-xpm-1994-06-08-ca-1865-story.html\">MC Solaar<\/a>. France became \u2013 and remains \u2013 the second-biggest market for rap in the world.<\/p>\n<p>Indeed, by 2000 the term \u201cglobal hip-hop\u201d had entered <a href=\"https:\/\/www.discogs.com\/release\/405511-Various-Speaking-In-Tongues-Diverse-Dialects-From-The-Global-Hip-Hop-Nation\">commercial<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/books.google.com\/books?id=Gg8UiSodjz8C&amp;lpg=PA5&amp;vq=global&amp;pg=PA5#v=onepage&amp;q=%22global%20hip%20hop%22&amp;f=false\">and scholarly<\/a> discourse. Soon, new styles partially informed by hip-hop emerged, like grime in London, <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/yEH6IU7pDOg?t=596\">which cultivated its own unique identity<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2>The catch<\/h2>\n<p>But the global expansion of hip-hop rides on a paradox. The Black American urban culture that birthed rap and hip-hop makes up its very fabric. But so does the core idea of representing one\u2019s own experience and place. When hip-hop and rap travel abroad, does one or the other have to give?<\/p>\n<p>To an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wesleyan.edu\/academics\/faculty\/echarry\/profile.html\">ethnomusicologist<\/a> like myself, this paradox goes right to the heart of identity and authenticity. How do people use, shape and transform cultural elements from elsewhere to make it speak to their own experience? And in the process, how do markers of authenticity become redefined?<\/p>\n<h2>Multitracking global hip-hop<\/h2>\n<p>With hip-hop, I believe it is helpful to imagine a wide spectrum of possible markers of authenticity \u2013 that is, what it means to stay \u201ctrue\u201d to the art form.<\/p>\n<p>At one end lies the integration of Black American performance styles and fashion. Some efforts may border <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=1yKD_-e8neo\">appropriation<\/a> or <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=yVR9JykPC-0\">mimicry<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"border-radius: 12px;\" src=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/embed\/playlist\/4KfQJTnuUojupdOZ3yeH0O?utm_source=generator\" width=\"100%\" height=\"380\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>At the other end lies hip-hop\u2019s potential to inspire global rappers to dig deep into the well of local performance traditions. This could mean sampling music from their own countries or exploring the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.jstor.org\/stable\/20174422\">quirks and intricacies of their own languages<\/a> and dialects.<\/p>\n<p>Pioneering hip-hop scholar <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hosumare.com\/about\">Halifu Osumare<\/a> explored authenticity in her concept of \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/doi\/10.1111\/j.1537-4726.2001.2401_171.x\">connective marginalities<\/a>,\u201d which established the blueprint for theorizing about global hip-hop. This key concept concerns \u201csocial resonances between Black expressive culture\u201d on the one hand and similar dynamics in other nations and cultures on the other hand.<\/p>\n<p>These connections or resonances can be tied to a shared culture among different parts of the African diaspora or through social class, historical oppression or the marginalization of youth.<\/p>\n<p>Expanding this framework a bit, almost anyone feeling marginalized can draw on a hip-hop ethos. This could include Ukraine\u2019s Alyonna Alyonna, <a href=\"https:\/\/uatv.ua\/en\/rapper-singer-fight-cyber-bullying-music\">who was bullied for the way she looked<\/a>, and even <a href=\"https:\/\/global.oup.com\/academic\/product\/lions-of-the-north-9780190212605?cc=us&amp;lang=en&amp;\">Nordic white supremacists<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Hip-hop scholar and political activist <a href=\"https:\/\/aalbc.com\/authors\/author.php?author_name=Yvonne+Bynoe\">Yvonne Bynoe<\/a> presented an alternative view on the genre\u2019s worldwide spread. Writing in 2002, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.jstor.org\/stable\/43133478\">she noted<\/a>: \u201cWhile rap music has been globalized, hip-hop culture has not been and cannot be.\u201d To Bynoe, it is irrational to expect that a cultural expression that is centered around Black American experiences and vernacular can speak for all.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhile \u2018rap\u2019 as a creative tool is portable and adaptable, it belittles hip-hop culture to continue to insist that as a cultural entity it can be disassociated from its roots,\u201d she wrote.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><iframe id=\"embedPlayer\" style=\"width: 100%; max-width: 660px; overflow: hidden; border-radius: 10px; transform: translateZ(0px); animation: 2s ease 0s 6 normal none running loading-indicator; background-color: #e4e4e4;\" src=\"https:\/\/embed.music.apple.com\/us\/album\/rappers-delight-the-best-of-the-sugarhill-gang\/65616560?app=music&amp;itsct=music_box_player&amp;itscg=30200&amp;at=1010lLq2&amp;ls=1&amp;theme=auto\" height=\"450px\" frameborder=\"0\" sandbox=\"allow-forms allow-popups allow-same-origin allow-scripts allow-top-navigation-by-user-activation\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h2>Manufacturing authenticity<\/h2>\n<p>A 2007 documentary about hip-hop in Kenya, with the on-point title \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.hiphopcolony.com\/\">Hip Hop Colony<\/a>,\u201d addresses the issue from a different standpoint: \u201cToday, Kenya tackles a new breed of colonization,\u201d the narrator notes, \u201cIts chameleon-like quality has allowed it to integrate with cultures around the world. \u2026 It is hip-hop [and] in the vein of colonialism it\u2019s dictating the choice of attire, language and lifestyle in general. Unlike the colonists, its presence is welcomed and widely embraced by the majority.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In a clever twist, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.michaelwanguhu.com\/\">filmmaker, Michael Wanguhu,<\/a> sets up an initial neo-colonial framework and then dismantles it by showing how Kenyans have made hip-hop their own.<\/p>\n<p>Moreover, hip-hop has been seen as a catalyst for cultural self-reflection and revival wherever it lands.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe first time we heard Grandmaster Flash rapping on a hip-hop track,\u201d Senegalese rapper Faada Freddy of the group Daara J <a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/2005\/05\/20\/4660446\/daara-j-senegalese-hip-hop\">said in 2006<\/a>, \u201ceverybody was like, \u2018OK we know this, because this is taasu,\u2019\u201d referring to a <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/c_yImWVc5QE\">Senegalese verbal art form accompanied by drumming<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019ve been rhyming like that for a long time,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<p>Australian aboriginal rapper Wire MC similarly sees a connection between traditional Indigenous gatherings known as \u201ccorroboree\u201d \u2013 which involve singing, dancing and telling stories \u2013 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.jstor.org\/stable\/24046901\">and hip-hop, which he says<\/a> \u201cis just a modern corroboree.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHip-hop is a part of aboriginal culture; I think it always has been,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<p>Native American rapper Frank Waln, of the Sicangu Lakota tribe, also <a href=\"https:\/\/vimeo.com\/355341843\">notes a resonance between hip-hop and Indigenous culture<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI definitely think there\u2019s a connection between traditional storytelling and hip-hop,\u201d he said. \u201cMy people have been storytellers for thousands of years, and this is just a new way to tell our stories.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>Digging into the well<\/h2>\n<p>Almost anywhere rap and hip-hop have traveled, people have pointed to its resonance with homegrown traditions. Some have employed those traditions to transform hip-hop into something with deep local roots. In this way, Japanese rapper Hime has <a href=\"https:\/\/read.dukeupress.edu\/books\/book\/1072\/Hip-Hop-JapanRap-and-the-Paths-of-Cultural\">used the ancient poetic form tanka<\/a> for the chorus of her song \u201cTateba Shakuyaku.\u201d In the song, she raps about the Japanese concept of \u201ckotodama,\u201d or \u201cthe spirit of the language\u201d embedded in the 5-7-5-7-7 syllable count in that chorus.<\/p>\n<p>Similarly, Ghanaian rapper Obrafour has <a href=\"https:\/\/iupress.org\/9780253005755\/hip-hop-africa\/\">drawn on esoteric proverbs in his native Twi language<\/a>, and Somali Canadian rapper K\u2019Naan has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.researchgate.net\/publication\/337005283_Hip_Hop_as_dusty_foot_philosophy_Engaging_locality\">drawn on and paid tribute to Somali oral poetry<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Historical connections between modern-day French rappers and French song <a href=\"https:\/\/journals.openedition.org\/volume\/1946\">have also been fruitfully explored<\/a>. This should be no surprise, given the dual identities of the children of African immigrants in France, like rapper <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2012\/08\/25\/world\/europe\/rapper-abd-al-malik-pushes-for-new-french-identity.html\">Abd al Malik<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The indelible link between hip-hop and Black American culture remains a constant theme in how to understand its transformations around the world. Take one of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.szdaily.com\/content\/2018-08\/22\/content_21066727.htm\">China\u2019s most well-known rappers, Vava<\/a>.<\/p>\n<figure><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/aknkofx2bHg?wmode=transparent&amp;start=0\" width=\"440\" height=\"260\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><figcaption><span class=\"caption\">VAVA &#8211; My New Swag.<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>In a 2018 interview in Esquire Singapore, she said that hip-hop \u201chelps us to express our innermost emotions and thoughts about how we understand the world we\u2019re living in.\u201d When asked, \u201cAmerican hip-hop has grown out of the African American struggle. So where does Chinese hip-hop come from?\u201d she replied, \u201cChinese hip-hop comes from rebellion in young people\u2019s lives. \u2026 The generation before us were rockers, but today, we use rap to express ourselves.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><iframe id=\"embedPlayer\" style=\"width: 100%; max-width: 660px; overflow: hidden; border-radius: 10px; transform: translateZ(0px); animation: 2s ease 0s 6 normal none running loading-indicator; background-color: #e4e4e4;\" src=\"https:\/\/embed.music.apple.com\/us\/album\/rappers-delight-the-best-of-the-sugarhill-gang\/65616560?app=music&amp;itsct=music_box_player&amp;itscg=30200&amp;at=1010lLq2&amp;ls=1&amp;theme=auto\" height=\"450px\" frameborder=\"0\" sandbox=\"allow-forms allow-popups allow-same-origin allow-scripts allow-top-navigation-by-user-activation\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h2>Rap as universal art form<\/h2>\n<p>The \u201cglobal spread of authenticity,\u201d as linguist <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tandfonline.com\/doi\/full\/10.1080\/15348450701341246\">Alastair Pennycook called it in 2007<\/a>, has been a concern in the genre ever since \u201cRapper\u2019s Delight\u201d sparked its travel across the world.<\/p>\n<p>In 1982, pioneering deejay <a href=\"https:\/\/books.google.com\/books?id=WzNEAQAAIAAJ&amp;focus=searchwithinvolume&amp;q=%22rap+in+your+own+language%22\">Afrika Bambaataa advised French rappers<\/a> to \u201cRap in your own language and speak from your own social awareness.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Jay-Z addressed the issue in the conclusion of his <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2010\/11\/23\/books\/23book.html\">2010 memoir, \u201cDecoded<\/a>.\u201d Implicitly noting the distinction between the culture hip-hop and the art form rap, he wrote:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cRap \u2026 is at heart an art form that gave voice to a specific experience, but, like every art, is ultimately about the most common human experiences. \u2026 The story of the larger culture is a story of a million MCs all over the world \u2026 and inside of them the words are coming, too, the words they need to make sense of the world they see around them. \u2026 And when we decode that torrent of words \u2014 by which I mean really listen to them with our minds and hearts open \u2014 we can understand their world better. And ours, too. It\u2019s the same world.\u201d<!-- Below is The Conversation's page counter tag. Please DO NOT REMOVE. --><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" style=\"border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;\" src=\"https:\/\/counter.theconversation.com\/content\/206373\/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic\" alt=\"The Conversation\" width=\"1\" height=\"1\" \/><!-- End of code. If you don't see any code above, please get new code from the Advanced tab after you click the republish button. The page counter does not collect any personal data. More info: https:\/\/theconversation.com\/republishing-guidelines --><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/profiles\/eric-charry-1442149\">Eric Charry<\/a>, <em><a href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/institutions\/wesleyan-university-1361\">Wesleyan University<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/profiles\/eric-charry-1442149\">Eric Charry<\/a>, Professor of Music, <em><a href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/institutions\/wesleyan-university-1361\">Wesleyan University<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<p>This article is republished from <a href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\">The Conversation<\/a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/after-rappers-delight-hip-hop-went-global-its-impact-has-been-massive-so-too-efforts-to-keep-it-real-206373\">original article<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>After \u2018Rapper\u2019s Delight,\u2019 hip-hop went global \u2013 its impact has been massive; so too efforts to keep it real. Soon after the fall 1979 release of \u201cRapper\u2019s Delight,\u201d versions of the first commercially successful rap recording began cropping up around the world. Two Portuguese-language versions, \u201cBons Tempos\u201d and \u201cMel\u00f4 Do Tagarela,\u201d were put out in [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4909,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4908","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-streamapse-reports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/streamapse.com\/Magazine\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4908","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/streamapse.com\/Magazine\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/streamapse.com\/Magazine\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/streamapse.com\/Magazine\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/streamapse.com\/Magazine\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4908"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/streamapse.com\/Magazine\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4908\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5815,"href":"http:\/\/streamapse.com\/Magazine\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4908\/revisions\/5815"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/streamapse.com\/Magazine\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4909"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/streamapse.com\/Magazine\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4908"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/streamapse.com\/Magazine\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4908"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/streamapse.com\/Magazine\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4908"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}