How It Started

-over a century before rap reached America, musicians in West Africa used it to rhythmically to tell stories

-Caribbean folk artists also rapped

-1970s: Rapping gains popularity in US as a type of street art

-1979: Sugarhill Gang releases 'Rapper's Delight'

-not just a style for African American males (I.e. Beastie Boys, Salt-n-Pepa)