all-city - being known for ones graffiti throughout a whole city; originally referred

to all five boroughs of NYC

backspin (backspinning) - DJ stops record w/his/her hand and reverses its
direction to replay that portion of the record; credited to Grandmaster Flash, originally
quick mix theory
beat - a regular pulse which lasts throughout a piece of music
beat-juggling - creating a new rhythmical composition by using two records and
manipulating the arrangements of the elements (drum sounds, etc.)
Black Panther Party - founded by Bobby Seale and Huey Newton; revolutionary
black nationalist and socialist org active in US from 66-82; fought for racial
independence, empowered the black community & provided protection w/weapons
Black Power Movement - movement among black Americans emphasizing racial
pride and social equality through the creation of their political and cultural institutions;
fight for racial independence & empowering the black community
Black Spades - gang based on reputation, respect and retaliation; originally the
savage 7 and had Afrika Bambaataa as a member
Savage 7 - gang b/w ages of 12 & 18, later the Black Spades
blues - secular, predominantly black American folk music of the 20th century, has
a history and evolution separate from, but sometimes related to, that of Jazz
boasting - African American verbal art genre in which a performer praises or
brags about personal attributes, material possessions and verbal/technical skills;
subcategory of storytelling and related to toasting
bomb - cover as many subway cars w/graffiti as possible
break (breakdown) - the most percussive or rhythmically complex section of a
song
breaking - dance style developed by African American, Caribbean and Latino
youth in NYC in the early 1970s
call and response - a performance practive in which a singer or instrumentalist
makes a musical statement which is answered by another soloist, instrumentalist or
group
clock theory - marking a record w/a piece of tape or crayon to mark the return
spot
cover - a new performance or recording of a previously recorded, commercially
released (or unreleased) song, by someone other than the original artist (Tutti Frutti by
Little Richard, redone by Pat Boone)
cross-fader - a transitional slide control on a DJ mixer for fading in one input
channel while fading out another
dis rap (answer rap, response rap, diss rap) - style of rap music w/roots in ritual
dueling; allowed unknown rappers to answer or lyrically challenge est. rappers; and
MC battle in the recording studio; Roxanne Shante responded to UTFOs song
Roxanne Roxanne
disco - a genre of music popular in the 1970s; name is derived from
discotheque the main venue for the consumption of the music
DJ - disc jockey; one of the four elements of hip hop; battled for best mixes;
party organizer; pioneers: Grandmaster Flash, Kool Herc, Afrika Bambaataa & Jocko
Henderson
drop - the transition b/w top rockin and floor rockin

 dub - instrumental-track version of a popular track, often placed on the flip side of
a single, consisting of bass & drum (early reggae)
fill - a short musical passage, riff or rhythmic sound which helps to sustain the
listeners attention during a break b/w the phrases of a melody (MC technique)
footwork (floor rockin) - the intricate leg movements performed on the ground by
a b-boy while supported by his arms
freestyle - ability to improvise
freeze - a still pose w/in a dance sequence
Funky Drummer - a genre of music that became popular in the 1970s; blends
soul, jazz and R&B, features strong rhythmic structures and de-emphasizes melody and
harmony
gospel - religious music of African Americans that emerged in urban centers
during the early decades of the 20th century
graffiti - markings, as initials, slogans, or drawings, written, spray-painted, or
sketched on and in a public space such as a sidewalk, wall of a building, public restroom
Great Migration - (1916-1930) blacks moving from the S to the N during WWI;
almost 3.5 million southern blacks migrated due to social and economic factors; first time
demand for black workers since emancipation
interpolation - using a melody (or portions) from a previously recorded song, but
re-recording the melody instead of sampling it
jazz - a musical tradition developed in early 20th century in African American
communitites; mixing African & European musical traditions, Jazz is characterized by
syncopation, melodic and harmonic elements derived from the blues, cyclical formal
structure and a rhythmic approach to phrasing known as swing
Jeli - an African storyteller-musician (griot); parties in outdoor spaces, parties as
inclusive event, storytelling w/music, skilled storytellers (extensive cultural knowledge)
Last Poets - formed on May 9th, 1969, politically charged poetry, who used
spoken word aka pronto hip hop song this is madness
lindy hop - energetic partner dance that uses diff styles, drawing from other
references; included a lot of lifting and is related to swing
loop - a repeating section of sound material
measure - a collection of beats arranged into regular patterns
merry-go-round - Kool Hercs DJ technique of putting breakbeats together using
2 turntables
meter - the arrangement of rhythms in a repetitive pattern of strong and weak
beats
multi-track - a way to record a complex musical piece by dividing it into simple
tracks and combining the tracks during playback
musique concrte - the compositional manipulation and arrangement of prerecorded sounds from everyday life
ostinato (hook, riff) - a musical phrase or pattern that repeats
punch-phrase - a DJ technique in which the DJ rhythmically inserts or punches
very short segments of sound over another record playing on the other turntable
(Grandmaster Flash)
race records - music industry term used throughout the 1940s to designate
recordings produced by and marketed to African Americans

 rhythm - the systematic arrangement of musical sounds and silences, principally

according to duration and periodic stress
sample - an excerpt from a musical recording that is used in another artists
recording
scratch (scratching) - rotating and applying pressure to a record back and forth
against the needle to create a rhythmic pattern (created by Grand Wizard Theodore)
soul - gospel-influenced African American popular music style that begun to
emerge in the late 1950s and became popular during the 1960s
syncopation - a device that creates sounds electronically through the use of
voltage-controlled amplifiers and filters
synthesizer - a device that creates sounds electronically through the use of
voltage-controlled amplifiers and filters
tag (tagging) - a graffiti signature; the written or painted nickname of the graffiti
writer
tempo - speed of a musical work, often identified by the number of beats per
minute (bpm)
texture - the way the melodic, rhythmic and harmonic materials are combined in
a composition
the dozens - an African American form of verbal dueling; a game of ritualized
insults (capping, cracking, ranking, signifying and snapping)
throw-up - a quickly drawn piece w/one or two colors and bubble lettering
Tin Pan Alley - street nickname in NYC where artists would make money for
music; started in the 50s, where all kinds of music gathered; known as rag time, centr
of songwriting
toasting - African American verbal art genre; praises about an anti-authority,
heroic figure; toasts can be an enactment recasting or exaggeration of an actual event
top rock (top rockin) - b-boying technique that is performed standing upright
Universal Zulu Nation - originally the Bronx River Org, leading member Afrika
Bambaataa; arose in 1970s as reformed NYC gang members began to organize cultural
events for youths, combining local dance and musical movements dont start trouble, let
trouble come to you, then fight like hell.
womanism - term coined by the author and activist Alice Walker to visibility to the
experience of African American women and other women of color who are part of a
feminist movement but face other obstacles as a result of race or ethnicity
writing - the term used by graffiti artists to describe the style of aerosol graffiti
produced
1.

2.

Fatback Band, King Tim III (Personality Jock) (1979)

King Tim III (Personality Jock) - created by the Fatback Band,
originally titled Catch the Beat, released a week b/f Rappers Delight as first
hip hop record
2,4,6,8 fatback dont you hesitate catch it, catch
the beat do it to me
James Brown, Funky Drummer (1970)
one of most sampled rhythmic breaks (Clyde Stubblefields drums)
in hip hop; extended vamp/ostinato; two part single in 1970
aint it funky

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

The Jimmy Castor Bunch, Its Just Begun (1972)

a lot of breakbeats; popular w/breakers; saxophone
watch me now, feel the groove, onto somethin
peace will come, this world will rest, once we have togethernesss its
just begun
Gil Scott-Heron, The Revolution Will Not Be Televised (1970, 1971)
influenced by The Last Poets; spoken word performance by Gil
Scott-Heron (American poet, musician, and author) that played a role in the black
power movement; song is a commentary of the socio-political atmosphere in the
US in the post-Civil Rights decade of the 1960s; title refers to a slogan from the
1960s
you will not be able to stay home brother the
revtion will not be telovised
Afrika Bambaataa, Zulu Nation Throwdown (1980)
a recorded version of what one of the gatherings might have
included w/four different MCs introducing themselves and encouraging the crowd
to participation and unity
We are the mighty Zulus
Lady B (Wendy Clark), To the Beat Yall (1979)
spread interest outside of NY; played Planet Rock first on the
radio; includes Jack and Jill went up a hill Superman and me had a fight and
boasting, went on to be a gold record
began as a DJ in Philadelphia and was the one of first female
MCs to release a record w/ To the Beat Yall; ended up realizing that she would
be better as a Dj rather than a recording artist
Roxanne Shante, Roxannes Revenge (1984)
response to UTFOs Roxanne Roxanne and launched the
concept of dis rap ; made two versions b/c first one was too profane; meant to
show that women should not be taken advantage of and were just as good
lyrically as any of the guys
Blondie, Rapture (1980)
American rock group founded by guitarist Chris Stein and vocalist
Debbie Harry in 1974, classified as New Wave band; included musical elements
from disco, punk, pop, rap, and reggae; first song to incorporate a rap to original
music and the first to reach the number one position on the music charts
name checks graffiti artist Fab 5 Freddy and Dj
Grandmaster Flash and refers to graffiti and hip hop block parties
Lee Quinones and Jean-Michel Basquiat also
appear in the video
Kurtis Blow, The Breaks (1980)
first rap gold record; unusual written materials written for it; most
viable solo artist in the first forms of hip hop and rap; says break eighty times
and has 7 breakdowns; one of first solo rap artists; managed by Russell
Simmons; first to sign w/major label (Mercury Records)

 clap your hands everybody if youve got what it

takes, cuz Im Kurtis Blow and I want you to know that these are the
breaks
10. Funky 4 + 1, Thats the Joint (1981)
Sugar Hill Records; first hip hop group to have a female MC and
they were first hip hop group to perform on natrional t.v. show (SNL 1981);
features an interpolation of the song Rescue Me by A Taste of Honey; MCs
take turns and come together over instrumental beats
are you ready for this? were ready for this its
the joint
11. Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, The Adventure of Grandmaster Flash on the
Wheels of Steel (1981)
wheels of steel are turntables; Grandmaster Flash - orig. from
Barbados who uses turntables as an instrument; first hip hop group induced into
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (Grandmaster Flash, Melle Mel, Cowboy, Kidd
Creole, Rahiem and Mr. Ness); credit for backspinning
these are they good times song referenced; story
by father and son
12. Herbie Hancock, Rockit (1983)
purely instrumental and features Hancock, bassist Bill Laswell and
Dj Grandmixer DST; instrumentation includes synthesizers, drum machines, a
vocoder (early autotune) and a turntable; Herbie Hancock - one of first black
artists to get significant airplay on MTV; wierd music video
13. Sugar Hill Gang, Rappers Delight (1979)
founded by Sylvia Robinson; first rap record to reach a wide
audience; recorded in one take w/live musicians; legal issues w/ Nile Rodgers
and Bernard Rogers and later added on as co-writers b/c song Good Times was
used
I said a hip hop hippy, to the rhythm of the
boogedy beat
14. Treacherous Three, The New Rap Language (1980)
speed rap; contains lyrics w/more syllables per line than most
other rap songs of its time
15. Afrika Bambaataa & Soul Sonic Force, Planet Rock (1982)
samples German group Kraftwerk w/interpolations, electro-funk;
first song to use the roland tr-808 drum machine, influence house & trance music
party people, party people, the zulu nation gonna
get funky
16. Brother D with Collective Effort, How We Gonna Make the Black Nation Rise? (1980)
Famous Figures mentioned: MLK Jr. Elijah Muhammad & Marcus
Garvey
first rap record to be explicitly political; recorded to reflect the
philosophy of an org known as National Black Science; MCs not named;
encourages listeners to be pacified but to stand up against racial and economic
progress

 you knooow, can be reeal song as background

17. Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, The Message (1983)
credite to entire group, Melle Mel is the only one on the record b/c
it had social commentary and painted a grim picture of urban life; group into
partying and women
its like a jungle sometimes, it makes me wonder
how I keep from going under dont push me cuz Im close to the edge,
Im trying not to lose my head