1.
Music of Iran
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Music of Iran or Music of Persia, as evidenced by the archaeological records of the Fertile Crescent civilization of Elam, the most ancient culture in southwestern Iran, dates back thousands of years. In ancient Iran musicians held socially respectable positions and we know that the Elamites and the Achaemenid Empire certainly made use of musicians but we do not know what that music was like. During the Parthian era, troubadours or Gosans were highly sought after as entertainers, there are theories in Academia that perhaps the early Dari Poets of Eastern Iran like Roudaki were in fact Gosans. The history of performance in Sassanid Iran is however better documented than earlier periods. This is especially evident in the context of Zoroastrian ritual. By the time of Khosrau II the Sassanid royal court was the host of prominent musicians such as Ramtin, Bamshad, Nakisa, Azad, Sarkash, among these survived names, Barbad is remembered in much documents and has been named as remarkably high skilled. He has been credited to have given an organization of musical system consisting of seven Royal modes named Xosrovani, thirty derived modes named lahn and these numbers are in accordance with Sassanids calendar of number of days in a week, month, and year. The theories these modal systems were based on are not known, there are also some of a descriptive nature like roshan cheragh. The relief depicts two boats and the picture shows these boats at two successive moments within the same panel. Barbad may have invented the lute and the tradition that was to transform into the Maqam tradition. Even after Islam, Persian musicians did not disappear, Zaryab is often credited with being the greatest influence over Andalusian, Farabi and Avicenna were not only musical theorists but adept at the lute and the Ney, respectively. The position of a work of music often depends on the music genre. The academic Authentic Persian Music is strongly based on the theories of aesthetics as expounded by the likes of Farabi. It also preserves melodic formula that are attributed to the musicians of the Persian imperial court of Khosroe Parviz in the Sassanid Period. However, the influence of Dastgah cannot be underestimated as it is seen as the reservoir of authenticity that other forms of musical genres derive melodic and performance ideas, Persian classical music goes back a long way. Musicians like Barbad were legendary in the empire of the Sassanid era, until the early 20th century, musiqi-e assil was heard almost entirely at the royal courts of the monarchy. The renaissance brought popularity to the genre, Women were banned from singing as soloists for male audiences, though they were allowed to perform as soloists for female audiences, as instrumentalists and in choirs. For this reason some female singers, including Maryam Akhondy, left the Islamic Republic to work in exile, most notable living Iranian classical vocalists are, Sodeyf, Shajarian, Shahram Nazeri
Music of Iran
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A historical painting from
Hasht Behesht palace, Isfahan, Iran, from 1669
Music of Iran
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an Iranian
musical ensemble in 1886
Music of Iran
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Persian arts
Music of Iran
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Persian National Music Society Orchestra conducted by
Rouhollah Khaleghi with
Gholam Hossein Banan on vocals
2.
Radif (music)
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Radif is a collection of many old melodic figures preserved through many generations by oral tradition. It organizes the melodies in a number of different tonal spaces called Dastgah, the traditional music of Iran is based on the radif, which is a collection of old melodies that have been handed down by the masters to the students through the generations. Over time, each masters own interpretation has shaped and added new melodies to this collection, the preservation of these melodies greatly depended on each successive generations memory and mastery, since the interpretive origin of this music was expressed only through the oral tradition. To truly learn and absorb the essence of the radif, many years of repetition, a master of the Radif must internalize the Radif so completely to be able to perform any part of it at any given time. The Radif contains several different dastgahs which are distinguished from each other by their relationship of note intervals, a dastgah portrays a specific sonic space. A dastgah may contain approximately from 10 to 30 goushehs, the principal goushehs of the dastgah specify the different scales within that dastgah. The note, upon which the gousheh is based and often is the center of the gousheh, is called the shahed, the shahed moves when we modulate between principal goushehs, and this movement creates a new sonic space. Rhythm in these melodies takes three different forms, symmetric, asymmetric, and free form, the rhythm is greatly influenced by the rhythm and meter of the Persian poetry. The instrumental and vocal radif are different from the point of view, however. The radifs for tar are one of the most famous radifs associated, the Radifs of Mirza Hossein-Qoli and Mirza Abdollah are the oldest radifs which are still in use for many students who wish to carry on learning Persian music. It is very famous as it consisted many melodies collected from them time and his work is still used by many Masters and are now some directions which are followed by many Tar players. This can minimize mutations and keep the radif in line, the Radif of Mirza Abdollah was published in notation by Jean During in 1970s based on Nour Ali Boroumand who recorded the redif by heart. On the other hand, the Radif of Mirza Hossein-Qoli was first published in notation by Dariush Pirniakan in 2001, though the radif is not popular with many young students it still is the consistute and basic of Persian music. It can be related to Classical music of western music that is not much popular, avaz Tasnif Radif Radif at Wayback
Radif (music)
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Aka polyphony
3.
Persian traditional music
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Persian traditional music or Iranian traditional music, also known as Persian classical music is the traditional and indigenous music of Iran. Persian traditional music is appreciated and enjoyed by all different ethnic groups across Greater Iran, the history of musical development in Iran dates back to the prehistoric era. King Jamshid of Persia, a figure of Shahnameh, is credited with the invention of music. Fragmentary documents from various periods of the countrys history establish that the ancient Iranians possessed a musical culture. Archeological evidence reveals musical instruments that were used in Persia during the Elamit era around 800 BC, little is known about the Persian music of the ancient world, least of all about the music of the Achaemenid Empire. Alexander the Great is said to have witnessed many melodies and instruments upon his invasion, Music played an important role in the courts of the kings of the much later Sassanid Empire. Of this period, we know the names of court musicians like Barbad. Under Sassanid rule, modal music was developed by a significant court musician, Barbad. Under the later Qajar Empire, the system was restructured into its present form mostly through the efforts of two legendary musicians of that time, Agha Hossein-Ghoul and Mara Abdullah. Persian traditional music relies on both improvisation and composition, and is based on a series of scales and tunes which must be memorized. Apprentices and masters, ostad, have a relationship which has declined during the 20th century as music education moved to universities and conservatories. The common repertoire consists of more than two hundred short melodic movements called gusheh, which are classified into seven dastgāh or modes, two of these modes have secondary modes branching from them called āvāz. Each gusheh and dastgah has an individual name and this whole body is called the Radif of which there are several versions, each in accordance to the teachings of a particular master or ostad. A typical performance consists of the following elements pīshdarāmad, darāmad, āvāz, taṣnīf, Chahārmeżrāb, a performance forms a sort of suite. Unconventionally, these parts may be varied or omitted, towards the end of the Safavid Empire, more complex movements in 10,14, and 16 beats stopped being performed. Today, rhythmic pieces are performed in beats of 2 to 7 with some exceptions, rengs are always in a 6/8 time frame. Many melodies and modes are related to the maqāmāt of the Turkish classical repertoire and Arabic music belonging to various Arab countries and this similarity is because of the exchange of musical science that took place in the early Islamic world between Persia and her neighboring countries. The vocalist plays a role, he or she decides what mood to express
Persian traditional music
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Persian arts
Persian traditional music
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Karna, one of the ancient Persian musical instruments, 6th century BC,
Persepolis Museum.
Persian traditional music
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Ancient Persians attached great importance to music and poetry, like today. Post
Sassanid era silver plate. 7th century. The British Museum.
Persian traditional music
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Wall painting depicting a scene from 17th century Persia.
4.
Iranian pop music
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Iranian pop music refers to pop music originated in Iran, with songs mainly in Persian and other regional languages of the country. The origin of Iranian pop music back to the time of the 19th-century Qajar dynasty. Following the invent of radio in 1930, and after World War II, Persian pop music grew and developed during the 1950s. Different types of pop music, including rumba, tango and waltz music, were developed during this period. Viguen, known as the Sultan of Persian Pop and Jazz, was one of the most prominent and he was of Armenian origin, and sang in both Persian and Armenian. By the 1970s, a new wave was formed in Iranian pop music, using instruments and adding electric guitar. Parviz Maghsadi and Varoujan Hakhbandian were among pioneer composers who wrote and composed songs for singers such as Viguen, Googoosh, Dariush. After the 1979 Revolution, pop music was banned and completely disappeared from the scene in Iran, many Iranians immigrated to foreign countries, especially to Los Angeles in the United States, and many continued to sing in exile. Since then, several popular Iranian TV channels and radio stations operate outside of the country and these broadcast companies play an important role in promoting and connecting Iranian pop artists to Iranians living all over the world. In the 1990s, officials of the new government decided to produce and promote a decent pop music, in order to compete with the abroad, ali Moallem and Fereydoun Shahbazian headed a council at the IRIB that supervised the revival of domestic pop music. Shadmehr Aghili was one of the first post-revolutionary Iranian singers who received significant support, including promotion by national television and he was highly skilled at playing violin and guitar, and was a very talented singer. He became a successful and popular musician and singer in Iran. Under the presidency of Khatami, as a result of easing cultural restrictions within Iran, since the new administration took office, the Ministry of Ershad adopted a different policy, mainly to make it easier to monitor the industry. The newly adopted policy included loosening restrictions for a number of artists. However, the number of album releases increased, arian, the first officially sanctioned pop music band with female singers in post-revolutionary Iran, started a new chapter of Iranian pop music. In late 2009, Sirvan Khosravi became the first domestic Iranian artist to achieve high-rotation airplay on a regular European radio station and he made his debut with the song Saat-e 9, which also made headlines in Iranian online media. In August 2010, Farzad Farzin made his debut European chart with the song Chike Chike from his third legal album Shans. 1971, Googoosh, first prize and golden record at the MIDEM in Cannes,1972, Googoosh, first prize at the Carthage Music Festival
Iranian pop music
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Viguen Derderian, king of Persian pop and Persian jazz.
Iranian pop music
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Haydeh and
Anoushirvan at the National Iranian Radio and TV, Tehran, 1975
Iranian pop music
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Irish pop singer
Chris de Burgh joined
Arian band on their 2007 Album.
5.
Zoroastrian music
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Zoroastrian music is a genre of religious music that accompanies religious and traditional rites among the Zoroastrian people. Historical texts prove that prior to the arrival of Islam in Persia, Zoroastrians knew choral, the majority of these songs are no longer performed, although Zoroastrian religious songs still do remain. The wording of these songs are attained from either the Avesta or from the Gathas, islamic influence can be seen in the melodies of the Naderi method of prayer recitation and pilgrims songs. The ancient tambourine music of Kermanshah is similar to kinds of Zoroastrian music. Due to the death of the mobeds, many Zoroastrian customs have been forgotten and only a few remain
Zoroastrian music
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The
Faravahar, believed to be a depiction of a
fravashi
6.
Sasanian music
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Sasanian music refers to the golden age of Persian music that occurred under the reign of the Sasanian dynasty. Persian classical music dates to the sixth century BC, during the time of the Achaemenid Empire, music played an important role in prayer, but Persian music had its zenith during the Sasanian dynasty from 224 until 651 AD. In this era, many of Persian musics dastgahs and modes were invented and he employed 30 sounds for music. Naturally he recorded his inspirations and performed them for his audience, since if he did not, dance and chanson were prevalent in court banquets. Another important role that music played was in the reception of foreign diplomats and kings from neighbouring countries, five centuries after Barbods death, Farabi made a record of all the musical pieces of his period and described the ancient note recording method. The history of performance in Sassanid Iran is however better documented than earlier periods. This is specially more evident in the context of Zoroastrian ritual, by the time of Khusro Parviz, the Sassanid royal court was the host of prominent musicians. The relief depicts two boats and the picture shows these boats at two successive moments within the same panel. The musical instruments which appear distinctly on the Sassanid sculptures are the harp, the horn, the Daf, the drum, the harp is triangular, and has seven strings, it is held in the lap, and played apparently by both hands. The drum is of small size, the horns and pipes are too crudely represented for their exact character to be apparent. Concerted pieces seem to have sometimes played by harpers only. A portion of the musicians occupy an elevated orchestra, to there is access by a flight of steps. By the time of Khusro Parviz, the Sassanid royal court was the host of prominent musicians such as Ramtin He was also a remarkable musician, bamshad He was another court musician of Khosrau II. He used to play early morning songs which could please the king and people, Nakisa She was also the court musician of the Sassanid Empire. The main theme of her songs were in praise of King Khosrau II, the main instrument that she played was a harp. Azad Sarkash Though not as renowned as Barbod or Nakisa, he was a remarkable musician, Barbad Barbad is remembered in many documents and has been named as remarkably high skilled. He has been credited to have given an organisation of musical system consisting of seven Royal modes named Khosrovani, thirty derivative modes named lahn and these numbers are in accordance with Sassanids calendar of number of days in a week, month, and year. The theories based on which these modal system was based are not known, there are also some of a descriptive nature like roshan cheragh
Sasanian music
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Marble mosaic from 260 AD (Sasanian Era). from the aywan of the palace of Shapur at Bishapur, Iran.
Sasanian music
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Ancient Iranians attached great importance to music and poetry, as they still do today. 7th century plate depicts
Sasanian era musicians.
The British Museum.
7.
Radio Javan
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Radio Javan is the first online Persian radio station. Radio Javan plays a selection of Iranian & Afghan Persian music including both recent hit songs and old classics. Listeners can also request songs online, currently, Radio Javan is exclusively an Internet-based radio station, meaning that it is separate from traditional FM/AM broadcasts and satellite radio. The word javan is a transliteration of the Persian word for young, Radio Javans online community was created in Summer 2007, in order to assist the web site users to create their own online profiles and groups, similar to ones in MySpace, Facebook or Orkut. Each weekly show also has its own group on the online community, Radio Javan is a leading pioneer in introducing new Persian musicians, and singers, as well as promoting the more well known ones. Launched in March 2008, with the collaboration of the major Persian record labels is the first Persian website to offer Persian music online in the format of MP3 at a low cost. Radio Javan Stores huge collection of the Persian Music supports Persian artists, the following shows are broadcast online and are available for podcast through Radio Javans podcast page. Weekly dance music, Fridays,21,00 -22,00 EST Hezar features Radio Javan Resident, DJ Delbar, mixing live every Friday night with the best and newest Persian, Hezar is our first and longest-running DJ show. DJ Barbari is a resident at many clubs in the Washington D. C. area. Weekly Persian music, Saturdays,14,00 -15,00 EST Abo Atash is the newest DJ mix show featuring DJ Taba, every Saturday afternoon DJ Taba mixes a surprise and unique selection of Persian songs, many of them from artists from Iran. Sahand Quazi presents Gap Gap which features music from the Persian hip hop scene, broadcast fresh from Iran, Sahand explores life, hip hop, and Iran. Weekly talk show about Persian youth living in North America, Thursdays,22,00 -23,00 EST, until February 2009 Insomnia had the most listened record among RJ programs, and there are efforts by Insomnia fans to bring the show back on air. Weekly talk show about Persian culture, Sundays,22,00 -23,00 EST Gap was one of Radio Javans talk shows that every other Sunday night from Washington D. C with hosts Poriya. Gap featured discussions on current news as well as cultural and social issues. Biweekly music show, Mondays,15,00 -16,00 EST Countdown played, the countdown list was based on listeners feedback and song requests, as well as what songs are new. Weekly 80s and 90s Persian music, Thursday,15,00 -16,00 EST With host Hamed, Yadegar featuring favorite, old school Persian songs from the 80s, Weekly talk show about relationships, Tuesdays,22,00 -23,00 EST. Weekly talk show about Persian young generation, web site Weekly schedule Top charts RJ Store
Radio Javan
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Radio Javan
8.
Persian Music Channel
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PMC is a free-to-air satellite TV network owned by Persian Media Corporation with its headquarters in Dubai Media City. It was launched in May 9,2003, the network is devoted to Persian music videos from ex-pat Iranian singers, as well as Iranian singers based in Iran. Arabic, Kurdish and Turkish hit songs are shown on the network. The channel is widely viewed in Iran, Europe, Middle East, Central Asia. PMC Music PMC on Facebook Persian Media Corporation Address
Persian Music Channel
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Persian Media Corporation
9.
GEM TV
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GEM TV is a Persian-language entertainment satellite channel. Its headquarters is located in Dubai, GEM Television commenced work in 2006, owned and managed by GEM Group. GEM Group was established in 2001 and was based in London with the vision of being a company in the media industry. Soon after 2002, the moved to the UAE where it expanded and established various channels as well as subsidiary companies. These channels have Iranian viewers and other Persian-speaking viewers, GEM Groups wide range of content is observed in either SD or HD and it is broadcast on satellite companies such as Hotbird, Yahsat, Nilesat and Galaxy. GEM Group has eighteen prominent channels and four subsidiary companies. GEMs current programming consists of movies, documentaries and acquired programs and shows like Americas Got Talent, GEM also airs dubbed Turkish TV series such as Magnificent Century, Kuzey Güney, Fatmagülün Suçu Ne. and Merhamet. All of the programs are dubbed or subtitled in Persian
GEM TV
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GEM TV (General Entertainment and Media)
10.
Hermes Records
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Hermes Records is a record label founded in Tehran, Iran in 1999 by Ramin Sadighi. Under the slogan music for music, Hermes has published and produced mainly modern Persian music, Hermes Records tries to interpret different modalities and ambiences of Persian Music as well as enjoying interactions between the roots of occidental and oriental musical textures and harmonies. It has been described as having almost singlehandedly built a much needed platform for artists, the label is officially distributed in Iran, Turkey, Italy, UK, France, Germany, Greece & BeNeLux but via second-party businesses, some works can also be found in other countries. The label is available on Mondomix, Amazon, iTunes, Rhapsody, AOL. It is hard to describe Hermes orientation, checking the catalogue there are traces of World, Jazz, Avant Garde, Contemporary, Classical, Minimal, Electro-Acoustic, Fusion, Rock, Traditional, Folk and Sacred music. Ramin Sadighi often mentions Hermes genre as Hermesian. fm Herms Records on classical next Sadighi, Ramin, archived from the original on 27 February 2013. Q & A with Ramin Sadighi the founder of Hermes Records, by Spencer Grady, Record Collector, March 2010 Interview with Ramin Sadighi Thursday, November 29,2007 Sadighi, Ramin, Mahdavi, Sohrab. The Song Does Not Remain the Same
Hermes Records
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Hermes Records
11.
Iranian Azerbaijanis
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Azerbaijanis are the second largest ethnic group in the nation. Furthermore, the largest population of ethnic Azerbaijanis in the live in Iran. Iranian Azerbaijanis also constitute a significant minority in Tehran, Karaj, Azerbaijanis comprise the largest minority ethnic group in Iran. Apart from Iranian Azerbaijan, indigenous Azeri population is found in numbers in four provinces, Hamadan, Qazvin, Markazi. Azeri-populated parts of Markazi include Komijan, Khondab, Saveh, Zarandieh, Shazand, in Kurdistan, Azeris are mainly found in villages around Qorveh. It is a Turkish language learned and spoken by Iranian peasants”, according to Richard Frye, The Turkish speakers of Azerbaijan are mainly descended from the earlier Iranian speakers, several pockets of whom still exist in the region. Here they divided into Ottomans, who were Sunni and settled, and Turkmens and these are the people today known as Azeris. As for the culture, it remained traditional even after the Turkicization of the local population. The latter entered both the Azeri and Turkish language mainly through the Iranian intermediary, having become independent, the Azeri culture retained close connections with the Iranian and Arab cultures. They were reinforced by religion and common cultural-historical traditions. ”. The Iranian origins of the Azeris likely derive from ancient Iranian tribes, such as the Medes in Iranian Azerbaijan and it is believed that the Medes mixed with an indigenous population, the Caucasian Mannai, a Northeast Caucasian group related to the Urartians. It has also hypothesized that the population of Iranian Azerbaijan was predominantly Persian-speaking before the Oghuz arrived. The claim is mentioned by medieval historians, such as Al-Muqaddasi. Other common Perso-Azeribaijani features include Iranian place names such as Tabriz, the modern presence of the Iranian Talysh and Tats in Azerbaijan is further evidence of the former Iranian character of the region. As a precursor to modern groups, the ancient Azaris are also hypothesized as ancestors of the modern Azeris. The Russo-Persian Wars of the 19th century settled the boundary of Iran, stripping it of all its Caucasian territories. The eventual formation of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic in 1918 established the territory of modern Azerbaijan, as a direct result of Qajar Irans forced ceding to Russia, the Azerbaijanis are nowadays parted between two nations, Iran and Azerbaijan. Despite living on two sides of a border, the Azeris form a single ethnic group
Iranian Azerbaijanis
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Mirza Fatali Akhundzade (also known as Akhundov), celebrated ethnic
Azerbaijani author, playwright, philosopher, and founder of modern literary criticism. Born in
Nukha to a family originally hailing from
Iranian Azerbaijan.
Iranian Azerbaijanis
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Sattar Khan, Iranian Azeri, was a key figure in the
Iranian Constitutional Revolution and is held in great esteem by many Iranians.
Iranian Azerbaijanis
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An Ashugh performance
Iranian Azerbaijanis
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Tabriz Carpet.
12.
Bakhtiari people
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The Bakhtiari are a southwestern Iranian tribe, and a subgroup of the Lurs. They speak the Bakhtiari dialect, a southwestern Iranian dialect, belonging to the Lurish language, Bakhtiaris primarily inhabit Chahar Mahaal and Bakhtiari and eastern Khuzestan, Lorestan, Bushehr, and Isfahan. In Khuzestan, Bakhtiari tribes are concentrated primarily in the part of the province. A small percentage of Bakhtiari are still nomadic pastoralists, migrating between summer quarters and winter quarters, numerical estimates of their total population vary widely. In Iranian mythology, the Bakhtiaris are considered to be descendants of Fereydun and they are also considered to be directly descended from Cyrus the Great. The Southwest Eurasian haplogroups F, G, and T1a also reach substantial frequency among Bakhtiaris. The term bakhtiari can be best translated as companion of chance or bearer of good luck The term has deep Persian roots and is the result of two smaller words bakht and yar complied together. Bakht is the Persian word for chance and yar, iar, the latter designation largely relates to the nature of the tribes annual migration. This has to do with the nature of Bakhtiari life. In this sense, Bakhtiaris view themselves as a tribe, facing numerous obstacles everyday. Nevertheless, the origins of Bakhtiaris are ancient and it may have well been the case that the tribe underwent a series of name changes throughout its history. However It is mostly claimed that the designation Bakhtiari came largely into use some time in antiquity, Constitutional Revolution, In Irans contemporary history, the Bakhtiari have played a significant role, particularly during the advent of the countrys Constitutional Revolution. This event was largely secured through the Bakhtari campaign, which eventually deposed Mohammad Ali Shah Qajar. The Bakhtiari tribesmen, under the leadership of the Haft Lang khans Sardar Assad and his brother Najaf Qoli Khan Bakhtiari- Saad ad-Daula, captured Tehran and, as a result and these events eventually led to the abdication of Mohammad Ali Shah Qajar in 1909 and his exile to Russia. This incident secured Saad ad-Daula the position of Prime Minister in the period followed the abdication of the Qajar Shah. Nonetheless, with Russian backing, the Shah would soon return in 1911 by landing with a coalition of forces at Astarabad, however, his efforts to reclaim his throne would bear no fruit. In this sense, the Bakhtiaris played a role in saving the revolution from the Qajar forces. Pahlavi Period, With the expansion of Bakhtiari influence, urban elites began to worry in regards to a potential Bakhtiari takeover of Persias affairs, prior to this point, the Bakhtiari had largely remained within their own territorial boundaries
Bakhtiari people
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A Bakhtiari nomad family
13.
Gilaki people
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The Gilaki people or Gilaks are an Iranian people native to the northern Iran province of Gilan and are one of the main ethnic groups residing in the northern parts of Iran. Gilaks, along with the closely related Mazandarani people, comprise part of the Caspian people and they speak the Gilaki language, which is closely related to Mazandarani. The Mazandarani people once called their language Geleki or Gilaki, but now call it Mazani or Mazandarani, Gilaki people live both alongside the Alborz mountains, and in the surrounding plains. Consequentially, those living along the side of the Alborz mountains tend to raise livestock. Gilaks play an important role in provincial and national economy, supplying a large portion of the agricultural staples, such as rice, grains, tobacco. Other major industries include fishing and caviar exports, and the production of silk, the population of Gilaki people is estimated to be between 3 to 4 million. They mainly live along the southwest coasts of the Caspian Sea and are one of the ethnic groups that reside in the northern parts of Iran. The Gilaki are closely related to the neighboring Mazandarani, and other groups of Caucasus descent, such as Georgians, Armenians, the Gilaki language, is a member of the Northwestern branch of the Iranian languages. It is the language spoken amongst the Gilaki people, although various regional and local dialects of the Gilaki language are common. Gilak people are fluent in both the Gilaki language and standard Persian, Persian is the official language of education in Iran, and since teachers are discouraged from using regional dialects and accents in class, the Gilaki language is taught to children at home. The Gilaki and Mazandarani languages share certain features with Caucasian languages. However, with the growth of education and press, the differentiation between Gilaki and other Iranian languages are likely to disappear, Gilaki is closely related to Mazandarani and the two languages have similar vocabularies. These two languages retain more than Persian does of the declension system that was characteristic of older-Iranian languages. The Gilaks and their closely related Mazandarani occupy the South Caspian region of Iran and it has been suggested that their ancestors came from the Caucasus region, perhaps displacing an earlier group in the South Caspian. Linguistic evidence supports this scenario, in that the Gilaki and Mazandarani languages share certain features with Caucasian languages. There have been patterns analyzed of mtDNA and Y chromosome variation in the Gilaki, based on mtDNA HV1 sequences, the Gilaks and Mazandarani most closely resemble their geographic and linguistic neighbors, namely other Iranian groups. However, their Y chromosome types most closely resemble those found in groups from the South Caucasus, concomitant replacement of language and mtDNA may be a more general phenomenon than previously recognized. Iranians from Tehran and Isfahan are situated more distantly from these groups, the Gilaks display a high frequency of Y-DNA haplogroups R1a1a, J2a, J1, and G2a3b
Gilaki people
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Gilani traditional attire
Gilaki people
Gilaki people
Gilaki people
14.
Kurdish music
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Kurdish music refers to music performed in Kurdish language. Traditionally, there are three types of Kurdish Classical performers - storytellers, minstrels and bards, there was no specific music related to the Kurdish princely courts, and instead, music performed in night gatherings is considered classical. Several musical forms are found in this genre, many songs are epic in nature, such as the popular Lawiks which are heroic ballads recounting the tales of Kurdish heroes such as Saladin. Heyrans are love ballads usually expressing the melancholy of separation and unfulfilled love, lawje is a form of religious music and Payizoks are songs performed specifically in autumn. Love songs, dance music, wedding and other songs, erotic poetry. Another style of singing that originated as practice to recite hymns in both Zoroastrian and Islamic Sufi faiths is Siya Cheman and this style is practiced mostly in the mountainous subregion of Hewraman in the Hewrami dialect. However, some artists, have adopted the style and blended it with other Kurdish music. Siya Cheman can also be classified as çîrokbêj because it is used to for storytelling. Musical instruments include the tembûr, biziq, qernête and bilûr in northern and western Kurdistan, şimşal, cûzele, kemençe and def in the south, zirne and dahol are found in all parts of Kurdistan. The most frequently used song form has two verses with ten syllable lines, Kurdish songs are characterized by their simple melodies, with a range of only four or five notes. The sufi music of the Yarsanî sect with its 72 meqams is thought to be one of the most authentic, the Kamkars from the city of Sanandaj is a leading ensemble in Kurdish music today. They are internationally renowned for their performance of Kurdish folk music and with great dynamism, some members of the group, including Arsalan and Hooshang Kamkar, have also worked individually and produced successful works. Nasir Razazî, who now resides in Sweden, performs Kurdish music from all genres, ali Akbar Moradi is the greatest master of the religious tembûr music of the Yarsan sect to which he belongs. Aras Ibrahim, the violinist, built martyr Karzan music group in 1981 which was the group who could record revolutionary songs in the mountain in the PUK released areas of Kurdistan. The group recorded 5 cassettes and published them, in 1990, the group participated in the First festival of Halabja & Nawroz in Saqz-Iran with the famous coral of Halabja which was about the chemical weapon used against the Kurds there. Despite the lack of any musical educational infrastructure, several famous Kurdish musicians arose from Syria, gerabêtê Xaço was a great classical stranbêj, Muradê Kinê was another great stranbêj and kemençe player. Seîd Yûsif is acclaimed for his virtuosity on the biziq and his authentic teqsîms. Mihemed Şêxo was a master of symbolic nationalistic lyrics who was imprisoned several times for expressing his opinion through his songs
Kurdish music
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The Kamkars in
Kurdish costume. The Kamkars are a famous group in Kurdish music.
15.
Name of Iran
–
In the Western world, Persia was historically the common name for Iran. In 1935, Reza Shah asked foreign delegates to use the term Iran, since then, in the Western World, the use of the word Iran has become more common. This also changed the usage of the terms for Iranian nationality, in 1959, the government of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, Reza Shah Pahlavis son, announced that both Persia and Iran could officially be used interchangeably. The gentilic ēr- and ary- in ērān and aryān derives from Old Iranian *arya-, meaning Aryan, notwithstanding this inscriptional use of ērān to refer to the Iranian peoples, the use of ērān to refer to the empire is also attested by the early Sassanid period. Both ērān and anērān appear in 3rd century calendrical text written by Mani, in an inscription of Ardashirs son and immediate successor, Shapur I apparently includes in Ērān regions such as Armenia and the Caucasus which were not inhabited predominantly by Iranians. In Kartirs inscriptions, the high priest includes the regions in his list of provinces of the antonymic Anērān. Ērān also features in the names of the towns founded by Sassanid dynasts and it also appears in the titles of government officers, such as in Ērān-āmārgar Accountant-General Ērān or Ērān-dibirbed Chief Scribe Ērān. The Greeks began in the fifth century BC to use such as Pérsēs. Such words were taken from the Old Persian Pārsa – the name of the people whom Cyrus the Great of the Achaemenid dynasty first ruled, thus, the term Persian is an exonym and Iranians never historically referred to Iran by that exonym. The Pars tribe gave its name to the region where they lived, in Latin, the name for the whole empire was Persia, while the Iranians knew it as Iran or Iranshahr. In the later parts of the Bible, where this kingdom is mentioned, it is called Paras, or sometimes Paras u Madai. The term Arya has been used by the Iranian people, as well as, by the rulers and emperors of Iran, evidently from the time of the Sassanids Iranians have called it Iran, meaning the land of Aryans and Iranshahr. In Middle Persian sources, the name Arya and Iran is used for the pre-Sassanid Iranian empires as well as the Sassanid empire. As an example, the use of the name Iran for Achaemenids in the Middle Persian book of Arda Viraf refers to the invasion of Iran by Alexander the Great in 330 BC, the Proto-Iranian term for Iran is reconstructed as *Aryānām and the Avestan equivalent is Airyanem. The internal preference for Iran was noted in some Western reference books but for international purposes, in the mid 1930s, the ruler of the country, Reza Shah Pahlavi, moved towards formalising the name Iran instead of Persia for all purposes. His Majestys Minister in Tehran has been instructed to accede to this request, the decree of Reza Shah Pahlavi affecting nomenclature duly took effect on 21 March 1935. His request was approved immediately by the Iranian Foreign Ministry, the American side, however, continued using Iran as it had at the time little involvement in Iraq to cause any such confusion. They recommended a reversal of the 1935 decision, and Mohammad Reza Shah approved this, however, the implementation of the proposal was weak, simply allowing Persia and Iran to be used interchangeably
Name of Iran
–
Modern reconstruction of the ancient world map of
Eratosthenes from c. 200 BC, using the names
Ariana and
Persis
Name of Iran
–
Reza Pahlavi requested foreign countries to use the term
Iran rather than
Persia
16.
Hip hop music
–
It developed as part of hip hop culture, a subculture defined by four key stylistic elements, MCing/rapping, DJing/scratching with turntables, break dancing, and graffiti writing. Other elements include sampling beats or bass lines from records, while often used to refer solely to rapping, hip hop more properly denotes the practice of the entire subculture. Hip hops early evolution occurred as sampling technology and drum machines became available and affordable. Turntablist techniques such as scratching and beatmatching developed along with the breaks and Jamaican toasting, rapping developed as a vocal style in which the artist speaks or chants along rhythmically with an instrumental or synthesized beat. The Sugarhill Gangs 1979 song Rappers Delight is widely regarded to be the first hip hop record to gain popularity in the mainstream. The 1980s marked the diversification of hip hop as the genre developed more complex styles, prior to the 1980s, hip hop music was largely confined within the United States. However, during the 1980s, it began to spread to scenes in dozens of countries. New school hip hop was the wave of hip hop music, originating in 1983–84 with the early records of Run-D. M. C. The Golden age hip hop period was a period between the mid-1980s and the early 1990s. Notable artists from this era include the Juice Crew, Public Enemy, & Rakim, Boogie Down Productions and KRS-One, EPMD, Slick Rick, Beastie Boys, Kool G Rap, Big Daddy Kane, Ultramagnetic MCs, De La Soul, and A Tribe Called Quest. Gangsta rap is a subgenre of hip hop that often focuses on the violent lifestyles, in the West Coast hip hop style, G-funk dominated mainstream hip hop for several years during the 1990s. I. G. In the 1990s, hip hop began to diversify with other regional styles emerging, such as Southern rap, at the same time, hip hop continued to be assimilated into other genres of popular music, examples being Neo soul and nu metal. Hip hop became a pop music genre in the mid-1990s. The popularity of hip hop music continued through the 2000s, with hip hop influences also increasingly finding their way into mainstream pop, the United States also saw the success of regional styles such as crunk, a Southern genre that emphasized the beats and music more than the lyrics. Starting in 2005, sales of hip hop music in the United States began to severely wane, during the mid-2000s, alternative hip hop secured a place in the mainstream, due in part to the crossover success of artists such as OutKast and Kanye West. Creation of the hip hop is often credited to Keith Cowboy, rapper with Grandmaster Flash. However, Lovebug Starski, Keith Cowboy, and DJ Hollywood used the term when the music was known as disco rap. Cowboy later worked the hip hop cadence into a part of his stage performance, the first use of the term in print was in The Village Voice, by Steven Hager, later author of a 1984 history of hip hop
Hip hop music
–
1520 Sedgwick Avenue, the Bronx, a venue used by Kool Herc that is often considered the birthplace of hip hop in 1973
Hip hop music
–
DJ Kool Herc, recognized as one of the earliest hip hop artists
Hip hop music
–
Grandmaster Flash
Hip hop music
–
Afrika Bambaataa (left)
17.
Iran
–
Iran, also known as Persia, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, is a sovereign state in Western Asia. Comprising a land area of 1,648,195 km2, it is the second-largest country in the Middle East, with 82.8 million inhabitants, Iran is the worlds 17th-most-populous country. It is the country with both a Caspian Sea and an Indian Ocean coastline. The countrys central location in Eurasia and Western Asia, and its proximity to the Strait of Hormuz, Tehran is the countrys capital and largest city, as well as its leading economic and cultural center. Iran is the site of to one of the worlds oldest civilizations, the area was first unified by the Iranian Medes in 625 BC, who became the dominant cultural and political power in the region. The empire collapsed in 330 BC following the conquests of Alexander the Great, under the Sassanid Dynasty, Iran again became one of the leading powers in the world for the next four centuries. Beginning in 633 AD, Arabs conquered Iran and largely displaced the indigenous faiths of Manichaeism and Zoroastrianism by Islam, Iran became a major contributor to the Islamic Golden Age that followed, producing many influential scientists, scholars, artists, and thinkers. During the 18th century, Iran reached its greatest territorial extent since the Sassanid Empire, through the late 18th and 19th centuries, a series of conflicts with Russia led to significant territorial losses and the erosion of sovereignty. Popular unrest culminated in the Persian Constitutional Revolution of 1906, which established a monarchy and the countrys first legislative body. Following a coup instigated by the U. K. Growing dissent against foreign influence and political repression led to the 1979 Revolution, Irans rich cultural legacy is reflected in part by its 21 UNESCO World Heritage Sites, the third-largest number in Asia and 11th-largest in the world. Iran is a member of the UN, ECO, NAM, OIC. Its political system is based on the 1979 Constitution which combines elements of a democracy with a theocracy governed by Islamic jurists under the concept of a Supreme Leadership. A multicultural country comprising numerous ethnic and linguistic groups, most inhabitants are Shia Muslims, the largest ethnic groups in Iran are the Persians, Azeris, Kurds and Lurs. Historically, Iran has been referred to as Persia by the West, due mainly to the writings of Greek historians who called Iran Persis, meaning land of the Persians. As the most extensive interactions the Ancient Greeks had with any outsider was with the Persians, however, Persis was originally referred to a region settled by Persians in the west shore of Lake Urmia, in the 9th century BC. The settlement was then shifted to the end of the Zagros Mountains. In 1935, Reza Shah requested the international community to refer to the country by its native name, opposition to the name change led to the reversal of the decision, and Professor Ehsan Yarshater, editor of Encyclopædia Iranica, propagated a move to use Persia and Iran interchangeably
Iran
–
Cave painting in Doushe cave,
Lorestan, Iran,
8th millennium BC
Iran
–
Flag
Iran
–
A depiction of the united
Medes and
Persians in
Apadana,
Persepolis
Iran
–
Ruins of the
Gate of All Nations,
Persepolis
18.
Hip hop
–
Hip hop is a subculture and art movement developed by African-Americans and Latinos from the inner-city South Bronx neighbourhood in New York City in the late 1970s. Jamaican immigrant DJ Kool Herc also played a key role in developing hip hop music, at 1520 Sedgwick Avenue, Herc mixed samples of existing records and DJed percussion breaks, mixing this music with his own Jamaican-style toasting to rev up the crowd and dancers. These youths mixed these influences with existing musical styles associated with African Americans prior to the 1970s, Hip hop music became popular outside of the African-American community in the late 1980s, with the mainstream commercial success of gangsta rap. Critic Greg Tate described the hip hop movement as the only avant-garde still around, Hip hop culture has spread to both urban and suburban communities throughout the United States and subsequently the world. These elements were adapted and developed considerably, particularly as the art spread to new continents and merged with local styles in the 1990s. Sampling older culture and re-using it in a new context or a new format is called flipping in hip hop culture. Hip hop music follows in the footsteps of earlier African-American-rooted musical genres such as blues, jazz, rag-time, funk, cowboy later worked the hip hop cadence into his stage performance. The group frequently performed with artists who would refer to this new type of music by calling them hip hoppers. The name was meant as a sign of disrespect, but soon came to identify this new music. The song Rappers Delight, by The Sugarhill Gang, released in 1979, begins with the phrase I said a hip, hop the hippie the hippie to the hip hip hop, and you dont stop. Lovebug Starski, a Bronx DJ who put out a single called The Positive Life in 1981, and DJ Hollywood then began using the term when referring to this new disco rap music. Bill Alder, an independent consultant, once said, There was hardly ever a moment when rap music was underground, one of the very first so-called rap records, was a monster hit. Hip hop pioneer and South Bronx community leader Afrika Bambaataa also credits Lovebug Starski as the first to use the hip hop. Bambaataa, former leader of the Black Spades gang, also did much to popularize the term. In the 1970s, an urban movement known as Hip Hop began to develop in the South Bronx in New York City. It focused on emceeing over breakbeats, house parties and neighbourhood block party events, Hip hop music has been a powerful medium for protesting the impact of legal institutions on minorities, particularly police and prisons. Jamaican-born DJ Clive Kool Herc Cindy Campbell pioneered the use of DJing percussion breaks in hip hop music, beginning at Hercs home in a high-rise apartment at 1520 Sedgwick Avenue, the movement later spread across the entire borough. Herc created the blueprint for hip hop music and culture by building upon the Jamaican tradition of impromptu toasting, on August 11,1973 DJ Kool Herc was the DJ at his sisters back-to-school party
Hip hop
–
Nas is an
American rapper who is regarded as one of the greatest MCs of all time.
Hip hop
–
DJ Kool Herc is credited as being highly influential in the pioneering stage of hip hop music.
Hip hop
–
Afrika Bambaataa with DJ Yutaka of
Universal Zulu Nation in 2004
Hip hop
–
Rapper
Busta Rhymes performs in
Las Vegas for a
BET party
19.
Theism
–
Theism, in the field of comparative religion, or when contrasted with atheism, is broadly defined as the belief in the existence of a deity or deities. The term theism derives from the Greek theos meaning god, the term theism was first used by Ralph Cudworth. Atheism is commonly understood as rejection of theism in the broadest sense of theism, the claim that the existence of any deity is unknown or unknowable is agnosticism. Monotheism is the belief in theology that only one deity exists, some modern day monotheistic religions include Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Bahai Faith, Sikhism, Zoroastrianism, Eckankar and some forms of Hinduism. Polytheism is the belief there is more than one god. In practice, polytheism is not just the belief that there are multiple gods, soft polytheism views the gods as being subsumed into a greater whole. Some other forms of Hinduism such as Smartism/Advaita Vedanta serve as examples of soft polytheism, polytheism is also divided according to how the individual deities are regarded, Henotheism, The viewpoint/belief that there may be more than one deity, but only one of them is worshiped. Kathenotheism, The viewpoint/belief that there is more than one deity, but only one deity is worshiped at a time or ever, if they are worshiped one at a time, then each is supreme in turn. Monolatrism, The belief that there may be more than one deity, most of the modern monotheistic religions may have begun as monolatric ones, although this is disputed. Pantheism, The belief that the universe is equivalent to god. Panentheism, Like Pantheism, the belief that the universe is joined to a god or gods. However, it believes that a god or gods are greater than the material universe. Examples include most forms of Vaishnavism and the philosophy of Baruch Spinoza, some people find the distinction between these two beliefs as ambiguous and unhelpful, while others see it as a significant point of division. Pantheism may be understood a type of Nontheism, where the universe takes on some of the roles of a theistic God. Classical deism is the belief that at least one deity exists and created the world, Deism typically rejects supernatural events prominent in organized religion. Instead, Deism holds that religious beliefs must be founded on reason and observed features of the natural world. Pandeism, The belief that a god preceded the universe and created it, panendeism combines deism with panentheism, believing the universe is a part of, but not all of a god. Polydeism, The belief that gods exist, but do not intervene in the universe
Theism
–
Gods in the Triumph of Civilization
20.
Nationalism
–
Nationalism is a complex, multidimensional concept involving a shared communal identification with ones nation. It is contrasted by Anti-nationalism as a political ideology oriented towards gaining and maintaining self-governance, or full sovereignty, Nationalism therefore holds that a nation should govern itself, free from unwanted outside interference, and is linked to the concept of self-determination. Nationalism therefore seeks to preserve the nations culture and it often also involves a sense of pride in the nations achievements, and is closely linked to the concept of patriotism. In these terms, nationalism can be considered positive or negative, from a political or sociological outlook, there are three main paradigms for understanding the origins and basis of nationalism. The first, known as Primordialism or Perennialism, sees nationalism as a natural phenomenon and it holds that although the concept nationhood may be recent, nations have always existed. The third, and most dominant paradigm is Modernism, which sees nationalism as a recent phenomenon that needs the structural conditions of society in order to exist. There are various definitions for what constitutes a nation, however and this anomie results in a society or societies reinterpreting identity, retaining elements that are deemed acceptable and removing elements deemed unacceptable, in order to create a unified community. Nationalism means devotion for the nation and it is a sentiment that binds the people together. National symbols and flags, national anthems, national languages, national myths, Nationalism is a newer word, in English the term dates from 1844, although the concept is older. It became important in the 19th century, the term increasingly became negative in its connotations after 1914. Glenda Sluga notes that The twentieth century, a time of disillusionment with nationalism, was also the great age of globalism. Nationalism is the term used to characterize the modern sense of national political autonomy. For example, German nationalism emerged as a reaction against Napoleonic control of Germany as the Confederation of the Rhine around 1805–14, linda Colley in Britons, Forging the Nation 1707–1837 explores how the role of nationalism emerged about 1700 and developed in Britain reaching full form in the 1830s. The early emergence of a popular patriotic nationalism took place in the mid-18th century, National symbols, anthems, myths, flags and narratives were assiduously constructed by nationalists and widely adopted. The Union Jack was adopted in 1801 as the national one, Thomas Arne composed the patriotic song Rule, Britannia. in 1740, and the cartoonist John Arbuthnot invented the character of John Bull as the personification of the English national spirit in 1712. The political convulsions of the late 18th century associated with the American, the Prussian scholar Johann Gottfried Herder originated the term in 1772 in his Essay on the Origins of Language. Stressing the role of a common language, the political development of nationalism and the push for popular sovereignty culminated with the ethnic/national revolutions of Europe. During the 19th century nationalism became one of the most significant political and social forces in history, napoleons conquests of the German and Italian states around 1800–06 played a major role in stimulating nationalism and the demands for national unity
Nationalism
–
Beginning in 1821, the
Greek War of Independence began as a rebellion by Greek nationalists against the ruling Ottoman Empire.
Nationalism
–
The growth of a national identity was expressed in a variety of symbolic ways, including the adoption of a
national flag. Pictured, a Scottish Union Flag in the 1704 edition of The Present State of the Universe.
Nationalism
–
Nationalist and liberal pressure led to the
European revolutions of 1848
Nationalism
–
Euromaidan activists carry flags of the
Ukrainian Insurgent Army, Ukraine, 2014
21.
Zedbazi
–
Zedbazi is an Iranian hip hop band from Tehran. They are known as the pioneer of rap in Iran. The band has been suspended since October 2014, and the members have divided into two groups. Foundation of the dates back to early 2002. It was started up by Saman Rezapour and Mehrad Mostowfi Rad, after moving to London, they met Sohrab Mostavafi in a summer school, where he joined the band after collaborating on Kal Kal, a cover of D12s Rap Game. The first collaboration of Siavash Jalali and Alireza Jazayeri with the earlier members was Berim Faza. Siavash and Alireza were best friends in Paris, where they had also met Nassim Parize, the three future band members officially joined Zedbazi by releasing Tabestoon Kootahe in September 2007. They brought a new style into the band, as Mehrad Hidden remarks in Ardeshir Ahmadis Zedbazi Documentary, the formula they brought was different than ours. Our formula was necessary for the inception, theirs was necessary for the continuation, the name Zedbazi consists of the words zed and bāzi. Zakhar is an old and non-common word in modern Persian language, therefore, Zedbazi can be translated as the zakhar acts. They are considered as the first musical band in Iran to use explicit language. Tabestoon Kootahe is considered as Zedbazis most popular song, which was released in September 2007 and it is about the bittersweet feeling of a summertime in Iran. In October 2014, the band announced a separation between the members and it was due to some internal disagreements. Saman Wilson, who had not been attending to the songs after Tabestoon Kootahe, returned and joined Mehrad Hidden. Alireza JJ, Sijal, and Nassim decided to work together, according to Alireza JJ, all of the members are still part of the band, but they are currently not working together. Their first studio album, Zakhar Nameh, was released on June 4,2012, all of the band members, except Saman Wilson, were involved in the album, featuring Hichkas, Behzad Leito and Arash Dara. On July 28,2014, the album Pir Shodim Vali Bozorg Na was released and it was composed by Alireza JJ and DJ AFX, and included Behzad Leito, Paya, Erfan, Sepehr Khalse, Sina Mafee, Magico and Cornellaa as featured artists. The album Bozorg, Vol.2, presented by Bozorg, was released on February 27,2015, with Sohrab MJ, Arash Dara, Tara Salahi, Kiarash, and Siamak as featured artists
Zedbazi
–
Zedbazi performing in London (2006)
Zedbazi
–
Left to right:
Alireza JJ, Nassim, Sohrab MJ, Sijal, and Mehrad Hidden; Zedbazi Documentary (2014)
22.
Gangsta rap
–
Gangsta rap or gangster rap is a subgenre of hip hop music with themes and lyrics that generally emphasize the gangsta lifestyle. After the national attention that Ice-T and N. W. A attracted in the late 1980s and early 1990s, gangsta rap became the most commercially lucrative subgenre of hip hop. Many gangsta rap artists openly boast of their associations with various street gangs as part of their artistic image, with the Bloods. Gangsta rap is closely related to other indigenous gang and crime-oriented forms of music, the subject matter inherent in gangsta rap has caused a great deal of controversy. The White House administrations of both George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton criticized the genre, many gangsta rappers argue that in the world of their genre exists the emotions and perspectives of a people whose suffering is too often overlooked and belittled by society. Gangsta rap, some argue, was an effect of the various wrongdoings perpetrated against African-Americans in underprivileged neighborhoods. The various riots sparked by the Rodney King beating and the acquittal of the officers responsible for the beating sparked anger. Gangsta rap acted as an outlet so such people could express themselves angrily and they often used gangsta rap to tell the stories of their lives, which sometimes included strong violence, hypersexuality, and drug abuse. The 1973 album Hustlers Convention by Lightnin Rod and Jaren Clark featured lyrics that deal with life, including pimping. Many rappers, such as Ice-T and Mac Dre, have credited pimp, rudy Ray Moores stand-up comedy and films based on his Dolemite hustler-pimp alter ego also influenced gangsta rap and are still a popular source for samples. Finally, blaxploitation films of the 1970s, with their depictions of black underworld figures, were a major inspiration as well. Tracy Ice-T Morrow, was born in Newark, New Jersey, as a teenager, he moved to Los Angeles where he rose to prominence in the West Coast hip hop scene. In 1986, Ice-T released 6 in the Mornin, which is regarded as among the first gangsta rap songs. In an interview with PROPS magazine, Ice-T said, Heres the exact order of what really went down. Then the syncopation of that rap was used by me when I made 6 in the Mornin, the vocal delivery was the same. P. S. K. is makin that green. six in the morning, police at my door. When I heard that record I was like Oh @#. *%, and call it a bite or what you will but I dug that record. My record didnt sound like P. S. K, but I liked the way he was flowing with it. P. S. K. was talking about Park Side Killers and that was the only difference, when Schoolly did it, it was. one by one, Im knockin em out
Gangsta rap
–
N.W.A's
Straight Outta Compton.
23.
Middle East
–
The Middle East is a transcontinental region centered on Western Asia and Egypt. The corresponding adjective is Middle-Eastern and the noun is Middle-Easterner. The term has come into usage as a replacement of the term Near East beginning in the early 20th century. Arabs, Turks, Persians, Kurds, and Azeris constitute the largest ethnic groups in the region by population. Indigenous minorities of the Middle East include Jews, Assyrians and other Arameans, Baloch, Berbers, Copts, Druze, Lurs, Mandaeans, Samaritans, Shabaks, Tats, in the Middle East, there is also a Romani community. European ethnic groups form a diaspora in the region include Albanians, Bosniaks, Circassians, Crimean Tatars, Franco-Levantines. Among other migrant populations are Bengalis as well as other Indians, Chinese, Filipinos, Indonesians, Pakistanis, the history of the Middle East dates back to ancient times, with the importance of the region being recognized for millennia. Most of the countries border the Persian Gulf have vast reserves of crude oil. The term Middle East may have originated in the 1850s in the British India Office, however, it became more widely known when American naval strategist Alfred Thayer Mahan used the term in 1902 to designate the area between Arabia and India. During this time the British and Russian Empires were vying for influence in Central Asia, Mahan realized not only the strategic importance of the region, but also of its center, the Persian Gulf. Mahan first used the term in his article The Persian Gulf and International Relations, published in September 1902 in the National Review, a British journal. The Middle East, if I may adopt a term which I have not seen, will some day need its Malta, as well as its Gibraltar, it does not follow that either will be in the Persian Gulf. The British Navy should have the facility to concentrate in force if occasion arise, about Aden, India, mahans article was reprinted in The Times and followed in October by a 20-article series entitled The Middle Eastern Question, written by Sir Ignatius Valentine Chirol. During this series, Sir Ignatius expanded the definition of Middle East to include regions of Asia which extend to the borders of India or command the approaches to India. After the series ended in 1903, The Times removed quotation marks from subsequent uses of the term, in the late 1930s, the British established the Middle East Command, which was based in Cairo, for its military forces in the region. After that time, the term Middle East gained broader usage in Europe, the description Middle has also led to some confusion over changing definitions. Before the First World War, Near East was used in English to refer to the Balkans and the Ottoman Empire, while Middle East referred to Iran, the Caucasus, Afghanistan, Central Asia, and Turkestan. The first official use of the term Middle East by the United States government was in the 1957 Eisenhower Doctrine, the Associated Press Stylebook says that Near East formerly referred to the farther west countries while Middle East referred to the eastern ones, but that now they are synonymous
Middle East
–
The
Temple Mount in
Jerusalem
Middle East
–
Map of the Middle East (green).
Middle East
–
The
Kaaba, located in
Mecca,
Saudi Arabia
Middle East
–
Islam is the largest religion in the Middle East. Here, Muslim men are
prostrating during prayer in a mosque.
24.
HuffPost
–
On February 7,2011, AOL acquired the mass market Huffington Post for US$315 million, making Arianna Huffington editor-in-chief of The Huffington Post Media Group. In July 2012, The Huffington Post was ranked #1 on the 15 Most Popular Political Sites list by eBizMBA Rank, Traffic Rank from both Compete and Quantcast. In 2012, The Huffington Post became the first commercially run United States digital media enterprise to win a Pulitzer Prize, the Huffington Post was founded by Arianna Huffington on May 9,2005. It has a community, with over one million comments made on the site each month. Prior to The Huffington Post, Huffington hosted a website called Ariannaonline. com and her first foray into the Internet was a website called Resignation. com, which called for the resignation of President Bill Clinton and was a rallying place for conservatives opposing Clinton. In August 2013, the website banned anonymous comments, in approximately June 2007, the site launched its first local version, HuffPost Chicago. In June 2009, HuffPost New York was launched, followed shortly by HuffPost Denver which launched on September 15,2009, and HuffPost Los Angeles which launched on December 2,2009. In 2011, three new editions were launched, HuffPost San Francisco on July 12, HuffPost Detroit, on November 17. HuffPost Hawaii was launched in collaboration with the investigative reporting. The Huffington Post launched its first international edition, HuffPost Canada, on July 6 of the same year, the Huffington Post UK launched its UK edition. On February 8, another French language edition was launched in the Canadian province of Quebec, on May Day, a U. S. -based Spanish-language edition was launched under the name HuffPost Voces, replacing AOLs Hispanic news platform, AOL Latino. The following month an edition for Spain was announced, as was one for Germany, on September 24, an Italian edition, LHuffington Post, was launched, directed by journalist Lucia Annunziata in collaboration with the media company Gruppo Editoriale LEspresso. On May 6,2013, an edition for Japan was launched with the collaboration of The Asahi Shimbun, with the launch of Al Huffington Post, there is a third francophone edition, this time for the Maghreb area. On October 10, Munich-based Huffington Post Deutschland has been put online in cooperation with the liberal-conservative magazine Focus, in January 2014, Arianna Huffington and Nicolas Berggruen announced the launch of the WorldPost, created in partnership with the Berggruen Institute. Its contributors have included former British prime minister Tony Blair, Google CEO Eric Schmidt, novelist Jonathan Franzen, on January 29,2014, the Brazilian version was launched as Brasil Post, in partnership with Abril Group, the first in Latin America. In September 2014, Huffington Post announced they will launch in Greece, India, and introduce HuffPost Arabi, on August 18,2015, HuffPost Australia was launched. The Huffington Post planned to launch a Chinese version in 2015, due to strict media controls, the content of Chinese version would not include serious news report, only entertainment and lifestyle. In 2011, after its purchase by AOL, The Huffington Post subsumed many of AOLs Voices properties, the Voices brand was expanded in September 2011 with the launch of Gay Voices, a vertical dedicated to LGBT-relevant articles
HuffPost
–
The Huffington Post
25.
Rolling Stone
–
Rolling Stone is an American biweekly magazine that focuses on popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner, who is still the publisher. It was first known for its coverage and for political reporting by Hunter S. Thompson. In the 1990s, the magazine shifted focus to a readership interested in youth-oriented television shows, film actors. In recent years, it has resumed its traditional mix of content, Rolling Stone magazine was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and Ralph Gleason. To get it off the ground, Wenner borrowed $7,500 from his own family and from the parents of his soon-to-be wife, Jane Schindelheim. The first issue carried a date of November 9,1967. Some authors have attributed the name solely to Dylans hit single, At Gleasons suggestion, Rolling Stone initially identified with and reported the hippie counterculture of the era. In the very first edition, Wenner wrote that Rolling Stone is not just about the music, in the 1970s, Rolling Stone began to make a mark with its political coverage, with the likes of gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson writing for the magazines political section. Thompson first published his most famous work Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas within the pages of Rolling Stone, where he remained a contributing editor until his death in 2005. In the 1970s, the magazine also helped launch the careers of prominent authors, including Cameron Crowe, Lester Bangs, Joe Klein, Joe Eszterhas, Patti Smith. It was at point that the magazine ran some of its most famous stories. One interviewer, speaking for a number of his peers, said that he bought his first copy of the magazine upon initial arrival on his college campus. In 1977, the magazine moved its headquarters from San Francisco to New York City, editor Jann Wenner said San Francisco had become a cultural backwater. During the 1980s, the magazine began to shift towards being an entertainment magazine. Music was still a dominant topic, but there was increasing coverage of celebrities in television, films, the magazine also initiated its annual Hot Issue during this time. Rolling Stone was initially known for its coverage and for Thompsons political reporting. In the 1990s, the changed its format to appeal to a younger readership interested in youth-oriented television shows, film actors
Rolling Stone
–
Cee Lo Green,
Adam Levine,
Christina Aguilera, and
Blake Shelton, on the cover of the February 1, 2012, issue of Rolling Stone
26.
MTV
–
MTV is an American cable and satellite television channel owned by Viacom Media Networks and headquartered in New York City. Launched on August 1,1981, the originally aired music videos as guided by television personalities known as video jockeys. In its early years, MTVs main target demographic was young adults and it has received criticism towards this change of focus, both by certain segments of its audience and musicians. MTVs influence on its audience, including issues involving censorship and social activism, has also been a subject of debate for several years, in recent years, MTV had struggled with the secular decline of music-related cable media. In April 2016, MTV announced it would start to return to its original music roots with the reintroduction of the classic MTV series MTV Unplugged. It was also reported that the series MTV Cribs would be making a return on Snapchat, MTV has spawned numerous sister channels in the US and affiliated channels internationally, some of which have gone independent. As of July 2015, approximately 92,188,000 US households have received MTV, several earlier concepts for music video-based television programming had been around since the early 1960s. The Beatles had used music videos to promote their records starting in the mid-1960s, CBS rejected the idea, but Williams premiered his own musical composition Classical Gas on the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, where he was head writer. The series featured clips from various popular artists, but was canceled by its distributor in 1971. The channel, which featured video disc jockeys, signed a deal with US Cable in 1978 to expand its audience from retail to cable television, the service was no longer active by the time MTV launched in 1981. The QUBE system offered many specialized channels, One of these specialized channels was Sight on Sound, a music channel that featured concert footage and music-oriented television programs. With the interactive QUBE service, viewers could vote for their favorite songs, the original programming format of MTV was created by media executive Robert W. Pittman, who later became president and chief executive officer of MTV Networks. Pittman had test-driven the music format by producing and hosting a 15-minute show, Album Tracks, the inspiration for PopClips came from a similar program on New Zealands TVNZ network named Radio with Pictures, which premiered in 1976. The concept itself had been in the works since 1966, when record companies began supplying the New Zealand Broadcasting Corporation with promotional music clips to play on the air at no charge. Few artists made the trip to New Zealand to appear live. A shortened version of the shuttle launch ID ran at the top of hour in various forms. The first music video shown on MTV was The Buggles Video Killed the Radio Star and this was followed by the video for Pat Benatars You Better Run. Sporadically, the screen would go black when an employee at MTV inserted a tape into a VCR, MTVs lower third graphics that appeared near the beginning and end of music videos would eventually use the recognizable Kabel typeface for about 25 years
MTV
–
Michael Jackson, whose discography included music videos such as "
Beat It ", "
Billie Jean ", and "
Thriller ".
MTV
–
MTV
MTV
–
1515 Broadway in
Times Square.
MTV
–
Ken Ober, host of the early MTV game show
Remote Control.
27.
Erfan (rapper)
–
Erfan Hajrasuliha, better known as Erfan Paydar, is an Iranian rapper and producer. His views are a result of his experiences and that is reflected in his poems. His songs provide a mixture of commentary on life as well politics, poetry. Erfan was born in Isfahan, Iran, on August 3,1983 and he ended his career after the Khodahafezi album was released. He now works as an estate agent in Los Angeles. He released his debut album Az Khaneh Ta Goor in 2007, erfan’s focus on his first album was to introduce Iranian hip hop to a wider audience and detail some of his frustrations with Iranian music. The album was named after a poem by Molaana Rumi about death, the album encompasses some of his thoughts as a travelling immigrant from his home country Iran. On September 1,2011 Erfan released the single, Donya Male Maast Featuring Sami Beigi, on July 24,2007, Erfan released his first album. Earlier events had provided inspiration for Erfans first album, Erfan was briefly arrested and jailed in 2002. Sad Ghasam was featured on Erfans debut album, Az Khaneh Ta Goor, Erfan has said that many old school/new school musicians and many old school/new school Iranian poets have influenced him in his style. He also mentions traditional Iranian music and names Iranian singers Dariush and Googoosh as well as American rappers Tupac Shakur, Nas, in 2007, he collaborated on a PSA for PACI. He continued supporting the Green Movement of Iran on his Facebook page, in 2016, he released an album which he ended his career with. This album includes 15 tracks named Mosafer, Almas, Gaahi, Khodafezi, Chimigi, Alefba, Virus, Enekas, Barnameh, Rahe Man2, Khuneye Madarbozorge, Ghahvetalkh, Lorazpam Intro, Lorazpam, Khodafezi. Az Khaneh Ta Goor Hamishegi Khodafezi PoetErfan. com Erfans Blog Erfans Facebook Erfans Myspace Erfans iTunes Guide CDBaby. com artist page
Erfan (rapper)
–
Erfan (عِرفان)
28.
Breakdancing
–
B-boying or breaking, also called breakdancing, is a style of street dance that originated primarily among Puerto Rican and African American youths during the mid-1970s in the Bronx. The dance spread worldwide due to popularity in the media, especially in such as Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Russia, South Korea. While diverse in the amount of variation available in the dance, b-boying consists of four kinds of movement, toprock, downrock, power moves, and freezes. B-boying is typically danced to hip-hop, funk music, and especially breakbeats, although modern trends allow for much wider varieties of music along certain ranges of tempo, a practitioner of this dance is called a b-boy, b-girl, or breaker. Although the term breakdance is frequently used to refer to the dance in culture and in the mainstream entertainment industry. These terms are preferred by the majority of the pioneers and most notable practitioners, instead of the term b-boying, the mainstream media promoted the artform as breakdancing, causing many to only know it as such. Enthusiasts consider breakdancing an ignorant and derogatory term due to the exploitation of the artform. The media displayed a simplified version of the dance, making it seem like the so-called “tricks” were everything, ultimately trading the culture for money and promotion. The dance itself is properly called breaking according to such as KRS-One, Talib Kweli, Mos Def. The terms b-boy, b-girl, and breaker are the terms used to describe the dancers who performed to DJ Kool Hercs breakbeats. DJ Kool Herc is a Jamaican-American DJ who is responsible for developing the foundational aspects of hip-hop music, the obvious connection of the term breaking is to the word breakbeat. DJ Kool Herc has commented that the term breaking was 1970s slang for getting excited, most breaking pioneers and practitioners prefer the terms b-boy, b-girl, and/or breaker when referring to these dancers. For those immersed in culture, the term breakdancer may be used to disparage those who learn the dance for personal gain rather than for commitment to the culture. B-boy London of the New York City Breakers and filmmaker Michael Holman refer to these dancers as breakers, frosty Freeze of the Rock Steady Crew says, we were known as b-boys, and hip-hop pioneer Afrika Bambaataa says, b-boys, what you call break boys. Or b-girls, what you call break girls, many elements of b-boying can be seen in other antecedent cultures prior to the 1970s. B-boy pioneers Richard Crazy Legs Colon and Kenneth Ken Swift Gabbert, many of b-boyings acrobatic moves, such as the flare, show clear connections to gymnastics. The engraving shows a man apparently B-boying. The dance was called the Giesse Harad Polska or salmon district dance, a young street dancer performing acrobatic headspins was recorded by Thomas Edison in 1898
Breakdancing
–
A b-boy performing outside
Faneuil Hall, Boston, MA, United States
Breakdancing
–
A b-boy practicing
downrock at a
studio in Moscow.
Breakdancing
–
B-boys performing on San Francisco's Powell Street in 2008.
Breakdancing
–
B-Boy performing hand hops in Washington D.C.
29.
Turntablism
–
The mixer is plugged into a PA system for live events and/or broadcasting equipment (if the DJ is performing on radio, TV or Internet radio, so that a wider audience can hear the turntablists music. Turntablists typically use two or more turntables and headphones to cue up desired start points on different records, the word turntablist was originated by Luis DJ Disk Quintanilla. The new term coincided with the resurgence of hip-hop DJing in the 1990s, some turntablists use turntable techniques like beat mixing/matching, scratching, and beat juggling. Some turntablists seek to have recognized as traditional musicians capable of interacting and improvising with other performers. The use of the turntable as an instrument has its roots dating back to the 1930s, 1940s. Experimental composers used them to sample and create music that was produced by the turntable. Cages Imaginary Landscape No.1 is composed for two variable speed turntables, frequency recordings, muted piano and cymbal, edgard Varèse experimented with turntables even earlier in 1930, though he never formally produced any works using them. Examples of turntable effects can also be found on popular records produced in the 1960s and 1970s, creedence Clearwater Revivals 1968 self-titled debut album features a backspin effect in the song Walk on the Water. However, turntablism as it is known today did not surface until the development of hip hop in the late 1970s, Turntablism as a modern art form and musical practice has its roots within African-American inner city hip hop and hip hop culture of the late 1970s. Kool DJ Herc, Afrika Bambaataa and Grandmaster Flash are widely credited for having cemented the now established role of DJ as hip hops foremost instrumentalist. Kool Hercs invention of break-beat DJing is generally regarded as the development in hip hop history. His influence on the concept of DJ as turntablist is equally profound, to understand the significance of this achievement, it is important to first define the break. Briefly, the break of a song is a musical fragment only seconds in length, Kool Herc introduced the break-beat technique as a way of extending the break indefinitely. This is done by buying two of the record, finding the break on each record, and switching from one to the other using the DJ mixer. Using that idea, Grandmaster Flash elaborated on Kool Hercs invention of break-beat DJing and came up with the quick-mix theory and he described it as being. like cutting, the backspin, and the double-back. Kool Hercs revolutionary techniques set the course for the development of turntablism as an art form in significant ways, most important, however, he developed a new form of DJing that did not consist of just playing and mixing records one after the other. The type of DJ that specializes in mixing a set is well respected for his/her own set of unique skills, the DJ would be examined critically by the crowd on both a technical and entertainment level. Grand Wizzard Theodore, an apprentice of Flash, who isolated the most recognizable technique of turntablism, [ Eshun
Turntablism
–
A DJ vinyl turntable system, consisting of two turntables and a crossfader mixer
30.
Graffiti
–
Graffiti are writing or drawings that have been scribbled, scratched, or painted illicitly on a wall or other surface, often within public view. Graffiti range from simple written words to elaborate wall paintings, and they have existed since ancient times, with examples dating back to Ancient Egypt, Ancient Greece, in modern times, paint and marker pens have become the most commonly used graffiti materials. In most countries, marking or painting property without the property owners permission is considered defacement and vandalism, Graffiti may also express underlying social and political messages and a whole genre of artistic expression is based upon spray paint graffiti styles. Within hip hop culture, graffiti have evolved alongside hip hop music, b-boying, unrelated to hip-hop graffiti, gangs use their own form of graffiti to mark territory or to serve as an indicator of gang-related activities. Controversies that surround graffiti continue to create disagreement amongst city officials, law enforcement, both graffiti and its occasional singular form graffito are from the Italian word graffiato. Graffiti is applied in art history to works of art produced by scratching a design into a surface, a related term is sgraffito, which involves scratching through one layer of pigment to reveal another beneath it. This technique was used by potters who would glaze their wares. In ancient times graffiti were carved on walls with a sharp object, the word originates from Greek γράφειν — graphein — meaning to write. The term graffiti referred to the inscriptions, figure drawings, and such, found on the walls of ancient sepulchres or ruins, use of the word has evolved to include any graphics applied to surfaces in a manner that constitutes vandalism. Safaitic dates from the first century BC to the fourth century AD, the first known example of modern style graffiti survives in the ancient Greek city of Ephesus. Local guides say it is an advertisement for prostitution, located near a mosaic and stone walkway, the graffiti shows a handprint that vaguely resembles a heart, along with a footprint and a number. This is believed to indicate that a brothel was nearby, with the handprint symbolizing payment, the ancient Romans carved graffiti on walls and monuments, examples of which also survive in Egypt. Graffiti in the world had different connotations than they carry in todays society concerning content. One inscription gives the address of a woman named Novellia Primigenia of Nuceria, another shows a phallus accompanied by the text, mansueta tene. Etched on the surface of the Mirror Wall, they contain pieces of prose, poetry, the majority of these visitors appear to have been from the elite of society, royalty, officials, professions, and clergy. There were also soldiers, archers, and even some metalworkers, the topics range from love to satire, curses, wit, and lament. Many demonstrate a high level of literacy and a deep appreciation of art. Most of the graffiti refer to the frescoes of semi-nude females found there, one reads, Among the ancient political graffiti examples were Arab satirist poems
Graffiti
–
Ancient graffito at
Kom Ombo Temple, Egypt
Graffiti
–
Ancient
Pompeii graffito
caricature of a politician
Graffiti
–
Ironic wall inscription commenting on boring graffiti
Graffiti
–
Satirical
Alexamenos graffito, possibly the earliest known
representation of Jesus
31.
Rapping
–
The components of rapping include content, flow, and delivery. Rap differs from spoken-word poetry in that rap is performed in time to a beat. Rapping is often associated with and an ingredient of hip-hop music. Rapping is also used in Kwaito music, a genre originated in Johannesburg, South Africa. Another form of rap that predates hip hop was boxer Muhammad Alis rhythmic poetry used to taunt his opponents in the 1960s and 1970s, rapping can be delivered over a beat, typically provided by a DJ, turntablist or Beatboxer, or without accompaniment. Stylistically, rap occupies an area between speech, prose, poetry, and singing. The word, as used to describe quick speech or repartee, the word had been used in British English since the 16th century. It was part of the African American dialect of English in the 1960s meaning to converse, today, the terms rap and rapping are so closely associated with hip-hop music that many writers use the terms interchangeably. The English verb rap has various meanings, such as to strike, especially with a quick, smart, or light blow, as well to utter sharply or vigorously, to rap out a command. The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary gives a date of 1541 for the first recorded use of the word with the meaning to utter sharply, vigorously and it is these meanings from which the musical form of rapping derives, and this definition may be from a shortening of repartee. A rapper refers to a performer who raps, by the late 1960s, when Hubert G. Brown changed his name to H. Rap was used to describe talking on records as early as 1971, on Isaac Hayes album Black Moses with track names such as Ikes Rap, Ikes Rap II, Ikes Rap III, Hayes husky-voiced sexy spoken raps became key components in his signature sound. Del the Funky Homosapien similarly states that rap was used to refer to talking in a manner in the early 1970s. Back then what rapping meant, basically, was you trying to convey something—youre trying to convince somebody, thats what rapping is, its in the way you talk. Rapping can be traced back to its African roots, centuries before hip-hop music existed, the griots of West Africa were delivering stories rhythmically, over drums and sparse instrumentation. Such connections have been acknowledged by modern artists, modern day griots, spoken word artists, mainstream news sources. Grammy-winning blues musician/historian Elijah Wald and others have argued that the blues were being rapped as early as the 1920s, Wald went so far as to call hip hop the living blues. A notable recorded example of rapping in blues music was the 1950 song Gotta Let You Go by Joe Hill Louis, not just jazz music and lyrics but also jazz poetry
Rapping
–
The
Memphis Jug Band, an early blues group, whose lyrical content and rhythmic singing predated rapping.
32.
Battle rap
–
Improv/freestyles are improvised in this way. Its basically a rhyme just bragging about yourself, myka 9 adds, back in the day freestyle was bust a rhyme about any random thing, and it was not a written rhyme or something memorized. Divine Styler says, in the school I come from, freestyling was a written rhyme. and now they call freestyling off the top of the head. Kool Moe Dee also refers to this definition in his book, Theres A God On The Mic. Theres an old-school freestyle thats basically rhymes that youve just thought of on the spot that may not have anything to do with any subject or that all over the place. Then theres freestyle where you come off the top of the head, referring to this earlier definition Big Daddy Kane stated, thats really what a freestyle is and Kool Moe Dee refers to it as true freestyle, and the real old-school freestyle. Kool Moe Dee suggests that Kool G Raps track Men At Work is an excellent example of true freestyle, along with Rakims Lyrics of Fury. This type of freestyle is the focus of Kevin Fitzgeralds documentary, Freestyle, The Art of Rhyme and we have redefined what freestyle is by saying that its improvisational rap like a jazz solo. Any emcee coming off the top of the head wasnt really respected, the sentiment was emcees only did that if they couldnt write. The coming off the top of the head rhymer had an excuse to not be critiqued as hard. Reasons for freestyling include entertainment, as an activity, to discover different ways of rapping, promoting oneself, increasing versatility. Improvised freestyling can also be used in performances, to do things such as giving something extra to the crowd. In order to prove that a freestyle is being made up on the spot, rappers will often refer to places and objects in their immediate setting, freestyles are performed a cappella, over beatboxing, or over instrumental versions of songs. Freestyling is often done in a setting called a cypher or as part of a freestyle battle. Due to the nature of freestyle, meter and rhythm are usually more relaxed than in conventional rapping. Many artists base their freestyle on their current situation or mental state, freestyling can also be used as a songwriting method for albums or mixtapes. A freestyle battle is a contest in two or more rappers compete or battle each other using improvised lyrics. It is a prominent part of hip hop culture, in a freestyle battle, each competitors goal is to diss their opponent through clever lyrics and wordplay, with heavy emphasis being placed upon the rappers improvisational ability
Battle rap
33.
Hip-hop dance
–
Hip-hop dance refers to street dance styles primarily performed to hip-hop music or that have evolved as part of hip-hop culture. It includes a range of styles primarily breaking, locking. The television show Soul Train and the 1980s films Breakin, Beat Street, the dance industry responded with a commercial, studio-based version of hip-hop—sometimes called new style—and a hip-hop influenced style of jazz dance called jazz-funk. Classically trained dancers developed these studio styles in order to choreograph from the dances that were performed on the street. Because of this development, hip-hop dance is practiced in both studios and outdoor spaces. 1980s films, television shows, and the Internet have contributed to introducing hip-hop dance outside of the United States, since being exposed, educational opportunities and dance competitions have helped maintain its presence worldwide. Europe hosts several international hip-hop competitions such as the UK B-Boy Championships, Juste Debout, Australia hosts a team-based competition called World Supremacy Battlegrounds and Japan hosts a two-on-two competition called World Dance Colosseum. What distinguishes hip-hop from other forms of dance is that it is often freestyle in nature, crews, freestyling, and battles are identifiers of this style. Hip-hop dance can be a form of entertainment or a hobby and it can also be a way to stay active in competitive dance and a way to make a living by dancing professionally. Hip-hop dance is a category that includes a variety of styles. The older dance styles that were created in the 1970s include uprock, breaking, breaking was created in The Bronx, New York, incorporating dances that were popular in the 1960s and early 1970s in African-American and Latino communities. In its earliest form, it began as elaborations on James Browns Good Foot dance which came out in 1972, breaking at this period was not primarily floor-oriented as seen today, it started out as toprock which dancers perform while standing up. An influence on toprock was uprock which was created in Brooklyn, uprock looks similar to toprock, but it is more aggressive and looks like a fight. Uprock is also performed with partners, but in toprock—and in breaking in general—each person takes turns dancing, in 1973, DJ Kool Herc invented the break beat. A break beat is a rhythmic, musical interlude of a song that has been looped over and over again to extend that instrumental solo, Kool Herc did this to provide a means for dancers who attended his parties to demonstrate their skills. B-boy and b-girl stands for break-boy and break-girl, b-boys and b-girls dance to the break of a record, further influenced by martial arts and gymnastics, breaking went from being a purely upright dance style—toprock only—to becoming more floor-oriented. At the same time breaking was developing in New York, other styles were being created in California, out of all of these dances, boogaloo is one of the oldest. It started out as a 1960s fad dance and was the subject of songs released during that time such as Do the Boogaloo
Hip-hop dance
–
A
b-boy performing in Turkey surrounded by a group of spectators.
Hip-hop dance
–
A b-boy in an
airchair freeze at Street Summit 2006 in Moscow.
Hip-hop dance
–
Hip-hop dancer Joseph Coine performing in 2011 in Wallace Theater at
Fort Belvoir, Virginia.
Hip-hop dance
–
The JabbaWockeez, winners of the first season of America's Best Dance Crew, performing in 2008 at Vivid Nightclub in
San Jose, California.
34.
Hip hop fashion
–
Each city contributed various elements to its overall style seen worldwide today. Hip hop fashion complements the expressions and attitudes of hip hop culture in general, Hip hop fashion has changed significantly during its history, and today, it is a prominent part of popular fashion as a whole across the world and for all ethnicities. In the late 1970s, established sportswear and fashion brands, such as Le Coq Sportif, Kangol, Adidas and Pro-Keds attached themselves to the emerging hip hop scene. During the 1980s, hip-hop icons wore clothing items such as brightly colored name-brand tracksuits, sheepskin and leather jackets, Clarks shoes. Popular haircuts ranged from the early-1980s Jheri curl to the early-1990s hi-top fade popularized by Will Smith and Christopher Kid Reid of Kid n Play, popular accessories included large eyeglasses, Kangol bucket hats, nameplates, name belts, and multiple rings. Heavy gold jewelry was popular in the 1980s, heavy jewelry in general would become an enduring element of hip hop fashion. In general, mens jewelry focused on gold chains and womens jewelry on large gold earrings. The heavy jewelry was suggestive of prestige and wealth, and some have connected the style to Africanism, the famous rapper, Jay Z also echoed the same words O’Neal talks about. It is not necessarily because of consumption that the hip-hop lifestyle brought in these high end fashion products. In addition, the Preppy looks also caught onto 80s youth in the first wave of hip-hop influence, the immense popularity of the brand, Tommy Hilfiger among the hip-hop subculture community then led to the global expansion of the brand. Hip-hop has also adopted and then transformed traditional or “old world” luxury symbols and made them modern-day, rapper LL Cool J wore a Kangol hat back in the 1980s, when few Americans knew anything about the European hat maker—but its association with hip-hop would invigorate the brand. In 2003, London-based Kangol even acknowledged the popularity given its sixty-year-old brand by a young LL Cool J in 1983, black nationalism was increasingly influential in rap during the late 1980s, and fashions and hairstyles reflected traditional African influences. Blousy pants were popular among dance-oriented rappers like M. C, in the early 1990s, pop rappers such as The Fresh Prince, Kid n Play, and Left Eye of TLC popularized baseball caps and bright, often neon-colored, clothing. TLC and late R&B singer Aaliyah created a trend among women. Wearing over-sized pants and big flannel shirts, they would couple the over-sized clothing with a shirt usually a sports bra underneath their big shirts. This was to show their own version of femininity, everything does not have to be form fitting, kris Kross also established the fad of wearing clothes backwards. Kwamé sparked the trend of polka-dot clothing as well, while others continued wearing their mid-1980s attire. Gangsta rap pioneers N. W. A popularized a form of street Gangsta style in the late 1980s from the African American Gangs
Hip hop fashion
–
Faada Freddy of the Senegalese rap crew
Daara J in Germany, 2005
Hip hop fashion
–
Rapper
Slim Thug wearing a
stocking cap
Hip hop fashion
–
Bling-bling jewelry worn by
Jim Jones and
Juelz Santana of
Dipset.
Hip hop fashion
–
Kanye West performing in 2006 wearing a fitted
sportcoat
35.
Hip-hop theater
–
Hip-hop theater is a form of theater that presents contemporary stories through the use of one or more of the four elements of hip-hop culture—b-boying, graffiti writing, MCing, and DJing. Other cultural markers of such as spoken word, beatboxing. What is most important is the language of the theatrical piece, hip-hop theater productions appear in a wide range of platforms including single performances, week-long festivals, and traveling repertory companies. Marc Bamuthi Joseph is a spoken word poet and dancer who has been commissioned several times to create. British choreographer Jonzi D is the director of the London-based Breakin Convention. Rennie Harris, Mourad Merzouki, and Victor Quijada are artistic directors who run hip-hop theater companies in the U. S. France, the Rock Steady Crew, Magnificent Force, and the Rhythm Technicians pioneered this theatrical genre which started in the United States. Though hip-hop culture has managed to establish itself on film, on television, in fashion, in music, stage productions are few in number but growing. The first hip-hop stage shows were 1990s off Broadway musical So, what Happens Now. and 1995s Jam on the Groove which were co-authored, co-directed, and co-choreographed by Jorge Popmaster Fabel Pabon and Steffan Mr. Wiggles Clemente. Rock Steady Crew, Magnificent Force, and the Rhythm Technicians performed in both shows, aside from the pioneers in New York City was Lorenzo Rennie Harris Puremovement hip-hop theater company which Harris founded in 1992 in Philadelphia. The company has toured all over the world showcasing its original works such as March of the Antmen, P-Funk, Endangered Species, Facing Mekka, Other hip-hop theater companies were founded in the 1990s. Compagnie Käfig is a French hip-hop theater company of mostly Algerian descent founded in 1995 by Mourad Merzouki and their performances mix standard b-boying, locking, and popping with capoeira, mime, and gymnastics. They use the fusion in music by mixing rap music with classical music. While on tour in the U. S. they performed at Jacobs Pillow in Massachusetts, Bintou Dembélé, whom is recognized as one of the pioneer in French hip hop, performed at the Joyce Theater in New York with Mourad Merzoukis danse compagnie Käfig in 2002. In 2002, she created her own dance compagnie, which she describes as being inspired by Pina Bauschs notion of danced theater. In 2014, she created a show untitled Z. H which, by raising and exploring the issue of human zoos questions French racism. More broadly, Bintou Dembélés dance aims to unsettle her audience and interrogate its relation to the Other, to the different, to the other, to relativity and time. The Groovaloos are a hip-hop theater company based in Los Angeles that was founded by Bradley Shooz Rapier and they started out in 1999 as a dance crew and eventually developed a stage show called Groovaloo that is a series of stories based on the true life experiences of the dancers. Company members include Edmundo Poe One Loayza, Rynan Kid Rainen Paguio from JabbaWockeeZ, rUBBERBANDance Group was founded in 2002 in Montreal by Los Angeles native Victor Quijada
Hip-hop theater
–
French hip-hop
dance company Franck II Louise performing at
Breakin' Convention 2006.
36.
Old-school hip hop
–
Old-School Hip Hop describes the earliest commercially recorded hip hop music, and the music in the period preceding it from which it was directly descended. Old school hip hop is said to have ended around 1984 due to changes in both rapping technique and the music and rhythms. It is characterized by the simpler rapping techniques of the time, old-school hip hop is noted for its relatively simple rapping techniques compared to later hip-hop music. Artists such as Melle Mel would use few syllables per bar of music, with simple rhythms, much of the subject matter of old school hip hop centers around partying and having a good time. In the book How to Rap, Immortal Technique explains how party content played a big part in old school hip hop, hip-hop was born in an era of social turmoil, in the same way that slaves used to sing songs on a plantation. Thats the party songs that we used to have, as mentioned earlier, a notable exception is the song The Message, which was written, produced and mainly rapped by Duke Bootee. It was offered to Grandmaster Flash and he turned it down, citing that no one wanted to hear reality, Melle Mel however contacted Duke Bootee afterward and expressed that he did want to take part. Melle Mel rapped the verse he rapped in 1979s Super Rappin on the Message, once the song was completed it was released under the banner of Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five in order to give it some credibility. The song was a hit and introduced social commentary to hip hop, Duke Bootee solely produced and rapped The Message II with Melle Mel again in 1983. Battle rap was also a part of the old school hip hop aesthetic, while discussing battle rapping, Esoteric said, a lot of my stuff stems from old school hip-hop, braggadocio ethic. A famous old school hip hop battle occurred in December 1981 when Kool Moe Dee challenged Busy Bee Starski. Busy Bee Starskis defeat by the more complex raps of Kool Moe Dee meant that no longer was an MC just a crowd-pleasing comedian with a tongue, he was a commentator. KRS-One also credits this as creating a shift in rapping in the documentary Beef, sci-Fi/Afrofuturism was another theme introduced into hip hop. The release of Planet Rock in 1982 was a game changer, the combination of electronic percussive propulsion and Afrika Bambaataas rap sounded like an orchestra being rocketed into outer space. Light Years Away, by Warp 9, produced and written by Lotti Golden and Richard Scher, a cornerstone of early 80s beatbox afrofuturism, Light Years Away, is characterized as a brilliantly spare and sparse piece of electro hip-hop traversing inner and outer space. Freestyle rap during hip-hops old school era was defined differently than it is today, Kool Moe Dee refers to this earlier definition in his book, Theres a God on the Mic, There are two types of freestyle. Theres an old-school freestyle thats basically rhymes that youve written that may not have anything to do with any subject or that all over the place. Then theres freestyle where you come off the top of the head, in old school hip hop, Kool Moe Dee says that improvisational rapping was instead called coming off the top of the head
Old-school hip hop
–
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five
Old-school hip hop
–
Warp 9 in
Sci-Fi Spacesuits (1983)
37.
New school hip hop
–
The new school of hip hop was a movement in hip hop music starting 1983–84 with the early records of Run–D. M. C. and LL Cool J. Like the hip hop preceding it, it came predominantly from New York City, the new school was initially characterized in form by drum machine led minimalism, often tinged with elements of rock. It was notable for taunts and boasts about rapping, and socio-political commentary, in image as in song its artists projected a tough, cool, street b-boy attitude. These elements contrasted sharply with the funk and disco influenced outfits, novelty hits, live bands, synthesizers and party rhymes of artists prevalent in 1984, New school artists made shorter songs that could more easily gain radio play, and more cohesive LPs than their old school counterparts. By 1986 their releases began to establish the hip hop album as a fixture of the mainstream, hip-hop production became denser, rhymes and beats faster, as the drum machine was augmented with the sampler technology. Rakim took lyrics about the art of rapping to new heights, while KRS-One, native Tongues artists inclusive, sample-crowded music accompanied their positivity, Afrocentricity and playful energy. I. G. Coming to dominate the East Coast scene, the phrase leader of the new school, coined in hip hop by Chuck D in 1988, and presumably given further currency by the group with the exact name Leaders of the New School, remains popular. It has been applied to artists ranging from Jay-Z to Lupe Fiasco, elements of new school had existed in some form in the popular culture since hip-hops birth. This part of the culture was initiated by Kool DJ Herc in 1972 using breaks from James Brown, The Incredible Bongo Band, browns music—extensive vamps in which his voice was a percussive instrument with frequent rhythmic grunts, and with rhythm-section patterns. West African polyrhythms—was a keynote of hip hops early days, by 1975, Grandmaster Flash and Afrika Bambaataa had taken up Kool Hercs breakbeat style of DJing, each with their own accompanying rappers. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band and Grand Funk Railroads Inside Looking Out on unsuspecting b-boys, the earliest hip-hop records replaced the DJ with a live band playing funk and disco influenced tunes, or interpolating the tunes themselves, as in Rappers Delight and King Tim III. It was the soft, futuristic funk closely tied to disco that ruled hip hops early days on record, often though the rawer elements present in live shows did not make it past the recording studio. Bambaataas first records, for instance, two versions of Zulu Nation Throwdown, were recorded with just drums and rhymes, when Bambaataa heard the released records, a complete live band had been added. Likewise on the bootleg Live Convention 82, Grand Wizard Theodore cuts the first six bars of Rufus Thomass Do the Funky Penguin together for five and a half minutes while an MC raps over the top. Grandmaster Flashs Superrappin had a pumping syncopated rhythm and The Furious Five emulating his spinbacks and needle drops and chanting that that Flash is on the beatbox going. The beatbox itself however, a machine which Flash had added to his turntable set-up some time earlier, was absent on the record. Kool Moe Dees verbal personal attacks on Busy Bee Starski live at Harlem World in 1982 caused a sensation in hip hop circles. In the same way, groups like the Cold Crush Brothers and The Force MCs were known for their routines, competitive attitude, tapes of battles like these circulated widely, even without them becoming viable recordings
New school hip hop
–
KRS-One exemplified new school's
hardcore and
political aesthetics as a part of
Boogie Down Productions.
New school hip hop
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Street style: Run-D.M.C. on the cover of their debut LP, 1984
New school hip hop
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The image Run-D.M.C. presented was in contrast to that of acts of the old school: Flash and the Furious Five, 1985
New school hip hop
–
It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back: cover shot by
Glen E. Friedman at the city jail on Thirty-second Street, New York
38.
Electro (music)
–
Electro is a genre of electronic music and early hip hop directly influenced by the use of the Roland TR-808 drum machines, and funk. This is the distinction between electro and previously prominent genres such as disco, in which the electronic sound was only part of the instrumentation. It also palpably deviates from its predecessor boogie for being less vocal-oriented, following the decline of disco music in the United States, electro emerged as a fusion of funk and New York boogie. Early hip hop and rap combined with German and Japanese electropop influences such as Kraftwerk, Planet Rock was followed later that year by another breakthrough electro record, Nunk by Warp 9. In 1983, Hashim created an electro funk sound which influenced Herbie Hancock, the early 1980s were electros mainstream peak. By the mid 1980s, the genre moved away from its electronic and funk influences, using harder edged beats and rock samples, Electro became popular again in the late 1990s with artists such as Anthony Rother and DJs such as Dave Clarke. A third wave of popularity occurred in 2007, Electro has branched out into subgenres, including Electrocore and Skweee, which developed in Sweden and Finland. From its inception, one of the characteristics of the electro sound was the use of drum machines, particularly the Roland TR-808. As the genre evolved, computers and sampling replaced drum machines in electronic music and it is important to note, that although the electro of the 1980s and contemporary electro both grew out of the dissolution of disco, they are now different genres. Classic electro drum patterns tend to be electronic emulations of breakbeats, with a kick drum. The difference between electro drumbeats and breakbeats is that electro tends to be mechanical, while breakbeats tend to have more of a human-like feel. The definition however is somewhat ambiguous in nature due to the uses of the term. The Roland TR-808 drum machine hit the market in 1980, defining early electro with its immediately recognizable sound, staccato, percussive drumbeats tended to dominate electro, almost exclusively provided by the TR-808. As an inexpensive way of producing a sound, the TR-808 caught on quickly with the producers of early electro because of the ability of its bass drum to generate extreme low-frequencies. This aspect of the Roland TR-808 was especially appealing to producers who would test drive their tracks in nightclubs and its unique percussion sounds like handclaps, open and closed high-hat, clave and cowbell became integral to the electro sound. A number of songs in the early 1980s employed the TR-808, including Marvin Gaye’s “Sexual Healing, ” Cybotron’s “Clear, ” and Afrika Bambaataa’s “Planet Rock. ”The Roland TR-808 has attained iconic status. Through the use of samples, the Roland TR-808 remains popular in electro, most electro is instrumental, but a common element is vocals processed through a vocoder. Additionally, speech synthesis may be used to create robotic or mechanical lyrical content, as in the iconic Planet Rock, although primarily instrumental, early electro utilized rap
Electro (music)
–
Warp 9 in
Sci-Fi Spacesuits (1983)
Electro (music)
–
Afrika Bambaataa (left) in 2004
Electro (music)
–
Juan Atkins performing as
Model 500 in 2007
39.
Christian hip hop
–
Christian hip hop is hip hop music characterized by a Christian worldview, with the general purposes of evangelization, edifying some members of the church and/or simply entertaining. It emphasizes the use of positive and uplifting messages to promote faith, Christian hip hop, blending rhythmic music and faith-based lyrics, first emerged on record in 1982 with a track entitled Jesus Christ by Queens, New York artist McSweet. The first full-length, Christian hip hop album, Bible Break, other early Christian hip recording artists from the mid-1980s included P. I. D. who recorded to funky rock rhythms, as well as JC & the Boys and Michael Peace. The first notable full album released was Stephen Wileys Bible Break, written by Wiley, in the same year by David Guzman founded JC & The Boyz. Some of Americas premiere Christian rappers, such as, Michael Peace, SFC, Dynamic Twins, MC Peace, a more commercially successful crew known as P. I. D. Michael Peace is an American rapper and one of Christian raps first solo artists, in the late 1980s, other crews emerged, including dc Talk, E. T. W. and S. F. C. ETW was led by producer/artist Mike Hill who went on to one of the largest inner city youth groups in the country out of Tulsa Oklahoma. S. F. C. was led by Chris Cooper who originally rapped as Super C and later became Sup the Chemist, Christian emcee Danny D-Boy Rodriguez was another well-known early Gospel rap artist, but was murdered in 1990 in Texas. She would go on to release an album in 1991. The 1990s saw the trend of funky rap artists blending faith and rap, such as D. O. C. who emerged from Oklahoma as well as the Gospel Gangstaz from Compton. In 1991, JC Crew emerged featuring Maximillian and T-Bone, other Christian rap artists include Dynamic Twins, Freedom of Soul, IDOL King, Apocalypse, 12th Tribe, and Holy Alliance. 12th Tribe and Holy Alliance were produced by Scott Blackwell of MYX Records, S. F. C. s 1992 album Phase III was DJed and produced by DJ Dove, whose credits also include the Gang Affiliated, Gospel Gangstas 1993 debut album. Around the same time as Phase III, Dynamic Twins came out with their 1993 album No Room To Breathe, Freedom of Soul followed with their second album, The Second Coming, also their last album as a group. The label was among the first to market the Contemporary Christian music market through distribution at Christian bookstores and playing on Christian radio. This trend continued with other such as Tooth & Nails Uprok Records and others that gave an outlet to hip hop artists who identified themselves as Christian. Recently, a number of artists and labels such as Reach Records, Grace and Peace Records, Kirk Franklin joined with the 1 Nation Crew in the album Kirk Franklin Presents 1NC. In September 2009, the Higherground Record Pool and One Accord DJ Alliance held their first Gospel DJ Conference at the Crowne Plaza, Queens, the first known Gospel DJs were honored at the event. Kingdom Affiliates Record Pool also was represented at the conference, most recently Christian rap artists like Lecrae and his label-mates from Reach Records have been setting records with sales and award-winning albums
Christian hip hop
–
Christian rapper
Tedashii performing live in 2012 at an
Ichthus Music Festival
40.
Conscious hip hop
–
Political hip hop is a subgenre of hip hop music that was developed in the 1980s as a way of turning rap music into a call for action and a form of social activism. Inspired by 1970s political preachers such as The Last Poets and musician Gil Scott-Heron and it has helped to create a new form of social expression for subordinate groups to speak about their exclusions, injustices and lack of power. Political hip hop is the use of hip hop music to send messages to inspire action or to convince the listener of a particular worldview. There is no all-encompassing political hip hop ideology, rather, there are perspectives that range anywhere from Libertarianism to the values of the Five Percent Nation. Conscious hip hop is not necessarily overtly political, but the two are used interchangeably. The term nation-conscious rap has been used to specifically describe hip hop music with strong political messages and themes. Themes of conscious hip hop include afrocentricity, religion, aversion to crime & violence, culture, songs expressing the theme of black pride include James Browns Say it Loud, and Billy Pauls Am I Black Enough for You. The ideals articulated by Gil Scott-Heron and other artists were not a reality, changes in predominant African-American musical genres were closely correlated with major transformations in the sociopolitical and economic environment for African Americans. One of the first socially conscious hip-hop songs was How We Gonna Make The Black Nation Rise. by Brother D with Collective Effort, furthermore, the complex sociopolitical issues before hip hop and during all of its stages severely influenced its birth and direction. Examples of conscious and political hip-hop music throughout the decades include Whodinis Growing Up, Kurtis Blow, early gangsta rap often showed significant overlap with political and conscious rap. Pioneers in the rap genre such as Ice-T, N. W. A. Ice-Ts work would focus on other topics, for example, he rapped about free speech on his third album. Ice Cubes first two albums were produced by the hip hop production team the Bomb Squad, known for their work with the rap group Public Enemy. Furthermore, Ice Cube produced and appeared on the controversial and radical political rap/gangsta rap album Guerillas in tha Mist by Da Lench Mob in the wake of the 1992 Los Angeles Riots, the artists who consistently produce conscious rap are largely underground. However, mainstream artists are increasingly including elements of conscious hip-hop in their songs, there are hundreds of artists whose music could be described as political or who identify as political rappers, see the List of Political hip hop artists page for a partial list. Hip Hops outreach to the world is widespread. From the onset of hip hop in the 80s throughout the 90s the culture was either ignored or criticized by politicians on both sides, there was one cultural idea that seemed to have bi-partisan support, that rap music was a symptom of the destruction of American values. This opinion, however, fails to recognize the oppression and injustices experienced by blacks and other minority groups which rap music
Conscious hip hop
–
Rakim performing in 1998
Conscious hip hop
–
Five-Percent emblem
41.
Crunk
–
Crunk is a subgenre of hip hop music that emerged in the early 1990s and gained mainstream success during the mid 2000s. Performers of crunk music are sometimes referred to as crunkmeisters, Crunk is often up-tempo and one of Southern hip hops more dance and club oriented subgenres. An archetypal crunk track frequently uses a main groove consisting of layered keyboard synths, a drum rhythm, heavy basslines. The term crunk is also used as a term to denote any style of Southern hip hop. The word derives from its African-American slang past-participle form, crunk, the genre is almost always excessively sexual, profane, and obscene. The term has been attributed mainly to African-American slang, in which it holds various meanings and it most commonly refers to the verb phrase to crank up. In publications, crunk can be traced back to 1972 in the Dr. Seuss book Marvin K. Mooney Will You Please Go Now and he uses the term Crunk-Car without any given definition. The term has also traced to usage in the 1980s coming out of Atlanta, Georgia nightclubs. In the mid-1990s, crunk was variously defined either as hype, phat, rolling Stone magazine published glossary of Dirty South slang, where to crunk was defined as to get excited. The term was in part popularized on Late Night with Conan OBrien in 1993, though it was spelled differently, krunk became a recurring theme on the show between Conan and various guests. Ice-T was one of the first guests to use the word on air, as it was joked that the word was not offensive sounding enough, outkast has been attributed as the first artist to use the term in mainstream music, in the 1993 track Players Ball. Artist Lil Jon was instrumental in bringing the term further into the mainstream with his 1997 album titled Get Crunk, Who U Wit, Da Album. He later released songs and albums using the term, and has been credited by other artists. Lil Jon further popularized the word with his 2004 album Crunk Juice and this use of crunk became synonymous with the meaning crazy drunk. Non-alcoholic drinks, to which alcohol could be added, were manufactured and marketed under the Crunk brand name, the term has continued to evolve, taking on a negative stigma with police, parents and the media. In 2011, the company which manufactured Crunk drink brought out a version named Crunk Juice. The mainstream media began publishing stories in which the term crunk was used to refer to crazy, musically, crunk borrows heavily from bass music and 1980s-era call-and-response hip hop. Heavy use of synthesized instruments and sparse, truncated 808 drums are staples of the crunk sound, looped, stripped-down drum machine rhythms are usually used
Crunk
–
Lil Jon is one of crunk's most prominent musicians.
42.
East Coast hip hop
–
East Coast hip hop is a regional subgenre of hip hop music that originated in the New York City area during the 1970s. In contrast to other styles, East Coast hip hop music has prioritized complex lyrics for attentive listening rather than beats for dancing, the main components of hip hop culture from that time and still today are MCing, DJing, break dancing, and graffiti. In contrast to the rhyme pattern and scheme utilized in old school hip hop. It has also characterized by multi-syllabic rhymes, complex wordplay. East Coast hip hop has a sound and style, it tends to gravitate to aggressive beats. The aggressive and hard-hitting beats of the form were emphasized by such acts as EPMD and Public Enemy, & Rakim, Boogie Down Productions, Big Daddy Kane, Nas, Notorious B. I. G and Slick Rick were noted for their lyrical skill. East coast hip hop is occasionally referred to as New York rap due to its origins, according to AllMusic, At the dawn of the hip-hop era, all rap was East Coast rap. Early artists of the form, including DJ Kool Herc, Grandmaster Flash, Afrika Bambaataa, the Sugarhill Gang, Kurtis Blow, Jam Master Jay, pioneered East Coast hip hop during hip hops development. New York-based groups such as De La Soul, A Tribe Called Quest, later in 1992, Dr. Dres G-Funk record The Chronic would introduce West Coast hip hop to the mainstream. Along with an ability to retain its primary function as party music. Although G-Funk was the most popular variety of hip hop during the early 1990s, during this period, several New York City rappers rising from the local underground scene, began releasing noteworthy albums in the early and mid nineties. Black Moons 1993 debut, Enta Da Stage, was one of the first major recordings to emerge from New Yorks hardcore hip hop scene. The album has been credited with helping spark trends that would come to characterize this period in East Coast hip hop. The Notorious B. I. G. became the figure in East Coast hip hop during most of the 1990s. His success on the charts and rise to the mainstream drew more attention to New York at the time of West Coast hip hops dominance. His commercial success helped pave the way for the success of other East Coast rappers such as Jay-Z, many hip hop aficionados look favorably upon this period as a time of creative growth and influential recordings, describing it as The East Coast Renaissance. Music writer May Blaize of MVRemix Urban comments on the nostalgia felt among hip hop fans for records released during this time, wu-Tang brought the ruckus with 36 Chambers. The world was ours when Nas released Illmatic, Big L, the MVP, came out with Lifestylez ov da Poor and Dangerous
East Coast hip hop
–
RZA, producer and member of the
Wu-Tang Clan
East Coast hip hop
–
Nas 's 1994 debut album
Illmatic was critically acclaimed
43.
Experimental hip hop
–
Experimental hip hop, also known as abstract hip hop, is a genre of hip hop that employs structural elements typically considered unconventional in traditional hip hop music. Some notable experimental hip hop record labels include Definitive Jux, Anticon, Big Dada, while most experimental hip hop incorporates turntablism and is produced electronically, some artists have introduced acoustic elements to the music to facilitate it being performed live. As a relatively young musical style, hip hop during this period was about new ideas, fueled by themes of Afrocentricity and political militancy, coupled with experimental music and sampling techniques, led to great of number of stylistic innovations. Experimental hip-hop production is highly eclectic, drawing influences from a vast array musical genres, along with elements of electronic music and dub, artists drew from other styles including rock, soul, reggae, classical, and jazz. In general, experimental hip-hop production builds and expands on the sounds of early 1990s hip hop artists such as Wu-Tang Clan, A Tribe Called Quest and De La Soul, one influential pioneer of experimental hip-hop production is J Dilla or Jay Dee. J Dillas approach included an innovative use of sampling as well as non-quantized drum rhythms, J Dilla also rejected the hip hop convention of Quantization—or the mathematical gridding of precise rhythms via electronic means. J Dilla was also a pioneer for eschewing quantization. and instead performed rhythms by hand on the pads of an Akai Music Production Center and this technique gives his music more of a non-mechanical natural groove or swing, as a human behind a real drum kit might play. Some producers influenced by J Dillas approach include Madlib, Flying Lotus, Karriem Riggins, while some experimental hip-hop follows the traditional use quantized rhythms, the vast majority of it does not. Other producers often cited as influences on experimental hip hop include DJ Premier, 9th Wonder, Hi-Tek, Pete Rock, Ali Shaheed Muhammad of A Tribe Called Quest, and RZA. Left-field hip hop is a union of rap and electronica in which the emphasis is placed more on the producer than the rapper or emcee, left-field hip hop typically employs complex computerized equipment as well as incorporating live vocals and samples. Notable left-field albums include Kid Cudis Man on the Moon, cloud rap is a subgenre of experimental hip hop distinguished by ethereal, dreamlike beats, and abstract, sometimes deliberately absurd lyrics. Cloud rap producers often use unconventional samples that draw from ambient, indie, psychedelic hip hop is characterized by complex sample-based beats, often obscure material, and witty, abstract lyrics filled with unconventional far-out references. Early examples of style are some of the more sample-heavy late 1980s hip hop releases such as De la Souls 3 Feet High And Rising. A Tribe Called Quest Ab-Soul Aesop Rock Atmosphere A$AP Rocky Beastie Boys Beautiful Eulogy Big L Blu & Exile Capital Steez Chance the Rapper Childish Gambino Clams Casino clipping
Experimental hip hop
–
J Dilla's Donuts Album Cover
Experimental hip hop
–
Rap duo, The Underachievers, performing
44.
Horrorcore
–
Horrorcore is a subgenre of hip hop music based on horror-themed and often darkly transgressive lyrical content and imagery. While exaggerated violence and the supernatural are common in horrorcore, the genre also frequently presents more realistic yet still disturbing portrayals of mental illness, the term horrorcore was popularized by openly horror-influenced hip hop groups such as Flatlinerz and Gravediggaz. The lyrics are inspired by horror movies over moody, hardcore beats. According to rapper Mars, If you take Stephen King or Wes Craven and you throw them on a rap beat, Horrorcore was described by Entertainment Weekly in 1995 as a blend of hardcore rap and bloodthirsty metal. The lyrical content of horrorcore is sometimes described as being similar to that of death metal, Horrorcore artists often feature dark imagery in their music videos and base musical elements of songs upon horror film scores. Following this were groups like Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde, and songs like Dana Danes Nightmares, which spun more frightening, imaginative narratives. Since 1983, Ganxsta N. I. P. has performed horror-themed lyrics which he described as Psycho Rap, Ganxsta N. I. P. has written lyrics for other groups, including Geto Boys. While Kool Keith later claimed to have invented horrorcore, the first use of the term appeared on the group KMCs 1991 album Three Men With the Power of Ten and he said that the Geto Boys continued to pioneer the style with its second release, Grip It. On That Other Level, with such as Mind of a Lunatic. In 1994, according to Icons of Hip Hop, horrorcore gained prominence in 1994 with the release of Flatlinerz U. S. A. and Gravediggaz 6 Feet Deep. The genre is not popular with audiences as a whole, however, performers such as Insane Clown Posse. Also, horrorcore rapper Eminem sold millions of copies with his horrorcore albums The Slim Shady LP, the Slim Shady LP was certified 3x platinum in October 1999 and 4x platinum in November 2000. The Marshall Mathers LP sold 1,760,049 copies in its first week of being released and was certified diamond, Horrorcore has thrived in Internet culture and sustains an annual super show in Detroit called Wickedstock. Every Halloween since 2003, Horrorcore artists worldwide get together online, according to the January 2004 BBC documentary Underground USA, the subgenre has a massive following across the US and is spreading to Europe. Rolling Stone in 2007 referred to it as a trend that generated more shlock than shock. New York Magazine put horrorcore in the spotlight by listing off the ten most horrifying horrorcore rappers, spin asked Violent J of Insane Clown Posse to list off his favorite horrorcore songs. Songs included, The Dayton Familys Whats On My Mind, Bone Thugs-N-Harmonys Mr. Ouija, Necros Billie Jean 2005, and Michael Jacksons Thriller
Horrorcore
–
Scarface, of the group
Geto Boys, whose violent, horror-themed lyrics have been singled out as the first recorded example of horrorcore.
45.
Midwest hip hop
–
Midwest hip-hop is hip-hop music performed by artists from the Midwestern United States. In contrast with its East Coast, West Coast and Southern counterparts and its first dose of national popularity came in the mid-90s with the extremely fast-paced rappers known as Choppers, such as Bone Thugs-n-Harmony, Twista, Tech N9ne, Atmosphere, and Eminem. Other notable midwest rappers and producers include, Brother Ali, Lupe Fiasco, Royce Da 59, J Dilla, Mac Lethal, Elzhi, Obie Trice, and up and comers Freddie Gibbs and Manny Phesto. It is because these lack of constants between acts from different cities that it can be difficult to define a typical Midwest sound. One characteristic of Midwest hip hop is that beat tempos can range from 90 to about 180, while East Coasts beat tempo is 90–120, West Coast is 100–120, slum Village emerged from the hip hop scene in Detroit in the mid-1990s. Their first album, Fantastic, Vol.1 came out in 1996, the producer was J Dilla, who also produced for notable hip-hop acts from around the country, including The Pharcyde, Common, and A Tribe Called Quest. He would later become one of the most sought-after producers in hip-hop, Blade Icewood gained respect as one of Detroits premier rappers, but was gunned down and murdered in 2005, after his first shooting which left him paralyzed from his chest down. He had a beef for some time with the Eastside Chedda Boyz, there was a dispute over the name Chedda Boyz because Blade Icewood claimed that name originated on the west side of the city. A popular place for rap battles in Detroit is the Hip Hop Shop, in the mid-1990s, Eminem gained notoriety in Detroit as a battle rapper, and released an album during the early stages of his underground career. Infinite was sold out of the trunk of his car and it struggled to sell or create a buzz despite his success in the battling scene. Angry but determined, Eminem developed his style and recorded The Slim Shady EP, released in 1997. When Em traveled to Los Angeles to compete in the 1997 Rap Olympics, he placed in 2nd, and his EP got into the hands of Dr. Dre, who immediately wanted to sign him. He signed to Dr. Dres Aftermath Entertainment, and in 1999 he released his debut album The Slim Shady LP. His second album, The Marshall Mathers LP, became the fastest selling hip hop album in history, MC Breed, from Flint, is most known for his songs Aint No Future in Yo Frontin and Gotta Get Mine featuring Tupac Shakur. He was on support for two days in September 2008 after he collapsed during a game of pick-up basketball due to kidney failure. It is unclear if prior health complications were the cause of his death later that year, another rapper from Flint, Jon Connor, is quickly climbing the rap ladder, has been featured in The Source, and has collaborated with many big names in the rap industry. Rapper Proof was also part of the Detroit-founded rap group D12, despite his success with D12, he also released two solo albums, Searching for Jerry Garcia and I Miss The Hip Hop Shop. On April 11,2006, he was shot to death in a gunfight at a Detroit nightclub
Midwest hip hop
–
Bizzy Bone of Bone Thugs & Harmony – live in concert
Midwest hip hop
–
Emcee N.I.C.E.
Midwest hip hop
–
This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the
talk page.
Midwest hip hop
46.
Nerdcore hip hop
–
Nerdcore is a genre of hip hop music characterized by themes and subject matter considered to be of general interest to nerds. Self-described nerdcore musician MC Frontalot has the earliest known recorded use of the term in the 2000 song Nerdcore Hiphop, Frontalot, like most nerdcore artists, self-publishes his work and has released much of it for free online. As a niche genre, nerdcore generally holds to the DIY ethic, Music with similar themes, but different musical styles can be found in the filk genres. There are hip hop artists who have recorded compositions which focus on similar topics, conversely, one does not need to concentrate on those topics to be nerdcore, most of the songs by Frontalot do not focus narrowly on stereotypically nerdy topics. The difference is one of self-identification, the group Blackalicious does not identify as nerds. Being more defined by lyrics, nerdcore has no unifying musical sound, one common theme, especially in the early days of the genre, is uncleared sampling. MC Frontalot addressed this directly in his 1999 song Good Old Clyde, sources for samples in nerdcore range from Vanilla Ice to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. YTCrackers Nerdrap Entertainment System is an album made up primarily of samples from 8-bit Nintendo games. Another notable artist, Random, created a dedicated to the Mega Man video games in 2007 titled MegaRan. Several DJs have provided beats and done remixes for multiple artists, most notably Baddd Spellah. Spellah also won a competition in 2004. The earliest known recorded use of the term hip hop was in 2000 by MC Frontalot. Nerdcore had clear influences from geek culture as well, including geek rockers like They Might Be Giants, parodists like Weird Al Yankovic, and others. Despite these influences, nerdcore has separated itself from other types of nerdy music thanks to an unofficial list of criteria that has evolved among fans, aside from making hip hop about geeky things, nerdcore is considered to be an opt-in genre. Only artists who consider themselves to be nerdcore should have the attached to their music. In the summer of 2004 the fledgling genre took a step forward when the popular web comic Penny Arcade held its first convention, The Penny Arcade Expo, in Bellevue. Though the expo was primarily devoted to video and table top gaming, geek-friendly musicians also performed including Penny Arcades official rapper MC Frontalot, the next year, two full concerts took place at the 2005 Penny Arcade Expo and included nerdy hip hop acts MC Frontalot and Optimus Rhyme. After the 2005 expo, all three acts would have the nerdcore label permanently affixed to them, thanks to the popularity of these acts, the nerdcore fan base began to form and in some cases those fans would go on to become nerdcore artists themselves
Nerdcore hip hop
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MC Frontalot performing in April 2007.
Nerdcore hip hop
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MC Router performing in June 2007.
Nerdcore hip hop
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YTCracker performing in January 2013.
Nerdcore hip hop
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Schäffer the Darklord performing in July 2008.
