Like the blues, rap and hip-hop were created by poor black men and later appropriated by the white masses in altered and varied forms. Also like the blues, rap and hip-hop can be said to be created in specific place and to have a mythology surrounding their geographic origins as much as New Orleans was the birthplace of jazz. It was Brooklyn, New York where we first learned of the Masters of Ceremonies speaking over looped turntables at black dance halls, laying down the metered speech that would transform into rap music. In these websites find the origins and the evolution of rap music, with the snare and the bass drum, the flow and the stylings of rappers such as Run DMC, Eminem, Grandmaster Flash, Cypress Hill and LL Cool J.
Site Listings
50 Cent - Official site, with video clips (RealVideo and Quicktime), audio (RealAudio and Wav formats), photos, and more.
Beastie Boys - Official site including news, biography, discography, lyrics, tour dates, timeline, message board, chat, audio, video, and links.
Cypress Hill - Official site featuring news, tour info, stories, music, photographs, chats, message boards, and interviews.
Dr. Dre - Dr. Dre audio, message boards, images, tour news, merchandise - The Official Dr. Dre site.
Eminem - His official site with Eminem news, audio/video, photos, discography, merchandise, and links.
Ice Cube - Official site for the rapper and actor, including biography, news, photos, discography, audio, videos, and forum.
Lauryn Hill - Official site with Sony Music features audio from her debut album "The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill," as well as news, biography, lyrics, tour dates, and awards.
