The very first hip hop to come out of the block parties of
New York City in the
1970s and early
1980s is called
old school hip hop. Compared to more modern,
new school rap, old school has relatively simple rhythms and cadences that occur on the beat instead of wrapping around the rhythm, as has become common. Generally, subject matter was simple, good times, parties and friendship, with only a handful discussing political or social themes (
Grandmaster Flash was a notable exception). Also compared with later hip hop, old school had a high amount of female artists, even though none reached quite the level of fame of their male counterparts. Rappers usually performed over
disco or
funk tracks.
The first recordings of old school hip hop were Sugarhill Gang's "Rapper's Delight" and Fatback's "King Tim III". Sugarhill Records[?] was particularly important in the early hip hop scene.
List of artists:
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