Rap music is influenced by many genres, including rock and roll, disco, jazz, and of course blues. Like Blues, rap is usually spoken or chanted. .
Rap music is rebellious in nature, which makes sense, since rap was created out of rebellion to disco music. Rap developed from individuals that were raised in low-income urban communities, and couldn't afford to pay admission into uptown disco clubs. Instead they would stand on the corner and chant rhymes about anything from life on the streets, violence, poverty, politics, etc. Rap during this time was rebellious, yet socially conscious .
Most of rap's pioneers originated from New York City. Run DMC, Afrika Baambaata, DJ Cool Herc were amongst the first rappers. The 1980s and early 90's is considered the Golden Age of Hip Hop. During this period rap was becoming a very popular genre and it was becoming more developed and diverse. Legends such as Nas, Tupac, Biggie Smalls, Big Daddy Kane, Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre, and Rakim all came up in this era and heavily influenced rap and what it is today. Songs from this era are known as Old School Hip Hop or Old School Rap. .
The 21th century brought forth a new era in hip hop. This era is known as New School Hip Hop. This era brought forth a new style of rap. Rap began moving away from the more socially conscious themes, to more superficial themes such as flashy cars, expensive clothes and jewelry, degrading women and explicit lyrics became more common. Braggadocio, or "bragging rap" becomes popular in this era by artists like Kanye West and Jay Z.
Rap and Blues are considerable similar in style and form. They use similar elements of music such as call and response, repetition, ad libs, and scat. Like blues, raps are usually 12 to 16 bars. Both generally keep the same flow and rhyme scheme throughout the entire song. Rappers and blues singers are usually interactive with their audience during a performance.
