Rap Attack: African Jive to New York Hip Hop

Rap Attack #1

by David Toop

Rap is a form of black dance music which first came to prominence in 1979 through the Sugarhill Gang's chart hit "Rapper's Delight." Rap itself (spoken and semi-sung verse over powerful rhythm tracks) as well as all the other features of Hip Hop culture grew up in New York's Harlem and the Bronx. The "Rap Attack" takes Hip Hop culture as its central focus for an investigation of Afro-American rapping in all its forms. It begins with the music's African roots and ends in the electro-funk revolution.

Genres: Music, Hip Hop, Nonfiction, Canon

168 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1984

About the author

David Toop is a musician, writer, and Professor of Audio Culture and Improvisation at the London College of Communication, University of the Arts London. He is the author of Ocean of Sound, Sinister Resonance, Into the Maelstrom, and other books.