Old-School Rap and Hip Hop

In the 80s, you didn't merely carry a tiny radio with you. You hauled around a boom box that took twelve D batteries and weighed more than your first child would. Radio was first beginning to lose its grip on public opinion, because everyone had a cassette collection and would copy, trade, and carry them everywhere, playing them at the least opportunity.

Despite suburban roots, I witnessed many a dance-off as shown in the Run DMC video above. Most of them took place at school dances or in the gym at lunch. Everyone knew a few moves, even if you couldn't do a head spin that would shut down the next guy. Members Only jackets were on every back and there were Adidas on each foot. This was all pre-bling, pre-grillz, and pre-gangsta.

While The Beastie Boys told us about a Brass Monkey and Run DMC went mainstream with Aerosmith and Walk This Way, Will Smith was rapping with DJ Jazzy Jeff, LL Cool J and Ice Cube were rapping too, following the lead of the Sugarhill Gang and Whodini. Samples of fantastic music got updated with massive beats and a verbal flow that people all over the world memorized and tried to copy.

The photo for this section was taken by Stephen Barnett and was used under Creative Commons License.