# How far back does Rap Music go **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 19, 2000, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-back-does-rap-music-go/41873 "2000-11-19T20:25:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Milossarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Milossarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Milossarian)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2000, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-back-does-rap-music-go/41873/21 "2000-11-21T04:41:25Z")
scottws - Welcome aboard. But … > [@](#): > > There’s an urban legend that it came from Blondie’s 80’s hit “Rapture,” in which Debbie Harry sort of chants the end of the song. I guess white folks invented rap as well as jazz… “Rapture” clearly isn’t the first rap. Debbie Harry mentions two other preceding rappers in the _song_, Fab Five Freddie and ‘Flash,’ meaning Grandmaster Flash. I had always thought it started with “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised,” and I had heard about the Jamaican DJs. I want to hear this George and Gracie thing. Hilarious! Some modern rap artist should snatch that up and do something with it, sampling-wise. ---
**Author:** ![scottws](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/839c29/32.png) [@scottws](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scottws)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2000, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-back-does-rap-music-go/41873/22 "2000-11-21T14:05:15Z")
Knew debbie harry story was bogus - just funny. Sure many of you are into ubran legends and visit > **[Snopes.com](https://www.snopes.com/)** > > The definitive Internet reference source for urban legends, folklore, myths, rumors, and misinformation. [http://www.urbanlegends.com/](http://www.urbanlegends.com/) ---
**Author:** ![TwistofFate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@TwistofFate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TwistofFate)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2000, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-back-does-rap-music-go/41873/23 "2000-11-21T14:14:49Z")
“The Revolution will not be televised” Gill Scott Heron? mid seventies. By bet would still be Bob Dylan though. “The vandals broke the handle…” ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2000, 9:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-back-does-rap-music-go/41873/24 "2000-11-23T09:42:04Z")
Bob Dylan borrowed the style of Subterranean Homesick Blues from Woody Guthrie’s “talkin’ blues” of the 1930s. Guthrie strummed his guitar while rapping. He would tell hard-luck stories in rhyme, or make some social or political commentary with humorous asides. This is really the earliest “rap” ever recorded. My guess is that Guthrie borrowed the idea from African-American parties, and adapted it to his style of guitar playing, just as Dylan updated the concept in the 1960s. All I know is that when rap first hit the airwaves in 1979, I heard it as an updated descendent of the talkin’ blues. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2000, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-back-does-rap-music-go/41873/25 "2000-11-23T17:40:46Z")
Chanted or spoken lyrics go WAY back in R&B and early rock’n’roll. For instance, there’s an obscure Chuck Berry record called “No Money Down” where the instrumental accompaniment is sort of a Muddy Waters–“I’m a Man” type thing, but Chuck sort of half sings, half chants the lyrics. The great thing about the song is there’s no clear delineation between singing, chanting, and speaking. The melody line of the song often follows what would be the natural spoken intonation of a person speaking. ---
**Author:** ![pezwookiee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9d8465/32.png) [@pezwookiee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pezwookiee)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2000, 7:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-back-does-rap-music-go/41873/26 "2000-11-27T07:56:49Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Green Bean \* > \*\*One of my favorite parts of the exhibit was that they had the original handwritten by Debbie Harry lyrics to Rapture. So, now I finally know what the mysterious first lines of the rap are. You know–the part between “Fab 5 Freddy…” and “…and they don’t stop.” \*\* Okay, **Green Bean** , now I need to know!!! Do you remember those lyrics?! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-back-does-rap-music-go/41873.md?page=1)