a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 #

the history of the rapper's tome - connor lockhart lyrics

i once saw a comment on youtube on eminem’s “mockingbird” video that mentions a “book of rap” that begins with 2pac. except, it didn’t start with him, and it wasn’t a book, but a tome. here is a brief history:

it starts in the 1960’s with a spoken word artist known as gil scott-heron. he revolutionised the spoken word genre by having the words be more melodic. little would he know, he was the first ever rapper and the earliest writer of the rapper’s tome, which would jump from rapper to rapper time after time..

at that time, a group of rappers came together and formed the sugarhill gang. they would be known in the late 70’s and early 80’s but would soon flame out into obscurity. the rap world was infertile for a majority of the decade..

that was until 1989 and the golden age of rap. one fateful day, an up-and-coming rapper called biz markie notched one of the most successful rap songs in history, “just a friend.” the apparition of gil scott-heron came to him in a dream and told him he would be the first man after big bank hank of the sugarhill gang he was the first great prophet of the tome

when biz markie became irrelevant, sir mixalot’s “baby got back” came along and became influential in both hip-hop (lil’ wayne) and r&b (trey songz). it was intended as a body empowerment song, but ended up as the pinnacle of objectification. his reign as great prophet was short, but it left a mark on the industry..

the mid-1990’s brought in a new set of prophets: the n.w.a. lead by dr. dre, as well as fellow prophets ice cube and eazy-e, the n.w.a. left its mark on the industry as one of the greatest rap groups in history. tragedy struck, however. because of the aids disease, eazy-e’s life was claimed, ending the n.w.a.’s grip on the tome..

enter 2pac. he would be the most efficient of the prophets, releasing a few per year and being acclaimed all the way through. he got help from his friend at the time, biggie smalls. it wasn’t to last, as biggie and 2pac were going further and further away from each other to the point of becoming purely foes. they were both shot in the span of seven months from 1996-97..

in the meantime, dr dre made his own rap label, aftermath records, and one fateful day brought a young man who was not only broke and homeless, but also humiliated at the rap olympics and contemplating suicide. it was marshall mathers, who would soon be recognised as eminem. he impressed dre and his fellow friends and rappers, considering eminem was white, or a “honky,” as some people in the studio said. he released his first two albums (infinite and the slim shady lp) and they were moderately successful, but he wouldn’t reach great prophet status until 2000 and the marshall mathers lp. from there, he kept making great rap songs from that point until the disastrous encore album in 2004. his t-tle was to go elsewhere..

ludacris would be the next prophet. this was mainly due to his unlimited charisma and sk!lled writing. he would encounter a bad song like money maker sometimes, but he was generally considered to be pure perfection. he consensually gave up his t-tle in 2010, leaving it to who was the biggest rapper at the time..

unfortunately, that rapper was lil’ wayne, who took his cadences from sir mixalot’s run as prophet. a dark age of rap happened. four years of bad rap music dominated the charts and whilst there were some good rappers, like kanye, jay-z, macklemore, and eminem (who got back on track.), the world was taken over by awful acts. by the time 2014 came around, the rap scene recovered slightly

enter the current and first female prophet: iggy azalea. she dominated the last year and a half, working with people like charli xcx, m0, and britney spears. whilst she herself was only okay, vine leeched the rap charts, and dj mustard rose to prominence, the rap scene improved greatly with the rise of artists like kendrick lamar and lupe fiasco. it is a good period at the moment, but lamar is eying the position, and is destined to be the next of the prophets..

that was the entire history of the rapper’s tome. it is surprisingly old, but still as functional as ever. special thanks to clairie mcberrie for the inspiration.

- connor lockhart lyrics

Random Song Lyrics :

Popular