The History of Rap Music :: Rap Music Jamaican Culture Essays

The History of Rap Music Rap music originated as a cross-cultural product. Most of its important early practitioners-including Kool Herc, D.J. Hollywood, and Afrika Bambaataa-were either first- or second-generation Americans of Caribbean ancestry. Herc and Hollywood are both credited with introducing the Jamaican style of cutting and mixing into the musical culture of the South Bronx. By most accounts Herc was the first DJ to buy two copies of the same record for just a 15-second break (rhythmic instrumental segment) in the middle. By mixing back and forth between the two copies he was able to double, triple, or indefinitely extend the break. In so doing, Herc effectively deconstructed and reconstructed so-called found sound, using the turntable as a musical instrument. While he was cutting with two turntables, Herc would also perform with the microphone in Jamaican toasting style-joking, boasting, and using myriad in-group references. Herc's musical parties eventually gained notoriety and were often documented on cassette tapes that were recorded with the relatively new boombox, or blaster, technology. Taped duplicates of these parties rapidly made their way through the Bronx, Brooklyn, and uptown Manhattan, spawning a number of similar DJ acts. Among the new breed of DJs was Afrika Bambaataa, the first important Black Muslim in rap. (The Muslim presence would become very influential in the late 1980s.) Bambaataa often engaged in sound-system battles with Herc, similar to the so-called cutting contests in jazz a generation earlier. The sound system competitions were held at city parks, where hot-wired street lamps supplied electricity, or at local clubs. Bambaataa sometimes mixed sounds from rock-music recordings and television shows into the standard funk and disco fare that Herc and most of his followers relied upon. By using rock records, Bambaataa extended rap beyond the immediate reference points of contemporary black youth culture. By the 1990s any sound source was considered fair game and rap artists borrowed sounds from such disparate sources as Israeli folk music, bebop jazz records, and television news broadcasts. In 1976 Grandmaster Flash introduced the technique In 1979 the first two rap records appeared: "King Tim III (Personality Jock)," recorded by the Fatback Band, and "Rapper's Delight," by Sugarhill Gang. A series of verses recited by the three members of Sugarhill Gang, "Rapper's Delight" became a national hit, reaching number 36 on the Billboard magazine popular music charts. The spoken content, mostly braggadocio spiced with fantasy, was derived largely from a pool of material used by most of the earlier rappers. The backing track for "Rapper's Delight" was supplied by hired studio musicians, who replicated

Banh Chung

Banh chung Each country’s cuisine isn't simply a habit of eating and drinking, people also consider about the culinary sophistication, assess country’s culture. Referring to Korea, we all know about Kim chi – the proud of Korea's traditional foods; and sushi is a famous food of Japan. Similar, Vietnamese are also have their traditional foods. Beside of ph? , bun bo hu? , or nem nu? ng, Banh chung is also a proud of VietNam.The dictionary definition of Banh chung as a traditional Vietnamese rice cake which is made from glutinous rice, mung bean, pork and other ingredients. However, it isn’t enough to explain the meaning of Banh chung. Behind that simple cake is a long story about family’s love. According to the book Linh Nam chich quai (Extraordinary stories of Linh Nam) published in 1695, this cake was created by Lang Lieu- the prince of the sixth Hung Vuong; it represents the heart of the child for his father and symbolizes the vitality of the univ erse.According to Lang Lieu, a square cake symbolizes the earth (under the concept of the ancients), and the raw materials to create a cake to show the vitality of all things in universe (animal and plant). This is a traditional cake which every Vietnamese have in Lunar New Year. We use la dong to wrap the cake in square form before boiling it. Mung bean, fatty pork and black pepper, salt, sometimes green onion, and fish sauce for spices are added inside the glutinous rice. When eating cake, people like to add fish sauce or eating with c? i? u (tubers procession), dua m? m (cucumber sauce) or salt radish†¦

Essay on The Picture of Dorian Gray as a Moral Book

The Picture of Dorian Gray as a Moral Book nbsp; The Picture of Dorian Gray was a remarkably well-written book due to the reaction of its themes by society.nbsp; In the preface of the novel, Wilde introduces the opinion that ...there is no moral or immoral book.nbsp; Books are well written or badly written.nbsp; That is all.nbsp; Numerous views can be taken upon this fastidious comment.nbsp; Many would agree that Wilde is justifiably correct because the preface was written with the intention that his readers understand the deeper meaning of the themes than worrying about whether it is considered morally acceptable; or perhaps, the view that it could be considered moral or immoral by the impact it has on the readers†¦show more content†¦iniquitous beliefs of his on the unsuspecting Dorian.nbsp; He tells him Nothing can cure the soul but the senses, just as nothing can cure the senses but the soul, which implies for Dorian to give into his deepest wants and desires no matter how dirty or sinful they are.nbsp; He continues to spin Dorian into his web of sin by telling him that you know less than you want to know, which makes him curious as to what other pleasures he could find in the world.nbsp; When Dorian falls in love with Sybil Vane, he tries to write her off as some poor, useless nobody who could never please Dorians deepest desires.nbsp; He does this partly because he is jealous of his love for her, since it is made obvious that Lord Henry finds Dorian a strikingly handsome man, and partly for pleasure, to get a high off of ruining one of Dorians attempts at redemption.nbsp; Even when Dorian goes as far as killing Basil, Lord Wotton tells him that crime is simply a method of procuring extraordinary sensations.nbsp; It is not until Lord Henry makes this comment about how murder is not a terrible thing that Dorian begins to realize the true vastness of his sins, and in the only salvation he knows, he later goes to kill himself.nbsp; Dorians downfall due to Lord Henrys actions teaches moral of being centered on selfishness.nbsp; nbsp; nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; Dorians character makes a vast amount of change in the eighteen years that heShow MoreRelatedEssay on Oscar Wildes Success at a Gothic Novel1489 Words   |  6 PagesIn this essay I will be looking at how successful Oscar Wilde was at creating a gothic novel. 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