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TOP
RAP MUSIC RINGTONES
We keep track of the Top Rap Music Ringtones downloaded
every week and we break it down for you fast and easy. We keep you
up-to-date on what's new from your favorite songs from the radio, music
videos, iTunes, and more!
Rap Music Lyrics @ GleeLyrics.com
TOP 10
RAP MUSIC TONES
FOR
THE WEEK OF
DECEMBER 12, 2009
Empire State Of Mind ringtone - Jay-Z + Alicia Keys The Blueprint 3
Forever ringtone - Drake Forever
Money To Blow ringtone - Birdman Featuring Lil Wayne & Drake Money to Blow
Baby By Me ringtone - 50 Cent Featuring Ne-Yo Baby by Me
Gangsta Luv ringtone - Snoop Dogg Featuring The Dream Gangsta Luv
Wasted ringtone - Gucci Mane Featuring Plies Or O.J. Da Juiceman
Bedrock ringtone - Young Money Featuring Lloyd BedRock
Tie Me Down ringtone -New Boyz Featuring Ray J. Skinny Jeanz & A Mic
Spotlight ringtone - Gucci Mane Featuring Usher The The State vs Radric Davis
Run This Town ringtone - Jay-Z, Rihanna & Kanye West The Blueprint 3
TOP 10
RAP MUSIC TONES
FOR
THE WEEK OF
NOVEMBER 9, 2009
Forever ringtone - Drake Forever [Explicit]
Empire State Of Mind ringtone - Jay-Z + Alicia Keys The Blueprint 3
Run This Town ringtone - Jay-Z, Rihanna & Kanye West The Blueprint 3
Wasted ringtone - Gucci Mane Featuring Plies Or OJ Da Juiceman
Throw It In The Bag ringtone - Fabolous Featuring The-Dream Loso's Way
Successful ringtone - Drake Featuring Trey Songz & Lil Wayne So Far Gone [Explicit]
Baby By Me ringtone - 50 Cent Featuring Ne-Yo Baby by Me
Money To Blow ringtone - Birdman Featuring Lil Wayne & Drake Money to Blow [Explicit]
Best I Ever Had ringtone - Drake Best I Ever Had [Explicit] [Digital Single]
Gangsta Luv ringtone - Snoop Dogg Featuring The-Dream
TOP 10
RAP MUSIC TONES
FOR
THE WEEK OF
NOVEMBER 19, 2007
Baby Don't Go ringtone - Fabolous featuring Jermaine Dupri
Crank That (Soulja Boy) ringtone - Soulja Boy Tell'em
Cyclone ringtone - Baby Bash featuring T-Pain
Duffle Bag Boy ringtone - Playaz Circle featuring Lil Wayne
Good Life ringtone - Kanye West featuring T-Pain
Hood Figga ringtone - Gorilla Zoe
I'm So Hood ringtone - DJ Khaled featuring T-Pain, Trick Daddy, Rick Ross & Plies
My Drink N' My 2 Step ringtone - Cassidy featuring Swizz Beatz
Shawty ringtone - Plies featuring T-Pain
Soulja Girl ringtone - Soulja Boy Tell'em featuring I-15
TOP 10
RAP MUSIC TONES
FOR
THE WEEK OF
NOVEMBER 12, 2007
Baby Don't Go ringtone - Fabolous featuring Jermaine Dupri
Crank That (Soulja Boy) ringtone - Soulja Boy Tell'em
Cyclone ringtone - Baby Bash featuring T-Pain
Duffle Bag Boy ringtone - Playaz Circle featuring Lil Wayne
Good Life ringtone - Kanye West featuring T-Pain
Hood Figga ringtone - Gorilla Zoe
I'm So Hood ringtone - DJ Khaled featuring T-Pain, Trick Daddy, Rick Ross & Plies
My Drink N' My 2 Step ringtone - Cassidy featuring Swizz Beatz
Shawty ringtone - Plies featuring T-Pain
Soulja Girl ringtone - Soulja Boy Tell'em featuring I-15
TOP 10
RAP MUSIC TONES
FOR
THE WEEK OF
NOVEMBER 5, 2007
Baby Don't Go ringtone - Fabolous featuring Jermaine Dupri
Crank That (Soulja Boy) ringtone - Soulja Boy Tell'em
Cyclone ringtone - Baby Bash featuring T-Pain
Duffle Bag Boy ringtone - Playaz Circle featuring Lil Wayne
Good Life ringtone - Kanye West featuring T-Pain
Hood Figga ringtone - Gorilla Zoe
My Drink N’ My 2 Step ringtone – Cassidy featuring Swizz Beatz
Shawty ringtone - Plies featuring T-Pain
Stronger ringtone - Kanye West
I'm So Hood ringtone - DJ Khaled featuring T-Pain, Trick Daddy, Rick Ross & Plies
TOP 10
RAP MUSIC TONES
FOR
THE WEEK OF
OCTOBER 29, 2007
I'm So Hood ringtone - DJ Khaled featuring T-Pain, Trick Daddy, Rick Ross & Plies
Baby Don't Go ringtone - Fabolous featuring Jermaine Dupri
Crank That (Soulja Boy) ringtone - Soulja Boy Tell'em
Cyclone ringtone - Baby Bash featuring T-Pain
Duffle Bag Boy ringtone - Playaz Circle featuring Lil Wayne
Good Life ringtone - Kanye West featuring T-Pain
Hood Figga ringtone - Gorilla Zoe
I Get Money ringtone - 50 Cent
Shawty ringtone - Plies featuring T-Pain
Stronger ringtone - Kanye West
TOP 10
RAP MUSIC TONES
FOR
THE WEEK OF
OCTOBER 22, 2007
I'm So Hood ringtone - DJ Khaled featuring T-Pain, Trick Daddy, Rick Ross & Plies
Baby Don't Go ringtone - Fabolous featuring Jermaine Dupri
Crank That (Soulja Boy) ringtone - Soulja Boy Tell'em
Cyclone ringtone - Baby Bash featuring T-Pain
Duffle Bag Boy ringtone - Playaz Circle featuring Lil Wayne
Good Life ringtone - Kanye West featuring T-Pain
Hood Figga ringtone - Gorilla Zoe
I Get Money ringtone - 50 Cent
Shawty ringtone - Plies featuring T-Pain
Stronger ringtone - Kanye West
TOP 10
RAP MUSIC TONES
FOR
THE WEEK OF
OCTOBER 15, 2007
Baby Don't Go ringtone - Fabolous featuring Jermaine Dupri
Crank That (Soulja Boy) ringtone - Soulja Boy Tell'em
Cyclone ringtone - Baby Bash featuring T-Pain
Duffle Bag Boy ringtone - Playaz Circle featuring Lil Wayne
Good Life ringtone - Kanye West featuring T-Pain
Hood Figga ringtone - Gorilla Zoe
I Get Money ringtone - 50 Cent
Shawty ringtone - Plies featuring T-Pain
Stronger ringtone - Kanye West
You Know What It Is ringtone - T.I. featuring Wyclef Jean
TOP 10
RAP MUSIC TONES
FOR
THE WEEK OF
OCTOBER 8, 2007
Baby Don't Go ringtone - Fabolous featuring Jermaine Dupri
Crank That (Soulja Boy) ringtone - Soulja Boy Tell'em
Cyclone ringtone - Baby Bash featuring T-Pain
Good Life ringtone - Kanye West featuring T-Pain
Hood Figga ringtone - Gorilla Zoe
I Get Money ringtone - 50 Cent
Make Me Better ringtone - Fabolous featuring Ne-Yo
Shawty ringtone - Plies featuring T-Pain
Stronger ringtone - Kanye West
You Know What It Is ringtone - T.I. featuring Wyclef Jean
TOP 10
RAP MUSIC TONES
FOR
THE WEEK OF
OCTOBER 1, 2007
Baby Don’t Go ringtone – Fabolous Feat. Jermaine Dupri
Crank That (Soulja Boy) ringtone - Soulja Boy Tell’em
Cyclone ringtone – Baby Bash Feat. T-Pain
Good Life ringtone – Kanye West Feat. T-Pain
Hood Figga ringtone – Gorilla Zoe
I Get Money ringtone – 50 Cent
Make Me Better ringtone - Fabolous Feat. Ne-Yo
Shawty ringtone - Plies Feat. T-Pain
Stronger ringtone - Kanye West
You Know What It Is ringtone - T.I. Feat. Wyclef Jean
TOP 10
RAP MUSIC TONES
FOR
THE WEEK OF
SEPTEMBER 24, 2007
Baby Don’t Go ringtone – Fabolous Feat. Jermaine Dupri
Can’t Tell Me Nothing ringtone – Kanye West
Crank That (Soulja Boy) ringtone - Soulja Boy Tell’em
Cyclone ringtone – Baby Bash Feat. T-Pain
Hood Figga ringtone – Gorilla Zoe
I Get Money ringtone – 50 Cent
Make Me Better ringtone - Fabolous Feat. Ne-Yo
Shawty ringtone - Plies Feat. T-Pain
Stronger ringtone - Kanye West
You Know What It Is ringtone - T.I. Feat. Wyclef Jean
ABOUT RAP MUSIC
Rap or Rap
Music, a genre of rhythm-and-blues
music (R&B) that consists of rhythmic vocals declaimed over
musical accompaniment. The accompaniment generally consists of
electronic drum beats combined with samples (digitally
isolated sound bites) from other musical recordings. The first rap
recording was made in 1979 and the genre rose to prominence in the
United States in the mid-1980s. Although the term rap is
often used interchangeably with hip-hop, the latter term encompasses the subculture that rap music is simply one
part of. The term hip-hop derives from one of the earliest phrases used
in rap, and can be found on the seminal recording “Rapper’s Delight”
(1979) by the Sugarhill Gang. In addition to rap music, the hip-hop
subculture also comprises other forms of expression, including break
dancing and graffiti art as well as a unique slang vocabulary and
fashion sense.
Rap originated in the mid-1970s in the South Bronx area
of New York City. The rise of rap in many ways parallels the birth of
rock and roll in the 1950s. Both originated within the African
American community and both were initially recorded by small,
independent record labels and marketed almost exclusively to a black
audience. In both cases, the new style gradually attracted white
musicians, a few of whom began performing it. For rock and roll it was
a white singer from Mississippi, Elvis
Presley, who broke into the Billboard magazine popular
music charts. For rap it was a white group from New York, the Beastie
Boys, and the hit song “Walk This Way” (1986), a collaboration of the
black rap group Run-DMC and the white hard-rock band Aerosmith. Soon after 1986, the use of
samples and declaimed vocal styles became widespread in the popular
music of both black and white performers, significantly altering
previous notions of what constitutes a legitimate song, composition, or
musical instrument.
Elements of Rap Music
A rap group typically consists of at least one rapper
and a disc jockey (DJ); two or more rappers are common. In groups with
two, the rappers generally serve as foils for one another, alternating
or completing lines and verses in a seamless pattern. The rap often
uses a call-and-response format typical of much African
American music. The wordplay in a rap is rooted in African and
African American verbal games, known as the dozens and signifying.
Precursors of rap who drew upon the same wordplay traditions include
the Jamaican toasters (DJs, also known as dub artists, who talk over recorded music) of the late 1960s and 1970s, African
American radio DJs from the 1940s through the 1970s, and black American
poets of the 1960s including the Last Poets and the Watts Prophets.
Rap
vocals typically emphasize lyrics and wordplay over melody and harmony,
achieving interest through rhythmic complexity and variations in the
timing of the lyrics. Lyric themes can be broadly categorized under
three headings: those that concern human relationships, those that
chronicle and often embrace the so-called gangsta lifestyle of the
inner cities, and those that address contemporary political issues or
aspects of black history.
Underpinning the rapper’s vocals is the separately
recorded musical accompaniment, known as a backing track. In
general, backing tracks for rap recordings emphasize rhythmic
accompaniment and timbre (quality of tone) rather than
harmony. Furthermore, many rap songs lack chord changes altogether,
influenced in part by the highly rhythmic style of R&B music called
funk. Originally a DJ created backing tracks by playing two records,
switching back and forth between them in a technique known as cutting
and mixing. Occasionally the DJ mixed one recording over
another so that both were heard simultaneously. Other techniques used
in early recordings were scratching (rotating a vinyl record
backward and forward by hand to create rhythmic sound effects) and quick
mixing (combining short sound bites to create a sound collage).
In 1982 computer-generated sound from synthesizers,
including programmable drum machines, began to be used along with
snippets from preexisting recordings. With the arrival of digital
technology in 1983, sampling began to replace the turntable style of
cutting and mixing. With sampling, DJs were able to access precise
digital sound bites and reconstruct them into new sound patterns or
collages. Sampling eventually facilitated the layering of found
sound (sound that exists prior to and independently from its use
by the rap artist), enabling rappers such as Public
Enemy to place seven or eight samples on top of each other. In
conjunction with sampling and programmed beats, a number of rap
artists, including Run-DMC and Gang Starr, sometimes used live
musicians in creating backing tracks.
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 immigrants or
first-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 of
quick mixing, in which sound bites as short as one or two seconds are
combined for a collage effect. Quick mixing paralleled the
rapid-editing style of television advertising used at the time. Shortly
after Flash introduced quick mixing, his partner Grandmaster Melle Mel
composed the first extended stories in rhymed rap. Up to this point,
most of the words heard over the work of disc jockeys such as Herc,
Bambaataa, and Flash had been improvised phrases and expressions. In
1978 DJ Grand Wizard Theodore introduced the technique of scratching to
produce rhythmic patterns.
In 1979 the first two rap records appeared: “King Tim
III (Personality Jock),” recorded by the Fatback Band, and “Rapper’s
Delight,” by the Sugarhill Gang. A series of verses recited by the
three members of the 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 the basic groove of
the hit song “Good Times” (1979) by the American disco group Chic.
Perceived as novel by many white Americans, “Rapper’s Delight” quickly
inspired “Rapture” (1980) by the new-wave band Blondie, as well as a
number of other popular records. In 1982 Afrika Bambaataa’s “Planet
Rock” became the first rap record to use synthesizers and an electronic
drum machine. With this recording, rap artists began to create their
own backing tracks rather than simply offering the work of others in a
new context. A year later Bambaataa introduced the sampling
capabilities of the emulator synthesizer on “Looking for the Perfect
Beat” (1983).
Sampling brought into question the ownership of sound.
Some artists claimed that by sampling recordings of a prominent black
artist, such as funk musician James
Brown, they were challenging white corporate America and the
recording industry’s right to own black cultural expression. More
problematic was the fact that rap artists were also challenging Brown’s
and other musicians’ right to own, control, and be compensated for the
use of their intellectual creations. By the early 1990s a system had
come about whereby most artists requested permission and negotiated
some form of compensation for the use of samples. Some commonly sampled
performers, such as funk musician George
Clinton, released compact discs (CDs) containing dozens of sound
bites specifically to facilitate sampling. One effect of sampling was a
newfound sense of musical history among black youth. Earlier artists
such as Brown and Clinton were celebrated as cultural heroes and their
older recordings were reissued and repopularized. By the late 1990s,
however, licensing samples had become so costly that many rappers began
to create backing tracks and sounds from scratch instead.
Politically Conscious and Gangsta Rap Styles
During the mid-1980s, rap moved from the fringes to the
mainstream of the American music industry as white musicians began to
embrace the new style. In 1986 rap reached the top ten on the Billboard pop charts with “(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party!)” by the
Beastie Boys and “Walk This Way” by Run-DMC and Aerosmith. Known for
incorporating rock music into its raps, Run-DMC became one of the first
rap groups to be featured regularly on MTV (Music Television). Also during the mid-1980s, the first female rap
group of consequence, Salt-N-Pepa, released the singles “The Show
Stoppa” (1985) and “Push It” (1987); “Push It” reached the top 20 on Billboard’s
pop charts.
In the late 1980s a large segment of rap became highly politicized,
resulting in the most overt social agenda in popular music since the
urban folk movement of the 1960s. The groups Public Enemy and Boogie
Down Productions epitomized this political style of rap. Public Enemy
came to prominence with their second album, It Takes a Nation of
Millions to Hold Us Back (1988), and the theme song “Fight the
Power” from the motion picture Do the Right Thing (1989), by
African American filmmaker Spike
Lee. Proclaiming the importance of rap in black American culture,
Public Enemy’s lead rapper, Chuck D, referred to it as the “black CNN”
(Cable News Network).
Alongside the rise of political rap came the introduction of gangsta
rap, which attempts to depict an outlaw lifestyle of sex, drugs, and
gang violence in inner-city America. In 1988 Straight Outta Compton,
the first major album of gangsta rap, was released by the Southern
California rap group Niggaz with Attitude (N.W.A). Songs from the album
generated an extraordinary amount of controversy for their violent
images and inspired protests from a number of organizations, including
the FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation). However, attempts to censor
gangsta rap only served to publicize the music and make it more
attractive to both black and white youths. N.W.A became a platform for
launching the solo careers of some of the most influential rappers and
rap producers in the gangsta style, including Dr.
Dre, Ice Cube, and Eazy-E.
RECENT RAP MUSIC TRENDS
In the 1990s rap became increasingly eclectic,
demonstrating a seemingly limitless capacity to draw samples from any
and all musical forms. A number of rap artists have borrowed from jazz,
using samples as well as live music. Some of the most influential
jazz-rap recordings include Jazzamatazz (1993), an album by
Boston rapper Guru, and “Cantaloop (Flip Fantasia)” (1993), a single by
the British group US3. In the United Kingdom, jazz-rap evolved into a
genre known as trip-hop, the most prominent artists and groups being
Tricky and Massive Attack. As rap became increasingly part of the
American mainstream in the 1990s, political rap became less prominent
while gangsta rap, as epitomized by the Geto Boys, Snoop Doggy Dogg,
Biggie Smalls (The Notorious B.I.G.), Tupac Shakur, and Puff Daddy (P.
Diddy) grew in popularity. In the late 1990s some rappers—such as
Master P in New Orleans, Louisiana, and Puff Daddy in New York
City—became entrepreneurs as well, starting highly successful record
labels as well as myriad spin-off companies. Popular rappers as the
21st century began included Jay-Z, Ja Rule, Eve, Eminem, Outkast, and
Mystikal.
Influence of Rap Music on Society
Since the mid-1980s rap music has greatly influenced
both black and white culture in North America. Much of the slang of
hip-hop culture, including such terms as dis, fly, def, chill, and wack, have become standard
parts of the vocabulary of a significant number of young people of
various ethnic origins. Many rap enthusiasts assert that rap functions
as a voice for a community without access to the mainstream media.
According to advocates, rap serves to engender self-pride, self-help,
and self-improvement, communicating a positive and fulfilling sense of
black history that is largely absent from other American institutions.
Political rap artists have spurred interest in the Black Muslim
movement as articulated by minister Louis
Farrakhan, generating much criticism from those who view Farrakhan
as a racist. Gangsta rap has also been severely criticized for lyrics
that many people interpret as glorifying the most violent and misogynistic (woman-hating) imagery in the history of popular music. The style’s
popularity with middle-class whites has been attacked as vicarious
thrill-seeking of the most insidious sort. Critics note that violence
has been more than just a popular subject for rap lyrics; Tupac Shakur
and Biggie Smalls were both gunned down in separate gang-style killings
in 1996 and 1997. Defenders of gangsta rap argue that the music is a
legitimate form of artistic expression and accurately portrays life in
inner-city America. Whatever one’s stance on these issues, rap music
inarguably has carved out a space for the expression of inner-city
black culture that is unprecedented in American history. |
