For decades, the debate about what specifically differentiates and associates rap music and hip-hop music has been seemingly infinite, and with no definitive answers. The main root of the differences and similarities revolves around the types of culture that each category personifies. Other areas, however, are also considered when separating and associated the two genres such as: musical production techniques, what the genres try to encompass in their fundamental message, and the elements associated in creating the sounds of the music.
Firstly, Hip-Hop and Rap stem from the same origin, The Bronx, in the 1970s, and are believed to had been first introduced by Jamaican DJ, Kool Herc, who recited rhymes over instrumental music. The movement quickly caught on and spread globally around the music world, deriving inspiration from the rapping used by folk poets in West Africa. Hip-Hop culture, which as an umbrella term that includes rap, was adopted by street gangs in The Bronx as a new form of competition and one-upmanship. Although Rap is usually more serious
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The musical characteristics of Rap and Hip-Hop are quite dissimilar. Rap is all about combining poetry and rhyming on top of a musical beat. The subject matter of rap can cover an infinite range of topics, such as broken relationships and international politics. Sometime between the 1970s and 1980s, rappers provided public and social commentary on societal issues that were being overlooked by the mainstream media. Unfortunately, in the years that followed, rap was developed into being more focused on the monster that is consumer commercialism, so it is hard to find profound meaning within the contents of most of today’s rap music. Hip-Hop culture, on the other hand, is heavily influenced by the beat-box style of the past. Many Hip-Hop exclusive artists like Sugarhill Gang and Kurtis Blow sang in upbeat, assuring tones that encouraged listeners to