Musical characteristics and themes
Old-school hip hop is noted for its relatively simple rapping techniques, compared to later hip hop music.[6] Artists such as Melle Mel would use few syllables per bar of music,[9] with simple rhythms[6][9] and a moderate tempo.[10]
Much of the subject matter of old-school hip-hop centers around partying and having a good time.[6] In the book How to Rap, Immortal Technique explains how party content played a big part in old-school hip hop: "hip-hop was born in an era of social turmoil... in the same way that slaves used to sing songs on a plantation... that's the party songs that we used to have".[11]
Battle rap was also a part of the old-school hip-hop aesthetic. While discussing battle rapping, Esoteric said, "a lot of my stuff stems from old school hip-hop, braggadocio ethic".[12] A famous old-school hip-hop battle occurred in December 1981, when Kool Moe Dee challenged Busy Bee Starski.[13] Busy Bee Starski's defeat by the more complex raps of Kool Moe Dee meant that "no longer was an MC just a crowd-pleasing comedian with a slick tongue; he was a commentator and a storyteller".[13] in the documentary Beef, KRS-One also credits this as creating a shift in rapping.[14]
Sci-fi/Afrofuturism was another theme introduced into hip hop. The release of Planet Rock in 1982 was a game-changer, like "a light being switched on."[15] The combination of electronic percussive propulsion and Afrika Bambaataa's rap sounded like "an orchestra being rocketed into outer space."[16] "Light Years Away", by Warp 9 (1983), produced and written by Lotti Golden and Richard Scher, explored social commentary from a sci-fi perspective.[17] A "cornerstone of early 80's beatbox afrofuturism", "Light Years Away" is characterized as "a brilliantly spare and sparse piece of electro hip-hop traversing inner and outer space."[18]
Freestyle rap during hip hop's old-school era was defined differently than today. Kool Moe Dee refers to this earlier definition in his book There's a God on the Mic: "There are two types of freestyle. There's an old-school freestyle that's basically rhymes that you've written that may not have anything to do with any subject or that goes all over the place. Then there's freestyle where you come off the top of the head".[19] This is in contrast to the more recent definition which usually defines freestyle rap as "improvisational rap like a jazz solo".[20] In old-school hip hop, Kool Moe Dee says that improvisational rapping was instead called "coming off the top of the head".[21]
Old-school hip hop often sampled disco and funk tracks, such as "Good Times" by Chic, when performed live in the 1970s. Recorded hip hop (such as Sugarhill Gang's "Rapper's Delight") would use a live band to do covers of the famous breaks from the 1970s block parties. However, after "Planet Rock", electro-funk (the electronic Roland TR-808 drum machine recreation of the original 1970s breakbeat sound from the now infamous block parties) became the staple production technique between 1982 and 1986 (the invention of the sampler later in the 80s and Eric B. & Rakim's "Eric B. Is President" brought the original 1970s breakbeat sound back to hip hop, referred to today as the "boom bap" sound). The use of extended percussion breaks led to the development of mixing and scratching techniques. Scratching was pioneered by Grand Wizard Theodore in 1975, and the technique was further developed by other prominent DJs, such as Grandmaster Flash. One example is "Adventures on the Wheels of Steel", which was composed entirely by Flash on the turntables.
Quincy Jones was an influential figure in hip-hop as a record producer for Mercury Records, and eventually became its vice president, which made him popular in hip-hop culture. He went on to publish Vibe magazine, which became a cornerstone in hip-hop history.
