which people governed their lives. This was because the radio was a primary source of information and enjoyment for blacks, particularly those youth in the inner cities. It is the theory of many that as black radio began to try to appeal to the older, more affluent, and primarily white audience and featured more of the less soulful and rhythmic white disco music, black youth felt excluded and responded by creating hip-hop (Vibe Magazine, August 1995). Rap was created out of the hip-hop culture in the early 70's primarily by a New York City DJ of Jamaican decent named Kool Herc. Herc's style of music consisted of reciting improvised rhymes (lyrics) over dub versions of his reggae records. Since New York was not into reggae as they are now, Herc changed the reggae beats to the popular songs of the day. As the records at the time were relatively short, Herc learned to extend the beats through repetition by using an audio mixer and two of the same record on turntables. (Rap Pages, November, 1992). Rap was also characterized by the element of call and response, where the emcee would recite a well-known phrase, and the crowd would respond with a common response such as: "If you're having fun in the place to be, somebody let me know!" and the crowd Shouts back "Oh yeah!". Or, "The roof, the roof, the roof is on fire!" Crowd: "We don't need no water, let the m---f--- burn!" Other characteristics of rhythm, clever word play, and the use of metaphors were also prevalent. As Kool Herc became more popular, he began to focus more on the new aspects of deejaying, and added two emcees, Coke La Rock and Clark Kent, to form one of the first emcee teams. They took on the name Kool Herc and the Herculoids (Rap Pages, November, 1992). The popularity of rap spread like wildfire because of the fact that it was easily accessible to anyone who wanted to try it. There was no need for large sums of money, lessons, or other expensive resources to get started. Al...
