Words as Weapons

Hip-hop was born in the South Bronx in the early 1970s when DJ Kool Herc extended the "break" section of funk records so people could dance longer. MCs began talking over the breaks to hype the crowd. That talking evolved into rapping — rhythmic spoken poetry over beats.

What makes hip-hop unique is its emphasis on lyrics as literature. A great rapper's verse contains internal rhymes, multisyllabic rhyme schemes, metaphor, simile, wordplay, double entendres, and narrative structure — all delivered with rhythmic precision over a beat.