JOCKO HENDERSON | "RHYTHM TALK" [1979] | Back when a DJ was actually a disc jockey with a listening audience, veteran drive-time mouthbox Douglas "Jocko" Henderson followed up an unsuccessful 1978 bid for Congress by putting his uniquely square rhyming over an instrumental track of McFadden & Whitehead's "Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now." The resulting 7:15 of vinyl delight, with steez like "Hello, Daddy-O and Mommy-O, this is Jocko," constitutes the first recording in Philadelphia rap history (following hard on the heels of the generally acknowledged first rap recording of all time, the Sugar Hill Gang's "Rapper's Delight").
LADY B | "TO THE BEAT Y'ALL" [1980] | Arguably the first female rapper, Wendy Clark a/k/a Lady B was a popular DJ who recorded this crucial slab of wax long before MC Lyte, Queen Latifah, Roxanne Shante, and the Real Roxanne would fuck up rap's glass ceiling. Clark often insisted she wasn't much of a rapper, but the brassy sass of this track belies that misplaced bit of humble pie. Perhaps she prefers to be renowned instead for her reputation behind the decks, where her wax spinning was instrumental in boosting the early careers of such then-unknowns as Poor Righteous Teachers, Public Enemy, and . . .
SCHOOLLY D | "P.S.K. (WHAT DOES IT MEAN?)" [1985] | Breaking out of Philly's 5-2 Crew with DJ Code Money, Schoolly D fired one of gangster rap's early salvos with this ode to his friends in the notorious West Philly gang Park Side Killers. Using the cold-blooded tales of ruthlessness and ferocity amid urban decline that swirled around him as his source, D laid the blueprint for future generations of artists who would attempt to mine the desperation of the inner-city experience for rap gold.
DJ JAZZY JEFF + THE FRESH PRINCE | "GIRLS AIN'T NOTHING BUT TROUBLE" [1986] | They may have hailed from the same West Philly streets as Schoolly D, but Jeff and the Prince marched to a different beat, creating a playland of lighthearted boasts and cuddly beats. "Girls Ain't Nothing But Trouble" sampled I Dream of Jeannie while taking the Slick Rick formula of sleazy storytelling and recasting it for a PG crowd. The result? Commercial paydirt and the first rap Grammy ever (for 1989's "Parents Just Don't Understand").
THE ROOTS | "YOU GOT ME" (FEAT. ERYKAH BADU AND EVE) [1999] | Begat in 1989 by a Lord Creator who had heard one too many rap critics cry out, "But they don't play their own instruments!", the Roots eschewed typical hip-hop sampling and production in favor of a live-band dynamic centered on drummer ?uestlove and rapper Tariq "Black Thought" Trotter. Their fourth album proved to be a breakthrough, and that was in part due to the massive success of this Jill Scott–penned drum 'n' bass love ballad.
Related:
An abridged history of the Roots' collabs, The Big Hurt: We floss econo, The live rap album, More 
- An abridged history of the Roots' collabs
Collaborations
- The Big Hurt: We floss econo
You might recall a slew of ominous articles in 2007 proclaiming that hip-hop was through. Sales were way down, and the culprits were clear: jewelry, violence, and naughty dancing.
- The live rap album
December is the time of year when the new album well dries up and gives way to a deluge of novelty releases.
- The Roots
Philadelphia’s the Roots first became known as hip-hop’s consummate contrarians, playing jazzy grooves on live instruments (no samples allowed) and waxing poetic about their distaste for the commercial mainstream.
- From ’Ye to mixtapes
To get the full taste of where hip-hop is at, you also have to seek out the unofficial releases, the mixtapes, which often have a bigger impact than the official albums.
- Chairmen of the boards
Not unlike Swedish, Tagalog, and Esperanto, music is a language, with its own conjugations and (lewdly) dangling participles.
- War of the words
50 Cent has a long history of initiating beefs before he releases a new album.
- Top 10 Hyphy Videos of all time
With Warner Bros. snapping up the cream of the Yay Area rap scene , TVT capitalizing on Hyphy Hitz , and even indie-rock geeks learning how to ghost ride the whip , we figured it's high time to take a quick look back at how we got here. So get your stunna shades on and get ready to go dumb: it's the top 10 hyphy videos of all time!
- Bay Area beats
Although Oakland’s hyphy movement got its name from a bastardization of the word “hyper,” at this point that could just as easily stand for “hype.”
- Dead, or immortal?
When Chuck D challenges the status quo, a bunch of fortysomethings nod their heads, but Nas can put the young rappers on the defensive.
- Diversified incoming
It’s a testament to the strength of hip-hop, as the medium enters its third decade, that 2006 would see such a wide range of sounds so well represented, from commercial anthems to abstract beat tapes.
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Topics:
Music Features
, Entertainment, The Roots (Band), Schoolly D, More
, Entertainment, The Roots (Band), Schoolly D, Hip-Hop and Rap, Music, Old School Hip-Hop, Public Enemy, Tariq "Black Thought" Trotter, Queen Latifah, Jill Scott, Less
