Roots

Rapping can be traced back to its African roots. Centuries before hip hop music existed, the griots of West Africa were delivering stories rhythmically, overdrums and sparse instrumentation. Such connections have been acknowledged by many modern artists, modern day "griots", spoken word artists, mainstream news sources, and academics

What Is Rap ?

 Rapping is a primary ingredient in hip hop music and reggae, but the phenomenon predates hip hop culture by centuries Rapping is also used in Kwaito music, a genre that originated in Johannesburg, South Africa and is composed of hip hop elements. Rapping can be delivered over a beat or without accompaniment. Stylistically, rap occupies a gray area among speech, prose, poetry, and song. The use of the word (meaning originally "to hit') to describe quick speech or repartee, long predates the musical form. The word had been used in British English since the 16th century, and specifically meaning "to say" since the 18th. It was part of the African American dialect of English in the 1960s meaning "to converse", and very soon after that in its present usage as a term denoting the musical style.Today, the terms "rap" and "rapping" are so closely associated with hip hop music that many use the terms interchangeably

The elements of rap are B-Boying, beatboxing, DJing, graffiti art, and MCing,