Old School Rap/Hip-Hop

Old School refers to rap's era of adolescent innocence, 1979-84, when the beats were straightforward and the emphasis was more on amusement than on social commentary or tales of reckless debauchery. Old School Rap's heyday was kicked off by the Sugarhill Gang's smash "Rapper's Delight," and its subsequent reign was punctuated more by a string of hit singles than singular artists. U.T.F.O. ("Roxanne Roxanne"), Whodini ("Freaks Come Out At Night") and Kurtis Blow ("Basketball") enjoyed success during this time, but are remembered by the pop mainstream more for their hits than for broad bodies of work. Several modern groups such as the Arsonists and Jurassic 5 have an undeniably Old School sound and are introducing a new generation of listeners to B-boy essentials such as high-energy posse rhymes and the importance of a DJ.