Rap and Spoken Word -- Test Review

History of Rap

100

______________ is a culture and way of living, of which rap is only one part.

Hip hop

200

West African tribesmen who communicate their communities' history and culture through rhyme and music are called _________________.

Griots

300

Name the Harlem lounge musician from the 1930s and 1940s who originated many of the techniques and themes used in modern rap. (Bonus: Name the term for the technique of using the voice as an instrument by singing onomatopoeia.)

Cab Calloway (Bonus: scat singing)

400

What is the fifth element of hip hop (the one related to its purpose)? (Bonus: Name three of the other four elements.)

The fifth element is education/knowledge. The other four are rap, graffiti, breakdancing, and DJing.

500

Name one of the three main people credited with founding the modern hip hop movement in the 1970s. Bonus: Name the other two.

DJ Cool Herc, Africa Bambaataa, Grandmaster Flash

Rap Devices

100

Name the most important device in rap other than rhythm.

Rhyme

200

What is the slang term that many rappers use when talking about rhythm? Bonus: traditionally, rap is spoken over a beat of how many bpm?

Flow. A typical beat is 70-80 bpm.

300

A typical verse or stanza in rap is composed of how many bars?

16

400

Name two types of rhyme other than end rhyme.

Slant/Off, Internal, Multi

500

"I got master degree burns after a heatstroke of genius." "All I got is bars for you dumbbells, since yours ain't workin' out." These are examples of what device commonly found in rap?

Double entendre

History of Spoken Word

100

Name the group of poets and musicians who rose out of the civil rights movement and combined spoken word with jazz/funk instrumentation.

The Last Poets

200

Name the spoken word artist who rose to prominence in the 1970s and 1980s and became a major influence on modern hip hop and slam poetry. (Bonus: Name his most famous poem.)

Gil Scott-Heron. "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised."

300

Name the construction worker who invented slam poetry competitions in 1986 to "give poetry back to the people."

Marc Smith

400

Traditionally, what do people do at slam poetry competitions instead of clapping?

Snap their fingers

500

Name one of the modern slam poets we have examined over the course of this unit. Bonus: Name another one.

Taylor Mali, Beau Sia, Rudy Francisco, Sarah Kay, Patrick Roche, Mayde del Valle, etc.

Stuff From Class

100

What 1979 song first popularized hip hop and made it accessible to mainstream audiences outside of New York City? (Bonus: Name the group who performed it.)

"Rapper's Delight" by The Sugarhill Gang.

200

This is considered by most historians to be the first "gangsta rap" song. Bonus: Who wrote it?

"6 In The Mornin' " by Ice-T

300

This famous slam poet worked as a middle school teacher for nearly a decade before quitting to pursue poetry full-time. Bonus: Name his most famous poem.

Taylor Mali

400

Name the female rapper who wrote about her experience getting an abortion in "My Story."

Jean Grae

500

Jay-Z famously rapped, "If skills sold, truth be told, I'd probably be lyrically ____________________. Truthfully, I wanna rhyme like Common Sense, but I did five mil, I ain't been rhymin' like Common since." Name the other rapper he was referring to. (Bonus: Name the other member of Black Star.)

Talib Kweli. He was in Black Star with Mos Def.

Miscellaneous

100

Name the two main "subgenres" of rap that rose to popularity in the 1980s and 1990s.

Gangsta and Conscious

200

Harajuku Barbie and Roman Zolanski are two of the many personas crafted by this rapper. (Bonus: Name the song on which this rapper was featured; it's considered by many music critics to be her big break.)

Nicki Minaj. She was prominently featured on the Kanye West track "Monster."

300

Cab Calloway famously wrote a dictionary of slang that was commonly used in the black community. This slang was known as ___________________.

jive

400

This famous rapper originally performed an early version of one of his songs under the title "Self-Conscious" on Def Poetry Jam. Bonus: Name the song poem later became.

Kanye West -- "All Fall Down"

500

Which of the rappers we looked at in class did Mr. Johnson say might be his favorite? (Bonus: What is Mr. Johnson's rap name?)

Mr. Johnson really likes Akala. His rap name is Optimus Rhyme.