Friday, May 22, 2009

THE SCOTTISH INVENTED RAP? I DONT THINK SO!


According to this article, black people didn't invent rap? No, it was the Scottish!

Grandmaster Flash and Melle Mel aren't going to be too pleased about this.

Professor Ferenc Szasz, of the University of New Mexico is arguing rap battles were invented by the Scots, and not, as many would believe, by African Americans. The battles, in which two or more performers trade elaborate insults, derive from the ancient Caledonian art of "flyting" says Szaz.

The UK Telegraph says according to the theory, Scottish slave owners took the tradition with them to the United States, where it was adopted and developed by slaves, emerging many years later as rap.


Now Im not going to get on any black nationalistic soapbox or nothing like that, but to me rap music, like every other popular form of American music, is the product of many cultures. No one group of people can lay claim to this. Its odd to say that one group (especially the Scottish, of all people?) can lay claim to this. Look, when I think of the Scottish, I think of that Groundskeeper Willie character from the Simpsons, and thats a long way off from hip hop, you know?

1 comment:

  1. that's possibly the stupidest theory ever...that's like saying shakespeare also invented rap...right? So kurtis blow, afrika bambaataa, slick rick,...were slaves back then

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