Oluwasegun Adekunle

African Roots of African American Rap Culture: from Across the Seas; a Culture Embellished in Westernization Oluwasegun Adekunle

African American rap culture (Rhythm and Poetry) has practically come of age in recent times. History has it that this came to the fore during the mid eighties. The various rap songs and movements help to testify to this. In fact it should not be taken to be fallacious and hasty that rap has served as a means of buttressing the plight of the black man in a predominantly prejudicial society. A cursory look at the great immortalized works of the rap icons like Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five ?The Message? Amiri Baraka?s ?Dope?, one gets to realize that they are more of the chronicle of the various happenings of these times. During the there were rappers like MC Hammer, Snoop Dog, LL cool J. In recent times we now discuss 50 Cent, NAZ, Kanye West, Jay Z, Jah Rule, Charmillonare, Eve, DMX, amongst others. This work intends to take a critical look at the African Americans and their great exploitation of the medium of orality. This is mostly evident in poetry, although there are other instance of oralitiy in black novels, fiction and drama.