Since rap currently dominates the charts as the most popular form of music on Earth, it's kind of hard to believe that the genre received copious amounts of hate in its formative years. Whether it was the sartorial selections of the emcees, the genre's penchant for sampling, or the unorthodox manner of delivery that was the "rap" itself, it took a considerable length of time for Hip-hop to be classified as a legitimate form of music. Granted, I might be somewhat biased because of my age and upbringing, but I always found people's aversion to rap in the early 80s to early 2000s a little odd. Especially considering that people have been performing "proto-rap" for decades.
Nah, I'm not about to hit you with that 9th-grade introduction to Shakespeare speech about how ole Willy could've doubled as the original big Willy style. That's kind of a reach—a well-intentioned reach, but a reach nonetheless. I'm talking about tracks like Frank Zappa's Slime from 1973.
Or the video linked at the top of this blog from The Jubalaries singing their song Noah. Clips of the video lit Black Twitter ablaze a couple of years ago when people heard the song's "proto-rap" bars. Plus, the frontman bears an uncanny resemblance to Lil Baby. Inspired by the video's reception, the YouTuber DrumBroAngel Music decided to give the track a contemporary instrumental.
