[Ads-l] Further Antedating of "Rap Music"

[Steven Losie]

Here are some sources from ProQuest on this term that antedate the OED's
first citation.

This first one is clearly another collocation, as it is referring to soul
singer Barry White, who was not a rap artist. (The wording "a overnight" is
in the original):

[begin quote]
White has become a overnight sensation with that deep baritone rap music.
[end quote]
Source: Manning, Steve. "Aretha And Barry On The Same Weekend." New York
Amsterdam News, 16 March 1974, p.D-11, col.3 (ProQuest)

Another collocation, as this is about a country music song:

[begin quote]
To the north, the Poconos' Rick Peoples has a record out, under Rap Music
Co., featuring Rudy's Tavern in East Stroudsburg and called "Rudy's Bar and
Grill." The country song about the popular neighborhood pub, where Peoples
has played, is backed by "Christmas in a Small Town"...
[end quote]
Source: Fales, Gregg. "Music Makers: Christian's new direction sidetracked
for a while." The Morning Call (Allentown, Penn.), 18 December 1976, p.40,
col.2 (ProQuest)

This one appears to be more on the nose, since "Gotta Get My Hands On Some
Money" by the Fatback Band seems pretty clearly to be an early rap song:

[begin quote]
Fatback Band / Hot Box / Spring / This LP will score big with the rap music
fans. Currently, they are on the charts with the tune "Gotta Get My Hands
On Some Money."
[end quote]
Source: Gillis, Gene. "Turntable talk." New York Amsterdam News, 17 May
1980, p.80, col.6 (ProQuest)

>From a letter to the editor in Billboard magazine:

[begin quote]
Please stop all that nonsense about disco being dead. We in Brooklyn never
heard anything so outrageous. Rap music, imports and other sources will
continue to give their best to disco.
[end quote]
Source: Romero, Louie. "Letters to the Editor." Billboard. Vol.92, Iss.43.
New York. 25 October 1980, p.16, col.2 (ProQuest)

Rap artist Kurtis Blow's name is spelled "Curtis" in this article:

[begin quote]
There is a new wave in music arising today that should be paid careful
attention. Groups such as the Gap Band and Curtis Blow are making rap music
famous in the public eye and ear.
[end quote]
Source: "Black Music and Entertainers: Black Folks And Music Fit Together."
Atlanta Daily World, 19 February 1981, p.11, col.3 (ProQuest)

[begin quote]
The word "rap"...involves speaking in a manner that is fast, witty and hip.
There is little singing in rap music, which is distinguished by its cocky
attitude and a funky, heavy and hip beat.
[end quote]
Source: Wyatt, Hugh. "Record spinoff: When a rap makes music." New York
Daily News, 20 February 1981, p.108, col.1 (ProQuest)

Here is one for "rap" alone as a type of music, which the OED dates to 10
April 1980 in the Boston Globe. I'm not sure if this one would be bracketed
or not. It's about the Philadelphia radio deejay Dr. Perri Johnson, who
evidently did release some rap-adjacent material a little bit later on, but
in the full article, it's pretty clear he was playing several different
genres of music on his radio shows at the time, including funk, soul, and
jazz. I tried to preserve the line breaks as seen in the original, because
the punctuation is a little odd:

[begin quote]
His unique brand of music-
/rap, which he calls "funkology," is a
mixture of street talk and pop psy-
chology, promising to heal the soul,
soothe the psyche and massage
the ear drum of his listeners.
[end quote]
Source: Lawlor, Julia. "Threads: Dr. Perri Johnson." Philadelphia Daily
News, 28 December 1977, p.19, cols.2-3 (ProQuest)

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