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

[Shapiro, Fred]

Now I'm totally confused.  The Boston Phoenix, 15 Apr. 1980 (Internet Archive), had a big article titled "Rappin' the blues away."  On page 2 of that article appears the following:

"Rap music is unmistakably New York funk, the aggressive, confident, intensely urban style characteristic of groups like Chic, GQ, and Kool and the gang."

That sounds like disco music.  Yet on page 3 of the article it refers to "Rapper's Delight" as "rap."  I believe "Rapper's Delight" is now regarded as a key example of rap music.

So is this article an antedating of the term "rap music" or not ?

Fred Shapiro

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