Like blues, jazz and other black music forms, rap started as a kind of folk music.

Born in the Bronx, rap's roots can be traced back to Africa.

Rap began to develop as a distinct art form in the late 1960's and early 1970's, when young men would adopt colorful pseudonyms and push huge loudspeakers on wheels through the streets to outdoor parties where they would deejay.

Soul and disco music was then overlaid with a free flowing rhyme-the rap.

Rap soon developed a heavily rhythmic feel, and pioneers like Kool DJ Herc, Afrika Bambaataa, Grandmaster Flash, Kutis Blow, and Melle Mel began introducing the technique called samplingÐintermixing music tracks from different records spinning on several turntables at once.

Turntable artists next added moves such as scratching and backspinning with such precision that the rhythms themselves became music. The mixing switch and beat box were invented to give rappers even more control over the sound.

The 80's gave rise to artists like Sugar Hill Gang, Run DMC, MC Lyte, Public Enemy, Queen Latifah and LL Cool J.

Rap icons of the early 90's, included Tupac Shakur, Naughty By Nature, The Fugees and Wu Tang Clan, Busta Rhymes, Missy Elliot and Mace.