Lesson 19.

1. Speaking

1. Where is rap from?

2. When did it first appear?

3. C an you name two famous rappers or rap groups?

2. Reading

Read the text and check your answers.

Rap music began in the 1970s in a poor black neighbourhood of New York called the Bronx. Rap was transmitted quickly from one urban area to another. People heard disc jockeys or DJs in clubs playing mixes of different music rhythms with a strong beat and they liked dancing to it. The words are not as important as the beat. Perhaps this can explain why young people like some rap songs even if they can’t understand the words and although they have violent and racist words. Disc jockeys made cassette recordings and gave them to their friends. This is how rap music was transmitted. At first there were no record companies and you couldn’t buy rap music in shops. Now it is million-dollar business.

In the beginning, there were no women rappers. When rap music first became popular, rappers were not kind to women in their lyrics. Rap record producers did not want to promote women rappers. The first successful female rap group Salt’n’Pepa made an album called “Hot, Cold and Vicious”. It sold over one million copies. Salt’n’Pepa had words in their songs that said that women should be independent from men. Queen Latifah, another female rapper, said that women should be optimistic and have pride in themselves. Women liked this and bought a lot of records.

Choose the correct answer according to the text.

1. Rap music began in a poor black neighbourhood of New York/of the Bronx.

2. Nobody/Lots ofpeople liked to dance to rap music.

3. At first you could/couldn’t buy rap music in shops.

4. Today, the rap music business is going badly/is a success.

Answer the questions with your partner.

1. What is a DJ?

2. In rap music, what is more important, the words or the beat?

3. Do you like rap songs if they have violent or racist words?

Match the sentences halves.

a) The first successful female rap group, Salt’n’Pepa	1) bought a lot of records.
b) Salt’n’Pepa had lyrics	2) should be optimistic and have pride in themselves.
c) Queen Latifah said that women	3) made an album called “Hot, Cold and Vicious”.
d) Women liked this and	4) that said that women should be independent.

3. V ocabulary: Music

Match the pictures with the people.

 Shakira  Justin Timberlake  Black Eyes Peas  Usher  Britney Spears	 U2  Nelly Furtado  Keane  Eminem  Madonna	A . B.
E . F.		C . D.
G . H. I.