The popularization of rap music as a style unto its own evolved much earlier than the late 20th Century, according to jazz historian Vladimir Simosko at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, Canada.
Simosko notes some examples of beat poetry (which later metamorphosized into rap music) in popular culture throughout the early years of jazz. For example, in the movie Second Chorus, released in 1940, Fred Astaire and Paulette Goddard share a duet in which they speak dialogue to a musical beat.
Simosko points out that talking along with a drum beat has origins much further back than the 1970s, when most people believe rap originated.
"Many cultures around the world have traditions of rhythmic chanting, including those in Africa, North America and Asia," he explains. "In fact, the Inuit have a great chanting style of musical expression from early in their development. One of these, called Quananau, uses a very characteristic rhythm with vocals to convey stories, personal experiences and other knowledge to listeners, similar to rap's function today."
Simosko adds: "But even if we just look at recent popular music for the origin of rap music, there are many examples. Even Burns and Allen rapped a Spam commercial on their show with bandleader Artie Shaw in the 1940s, before World War II."
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