Harlem rhyming jive 101

Busy week! I have a half-written blog post about cartoon scoring, but in the meantime thought I’d share a few videos I’ve been pretty fascinated by this week.

Basically, these are rap… from the 1940’s (!)

“Brother, Beware!” (starts around 3:40)



“Look Out, Sister!”



That’s Louis Jordan, who I have to confess I’m just starting to learn about. People like Chuck Berry, Ray Charles, Little Richard and James Brown cite him as a huge influence. And many consider him an undeniable precursor to rap. “Harlem rhyming jive” was the term back then.

He’s also one of Rolling Stone’s 100 Greatest Artists of All Time… understandable given all the above.

Enlighten me! Who else do I need to know about??