"And in line with Wacquant's remark on the art of talking having been, and being, highly virtuous in this culture, some of the most highly regarded MCs in the history of hip-hop arguably have had the gift of gab, possessing an ability to tell the most astounding stories-often with a twist of wild imagination-from behind the microphone..." [20].
Rap culture has forever been impacted by the microphone. While the microphone was invented in 1876 (here's a link to the history of the microphone), Rap wasn't around until the 1970's [10] and a form of mainstream popular music until the 1980's, originally hitting it big in large cities like New York City. The microphone predates Rap by almost a century, and its safe to say the Music industry would not be what it is today without the advent of the microphone. As for every other single form of music that involves singing and the sound amplification technologies found in a microphone, there would be no rap music without the microphone. Sure, the genre may have spread through playgrounds and word of mouth, and teens may have still had rap battles during lunch, but there would be no recording studios to make the genre popular on a larger scale, and to that extent this goes for the entire music industry as a whole. Here is a link to the microphone's cultural effects page, which goes in depth, specifically with music, with the cultural effects the microphone has had.
Shown above (WARNING EXPLICIT CONTENT) [11] is the late rapper Christopher Wallace (known as The Notorious B.I.G.) who is largely considered the greatest rapper of all time. Here he is shown participating in a rap battle on the streets of Brooklyn, New York at the age of 17 (1989) with a microphone in hand.
Having this vital of an influence on a music genre has not gone unnoticed. One could argue that the microphone has more of an impact on rap than any other music genre, for the way it has penetrated and been idolized in rap culture. Rappers constantly cite the microphone in their raps, as it has become glorified in rap culture. When someone does a great job in their rap, they are said to have destroyed or owned the microphone in some way. Basically, rappers like to note the microphone because it shows that every time they get on stage to rap, they own it, and do a great job. It's hard to not find a song where the microphone is mentioned in some way, but here are some prime examples. "Microphone Fiend" by Eric B. and Rakim in 1988 [12], provides an early example of the impact the microphone has had on rap culture. One song from the 90's that shows the impact would be "Microphone Murderer" by The Notorious B.I.G. An example of a modern day song would be "Christ Conscious" by Joey Bad@$$, which he calls himself the "Microphone Checka" and the "Microphone Eater" [12].
Shown below is Eric B. and Rakim's song "Microphone Fiend" [13]. (Warning, explicit language).
Shown below is Eric B. and Rakim's song "Microphone Fiend" [13]. (Warning, explicit language).
Another example of the impact microphones have had on rap culture is the tradition of "dropping the mic" when you destroy your opponent in a rap battle, or just to add emphasis on the rap just cited. Shown below is a video by Comedians Key & Peele [14], doing a spoof on dropping the mic, starring President Obama, portrayed by Peele (warning, explicit language), in which he interrupts a rap battle, much like the one portrayed in the video with The Notorious B.I.G.