rapping can be done over music of many types (or genres), including jazz, house, reggae and many more. one genre of music that includes a lot of rapping is hip hop. what people think of as rapping today, was started by african americans in new york city, usa, in the 1970s. people would talk over disco music djs at parties, and this gradually evolved into rapping. but, the start of the art of rapping is even older. reggae artists in jamaica used a similar style to rapping from the 1950s. going back further than that, the west african griots (travelling musicians and poets) would also rap over tribal drums in the 1400s.