Rap is a music genre that originated within the hiphop youth culture in the late 1970s. Rappers, also called MCs (master of ceremonies), began as supporters of DJs at parties but eventually took on a main role as performers on the stage. During performances, rappers interact extensively with audience members, using both verbal phrases and body movement. These interactions are the focus of this project.

The main goals of the project are to better understand how rappers communicate with their audiences, and to examine the impact of rappers’ gestures and verbal phrases on audience response. This will involve exploration of how communication and interaction differs between performers, and across the recent history of the genre. The project will also look at what are the characteristic elements of a contemporary rap performance, and how performers deal with difficult performance transitions such as the breaks between songs.  

In addition to the qualitative and quantitative analysis of historical and contemporary performance by well-known performers, the project will include an artistic research element, involving collaboration with rap performers working to improve their ability to interact effectively with audience members. One of the research outputs will be an online catalogue (website and/or app) of movements and verbal phrases - a kind of guide for rappers to decide which phrases and movements they can use to best effect in different situations.

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