They make much ado over Bob Dylan as a proto-rap pioneer, and taunt Public Enemy for being "unable to locate even one pure black source" (begging Chuck D's own question in "Fear of a Black Planet": "Who is Pure? What is pure?").
Source: wiktionary
Proto-rap
Synonyms for "proto-rap"
Ranked by relevance and common usage.
Sample sentences
7 total sentences available.
It opens with a W.H. Auden poem that is read with the urgency and the rhythm of the piston on a steam engine. It sounds like proto-rap.
Source: wiktionary
Some of this soul and funk music that fed into Blaxploitation films conveyed a serious political message, which was evident in some of the films' music, while there was also a connection to proto-rap culture.
Source: wiktionary
Rick said our original version from '75 was “proto-rap”—since Steven's lyrics were halfspoken, halfsung, and we had this solid beat
Source: wiktionary
Showing 4 of 7 available sentences.
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.