It’s hard to believe that everything that lives or dies, has its own rhythm. Drums signaling rhythm to the oncoming forces of war to wage their attacks, all the way to a waves crashing on a beach in a twilight sky, show just how powerful time is in relation to everything which moves at its own pace. So in the genre on Rap, an emcee’s flow is indeed their "Rhythmic D.N.A." The pacing of the breath on which they spit onto a microphone, fill in the emptiness of voids within the confines time and space. Through that rhythm, they use many kinds of patterns to communicate what they are saying. You can say an emcee feels most alive through their flow, because it is there they feel the very pulse, of what gets them up in the morning. Them looking forward to perform for their fans, friends, haters, idols, contemporaries, etc., move in lockstep to their words, all rapped to the timing of a beat What is “Flow”?A. Signature – The pulse of the beat, as well as the “count” of each song
B. Timing – The syncing between the flow’s location to the beat
C. Tempo – The speed of the rhythm
D. Cadence – The pattern and sequences of the rhythm
E. Meter – The length and grouping of syllabic phrases
F. Articulations - The techniques used to express motionThis structure being discussed is that of grounding notion of emceeing: “Rhythm”, which is 1 of the 9 principle elements in music. Without this there is no underlying force in your sound, just a dead flatline. It is what gives Hip-Hop its primary recognizable sound, compared to all other genres

Overview: Proto-Era (1960-1973)Ella Fitzgerald's peak years were in the 60's for Vocal Jazz, when she did "Scat", the precursor to what we now know as "flow". So going from there, she was considered the all-time best Scat Jazz vocalist. Fitzgerald took what was invented by Alan Romax and Gene Greene as she entirely innovated a brand new style, tailored after the Bop musicians's rhythm section. Go onto 1973, Hip-Hop's 1st emcees for flow. He was with the inventor of Hip-Hop DJ Kool Herc, his name was Coke La Rock. In 1975, DJ Herc got Coke La Rock to say a few phrases in between the his cross-fading and breaks to pump up the crowd, which was called "emceeing". MC was the title given to the "Master of Ceremonies", that is whoever controlled the mic at a packed venue at the time. This term is still in usage with that same meaning today in Hip-Hop, just with a fuller list of aspects. This means emcees are primarily ENTERTAINERS, before anything else The Old School Hip-Hop Era (1975-1983)Year: 1975
Emcees: Coke La Rock and Kool Herc
Reputation: Inventors, Innovator
Location: East Coast (NYC)
Song: “N/A"
Audio/Video: Link From 1975, everyone uses his signature phrase nowadays, which was the building block believe it or not for every emcee's rhymes and flows "You rock and you don't stop!" "Hotel, motel, you don't tell, we won't tell!"You can feel the nostalgia and oral tradition in your veins when you say these with enthusiasm. These were proven to be very effective for "crowd control". Though Herc came up with the most basic rhymes, La Rock was assigned rapping duties. Flow:

- Timing: Non time (no beat)
- Tempo: Middle
- Cadence: The "Incomplete" pattern Year: 1977
Emcees: Funky 4 + 1 (Sha Rock, KK Rockwell, Keith-Keith, Jazzy Jeff The MC, and Rodney Cee)
Reputation: Inventors, Innovators
Location: East Coast (NYC)
Songs: “Rappin’ and Rockin’ the House” and "That's The Joint"
Audio/Video: Link 1977 is the earliest year where they were recording of emcees rapping “to the beat” and not randomly yelling out phrases to the crowd. So I’ll begin with the group who began officially “emceeing” before everyone else. They’re the 1st group to also feature a female emcee in the game, known as Sha Rock. She made the “Plus + 1” (because she was a girl) after rejoining when Rahiem left for Grandmaster Flash and the Furious 5’s group, when their 1st lineup lost a local Rap contest. So the current group at the time was her, KK Rockwell, Keith-Keith, Jazzy Jeff and Lil’ Rodney Cee Flow:

- Timing: On beat
- Tempo: Middle
- Cadence: The “Conveyor Belt” pattern Year: 1978
Emcees: The Cold Crush Brothers
Reputation: Inventors, Innovators and Ghostwriters (Grandmaster Caz)
Location: East Coast (NYC)
Song: “Fresh, Wild, Fly and Bold”
Audio/Video: Link 1978 was first of many years of soon to happen batshit controversies that would get out of control. Among these were the early occurrences of ghostwriting and biters of those who “originated flows” with the rhymes done on paper to the uncredited and disrespected author. In next section, explains how Sugarhill Gang and their rivals the CCB would almost in a “prehistoric way” forever divided Hip-Hop into 2 kinds: 1. Those that were authentic, original and had rhymes with their flow they wrote down themselves

2. Those who subsequently used this opportunity to bite others for their own style, or had their stuff ghostwritten, yet called themselves “The real emcees” Flow:

- Timing: On time
- Tempo: Middle
- Cadence: The "Tradeoff" pattern Year: 1979
Emcees: Sugarhill Gang (Big Bank Hank, Wonder Mike and Master G)
Reputation: Inventors, Innovators and Imitators
Location: East Coast (New Jersey)
Song: "Rapper's Delight"
Audio/Video: Link The same year that Cold Crush Brothers got famous, these guys were arguably the most influential Rap Group of all-time because they are responsible for why Rap has gone Mainstream. They weren't as cohesive as The CCB, as complex as The Furious Five, but they knew how to have a damn great time. Part of their fun appeal was making grand boasts about each of their personas. This made the first Rap record that contains the same exact braggadocious themes, that exist more than ever today. However, they were also the 1st group to "steal lyrics" from Caz as stated previously, with Hank jacking several lines out of the emcee's rhyme book himself Flow:
- Timing: On time
- Tempo: Mid
- Cadence: The "Karaoke Pattern" Year: 1979
Emcee: Kurtis Blow
Reputation: Inventor, Innovator
Location: East Coast (NYC)
Songs: "The Breaks", "Rappin' Blow", "Basketball", "Hard Times"
Audio/Video: Link 1979 was the year of the solo artist and for damn good reason
You had emcees who could rap better, if not on par with groups at the time who gave lesser competitors a "run for their money" (literally since most artists at this time were poor). This guy, Kurtis Blow is why every single rapper who has had the title "Solo Artist" is even known today, as the popular model record labels chose to promote their artists. An emcee is a lot easier to manage and budget, versus dealing with a group's multiple issues like collective intellectual property. Kurtis is the 1st emcee to become Mainstream, having a platinum AND #1 album on Billboard AND being a worldwide success. The man is very skilled and talented as his rhyme schemes were moderate, flows were changing based on the songs he rapped about, and had many kinds of lyrical content. Oh yeah, he is why hooks became the essential part of songwriting in Rap, (Sugarhill used it a few months before he did, but not as creative as him). Impressively, he rapped all his songs without profanity, yet was just as great as emcee as anyone else Flow:

- Timing: On time
- Tempo: Mid
- Cadence: The "Broken Pattern" and "Ad-lib Pattern" Year: 1979
Emcee: DJ Lady B
Reputation: Innovator, Inventor
Location: East Coast (Philly)
Song: "To The Beat, Y'all!"
Audio/Video: Link In 1979, this woman is considered to be the female 1st DJ/emcee of the sort, even though she only had one song. Unlike every other DJ at the time, she would rap extremely lengthy verses in between her hooks of commanding the crowd to do what she said Flow:

- Timing: On time
- Tempo: Mid
- Cadence: "The Reiteration Pattern" Year: 1979
Emcee: Tanya "Sweet-Tee" Winley
Reputation: Inventor, Innovator
Location: East Coast (NYC)
Songs: "Rhymin' and Rappin'", "Vicious Rap"
Audio/Video: Link In her 2 year long career having only released 2 songs, Winley is often forgotten along with Sha Rock (Funky 4 + 1), Lady B and Sequence for being the actual 1st wave of female emcees in the game. She is unique for being the very 1st solo artist for females AND rapper for mentioning real experiences with racial profiles and police harassment in her content, making her 1 of the 1st Conscious Rap lyricists in Rap history. The length of her lines were unprecedented, as this is now the typical amount you'd see a vast majority of emcees have. When it came to bars, it is not hard to see how MC Lyte in the next decade would find her template, for trendsetting the late 80's. Tanya was the hardest rhymer of these early women, and along with that spoke unsung truths at the time that later women would copy for their styles Flow:

- Timing: On time
- Tempo: Mid
- Cadence: "The Punctual Pattern" Year: 1979
Emcees: Sequence (Angie B, Cheryl The Pearl and Blondie)
Reputation: Innovators, Inventors
Location: The South (South Carolina)
Song: "Funk You Up"
Audio/Video: Link These women are legends what for they did for Rap and Hip-Hop at the time. First, Angie B was actually known as her more familiar name Angie Stone, becoming a Gospel singing icon in Black Music History. Secondly, they used their Gospel background to found their entire style and choice of rhythms, giving their cadences melodic tendencies. That's not the only surprise, take a look at the location section above, they are the 1st "Southern Rap group" to ever exist in the genre's history. To add to their innovations, they began to utilize the 1st recorded usage of "Singing/rapping" styles that would become synonymous with Rap in the mid 90's to right now on the radio. So every Southern artist who has melodies in their rapping can thank these 3 ladies for beginning that trend. Though soon every region in the U.S. would have their own unique twists on "Singing/Rapping', it is more prevalent in the South than the other 3 Flow:

- Timing: 0n time
- Tempo: Mid
- Cadence: "The Gospel Sing-Song Pattern"Year: 1979
Emcees: DJ Hollywood and Eddie Cheba
Reputation: Inventors, Innovators
Location: East Coast (NYC)
Song: "Live At The Armory"
Audio/Video: Link DJ Hollywood and Cheba were just like Lady B before him, except he came up with the phrase "Throw your hands in the air, and wave them like you just don't care!", building many of his verses upon that structure. Emcees would later bite the hell out of that hook to its most generic usage, J. Cole purposely used it for the hook of "Tale of 2 Citiez" Flow:

- Timing: On time
- Tempo: Mid
- Cadence: "The Imperative Pattern" He had a definite penchant for ordering the crowd moves to do what he asked of them. His patterns were more "Imperative", unlike Coke La Rock and Kurtis he gave them direct and specific rhythms to move to Year: 1980
Emcees: The Treacherous Three (Kool Moe Dee, Special K and L.A. Sunshine. Spoonie Gee left soon at 1978 to pursue a solo career, which discounts him as a 4th member)
Reputation: Inventors, Innovators
Location: East Coast (NYC)
Song: "The New Rap Language", and Spoonie Gee's "Love Rap"
Audio/Video: Link Headed by Kool Moe Dee, this amazing group are the 1st males in the game to be a trio and to showboat what is known as "Multisyllabic rhyming". As a group, they were a force to be reckoned with as their leader invented "Battle Rap", challenging any emcee (including beating Busy Bee, in a famous battle) to step to them. Their vocabularies were large, patterns hard to guess and the length of their rhyme schemes, literally "double" the expected amount in their day Flow:

- Timing: On-time
- Tempo: Double-time
- Cadence: "The Double-Time/Intermittent Pattern" Year: 1980
Emcees: Brother D and Collective Effort
Reputation: Inventors, Innovators
Location: East Coast (NYC)
Song: "How We Gonna Make The Black Nation Rise?"
Audio/Video: Link While every group was mostly either Party Rap at the time, Brother D and his crew made the 1st hit single for Conscious Rap. At the time, what they did wasn't being taken notice, but soon it would cause a huge wave and trend of having poetical substance in one's lyrical content, making the group spearhead the later "Conscious Rap Movement" during the whole 80's. The Furious Five would later revolutionize it, partially thanks what D and CE contributed Flow:

- Timing: On
- Tempo: Mid
- Cadence: "The Statement Pattern" Year: 1981
Emcees: Afrika Bambaataa and the Supersonic Soul Force/Zulus (Pow Wow, G.L.O.B.E., Mr. Biggs, Hutch Hutch, Ms. Lisa Lee, etc.)
Reputation: Inventors, Innovators
Location: East Coast (NYC)
Song(s): "Zulu Nation Throwdown", "Jazzy Sensation", "Planet Rock"
Audio/Video: Link A former Black Spade gang member-turned street wise activist, Bambaataa was and still is a positive force for those today who seek to empower the ghettos in Black culture using music to proactively reinforce the need to minimize the amount of violence and crimes being committed between gangs at the time. He with Flash and his main influence Kool Herc are Hip-Hop's 3 pioneers of the musical backbone of the culture that is DJing. To get people off the streets he formed the "Zulu Nation", which was a massive group with an every growing membership full of breakdancers, B-Boys/Girls, graffiti artists, Afrocentric activists, emcees, etc Their goal was spreading "love" and community throughout New York City, then eventually the world Flow:

- Timing: On time
- Tempo: Mid
- Cadence: "The Loopy Pattern" Year: 1982
Emcees: Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five (Melle Mel, Keef Cowboy, Raheim, The Scorpio and Kid Creole)
Reputation: Inventors, Innovators
Location: East Coast (NYC)
Song(s): "Superrappin"', "The Message"
Audio/Video: Link Expanding Brother D and CE's influence on them, The Furious Five took emceeing to a whole new level with what they brought to the forefront at this time. When it came to flow, all aspects got tighter and more refined. Cadences were then "stressed upon the downbeat" (the 2's and 4's in a Rap song's count), making the rhythms stronger and more felt than before. Due to this, the Furious Five were known as a crew very few contended with, including The Treacherous Three, Funky Four Plus One and Cold Crush Brothers Flow:

- Timing: On time
- Tempo: Mid and double
- Cadence: "The Laymen/Downbeat Pattern" So though there weren't many artists at this 1st series, even if you are a younger fan of Rap, you now have no excuse but to "respect your elders" as they laid the groundwork for 100's of your favorite emcees. For without them, the rhythmic variations that come to shape Rap as a genre would not be possible. You don't have to like any of their music, but you can give them credit for not "biting each other's styles". Compared to most of the basic rappers you listen to today, that dare call themselves "original" or "emcees" in blatant ignorance, your "grandparents" were the real deal