According to a new book, Ali Rap: Muhammad Ali the First Heavyweight Champion of Rap, the legendary fighter’s famously wit-infused banter laid the groundwork for the emergence of hip-hop. “Before there was rap … there was Ali Rap … a topsy-turvy, jivey jargon that only Ali could create, but a language we could all understand,” editor and designer George Lois reportedly writes. The book wisely stays away from actually arguing its thesis, instead serving as a sort of Ali-only Bartlett’s, in which witty (apparently rap-like) quotes are interspersed with autobiographical info.
This argument might seem dismissable, but those who should know (like Chuck D, for example) are supporting the claim. “It was important to the early rap artists and DJs to understand and tie into Muhammad Ali’s persona and brilliance,” Chuck D reportedly said. “The further we got away from that and the further away we get from history, hip-hop and rap seemed to form its own sort of story – which is not always good to get away from the reasons you were doing it in the first place.”
While we totally get that Ali — a great wit and national hero — was probably an inspiration to many of hip-hop’s founding artists, we’re not sold on the idea that quips like, “I’m a double rapper. First I rap them with my mouth, then I rap them in the mouth” assert Ali’s claim to the Founder of Rap throne. Chuck D should give himself (and Grandmaster Flash and the Sugar Hill Gang and the guys from Run DMC and everyone break-beating in the South Bronx in the late 70s) more credit.
On the rock scale of absurdity, where does this book rank?
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