This. I don't know how you would define rap/hip-hop nut it's not just rhyming over a beat. If that was the case than someone reciting poetry over a bongo can be called a rapper, or some person in the amazon rain forest can be called a rapper because he rhymes while banging on a tree trunk.
Rapping in essence is really just that "Rhyming over a beat" and of course the Rhyming
is a form of poetry. Something no group of people can really lay claim too.
The problem is that people (not you but those commenting on the video) think Rapping
is JUST Rhyming. Rapping is really two parts, it's a vocal technique and a written aspect.
So yes, having someone banging on a desk, tree,bongo's or beat boxing while
another person is flowing/rapping over it can be considered a "Rapper".
Though the whole package which is Rap music or Hip Hop music is more than just the vocal
technique it is a continuation of musical ideas which have existed for quite some time.
@UpAndComing and
@smARTmouf have posted some examples of what I mean.
I mean you can listen to it and you can tell it isn't "Hip hop" as we know it because funk
hadn't been created by James Brown yet but the vocal technique and style of delivery existed.
I don't want to derail the thread though, so I'll let the jokes ride as it's pretty obvious
most everyone doesn't take the video in the OP seriously as far as proof of Hip Hop's
origin.