For many hip-hop fans, that’s what hip hop is - beats, rhymes and life. For a generation that grew up with a brand of music that was born in the ’70s, only to grow in popularity in the ’80s, before it’s cultural explosion in the early ’90s; rap, or hip-hop, some might call the two synonymous, is as much a part of the music landscape in 2007 as any other genre of music. In some ways, is an overwhelming influence to a lot of the music people listen to today.

And with the passing of the area’s own Chad Butler, famously known in the rap industry as Pimp C, some are questioning the importance of rap, and why so much attention is paid to a man who rapped about selling drugs, sex, money, violence, god, death, friends, family and his hometown, Port Arthur. Rap as a music form has been around for 30 years, starting in New York in the ’70s. Davey D, a noted hip-hop historian, credits a Jamaican DJ, Kool Herc, with rap’s inception.

D said Herc would “recite improvised rhymes over the dub versions of his reggae records.” The music evolved as the decade wore on and pioneering acts such as Grandmaster Flash, Afrikka Bambattaa and Melle Mel showcased the burgeoning music’s versatility. It was in 1979 when the Sugar Hill Gang’s song “Rapper’s Delight” put rapping on the musical map as it became the first real rap hit, peaking at #36 on the Top 40.

The momentum for rap continued through the ’80s, with the east coast continuing to pave the way, most notably with the Queens N.Y.-based luminaries Run-DMC, a three member group who bum rushed the scene in the mid-’80s, wearing their trademark black outfits, black fedoras, gaudy gold chains and the unmistakable shell-toe Adidas sneakers. “They’re the Rolling Stones of the rap game,” said Ice Cube, a rapping great in his own right and founding member of N.W.A.