MC
From DNBWiki
An MC refers to a vocalist, either in a live setting or on a recorded track. The term 'vocalist' in this sense very rarely involves singing, but far more commonly refers to rapping, toasting, or just plain speaking.
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[edit] Entymology
The term MC originally was an acronym for 'Master of Ceremonies'. This term is somewhat antiquated, and is very rarely referred to. MC is also jokingly referred to as standing for "Microphone Controller", "Mic Checka", and so on, but often, the term is simply understood as "the guy with the microphone", and does not stand for anything. The slang term "emcee" which is often used, reflects this.
[edit] Origins
The art of MCing can be traced back to Jamaica, in the sound-system culture of the late 1960s. The MC was employed to speak to the crowd over the mostly instrumental music which the DJ or soundboard operator played. The MC is these days was not a major crowd attraction, his name only very rarely appeared on the bill. His main function was to introduce songs, announce performers or to simply interject catchphrases at the right time.
When hip-hop culture took off in North America, particulary in New York City, the MC idea was supplanted from its Jamaican roots and made an integral part of the hip-hop show. The art of rapping grew in its popularity, where a performer would take street slang and popular culture references and form rhymes, which he recited in time with the music. Rappers began to gain notoriety in their own right, and became, for the first time, a 'crowd puller' to the live shows. Eventually DJs would employ one or more regular MCs to rap for them (Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five etc), and rappers would release records on their own (Sugarhill Gang). This situation continued to evolve into the modern state of hip-hop, where rappers are the mainstream and DJs and producers have become somewhat secondary.
Meanwhile, however, as hip-hop culture went global, it fed back into Jamaica, where the sound-system culture had evolved, for many reasons, into dancehall. Although sound-system MCs had often used rhyme, they had not achieved the celebrity status of American rappers. The culture of hip-hop changed this, and a Jamaican form of rapping, known as toasting, was born. Jamaican MCs now became as popular, if not more so, than the DJs whose music they toasted over.
[edit] MCs in modern times
It took the birth of another musical culture, the British rave scene, to bring MCs into electronic music. Before then, in the days of Detroit techno and acid house, the music played at parties was almost exclusively instrumental, with any vocalisation being pre-recorded or sample-based. Rave DJs and, more commonly, rave promoters, changed this by employing MCs to, in a style very similar to the MC's sound-system origins, to introduce performers, to encourage the crowd to dance, and so on. As rave exploded into many fractured genres, one of which was jungle, eventually drum'n'bass, the MC remained.
MCing nowadays can be distinguished from rapping in that rapping very often involves the vocalist rhyming about himself, whereas the MC refers to the music, the DJ, the crowd and so on. This distinction is merely a rule of thumb, and both MCs and rappers will cross this line of distinction often.
[edit] Popular MCs in drum'n'bass
Add some more please.
