ENTITY · CONCEPT

Toasting

Well supported

The Jamaican sound-system practice of talking, chanting and rhyming over instrumental records through the microphone, developed by 1950s-60s selectors and deejays to hype the dance. It is the seed form from which the recorded deejay style, and later rap, grew.

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At a glance

Type: concept
Confidence: Well supported
Era: Open era →

Musical & sonic elementsPeople & rolesStyle, language, faith & wider culture

Connections

Watch & listen

Open source ↗

The Originator: U-Roy transformed the deejay from a toaster to a star

WEB · rights discovery only · press source

Wax Poetics feature reference.

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In stories

Story · Well supportedFrom toasting to chatting: how the deejay took over

The Jamaican deejay grew from a hype-man behind the selector into the star of the record.

Story · Well supportedWriting - and toasting - the Jamaican language

How Patois travelled from playground stigma to page, pulpit and microphone.

Story · ProbableQuiet names of the toasting era

Behind U-Roy, Big Youth and Dennis Alcapone stood toasters whose records shaped the style but whose names rarely make the standard histories.

Debate & reception

How people argued about the music — praise, criticism and public debate. See all debate & reception →

debate

Did Jamaican toasting father hip-hop?

A long-running, documented debate stated neutrally: one view holds that Jamaican sound-system toasting, carried to the Bronx by Kingston-raised DJ Kool Herc, was a direct root of rap; another view stresses that hip-hop was a distinct African-American innovation with its own lineage in the block party, funk and the spoken-word tradition. Neutral framing; no verdict. Sources: Lloyd Bradley, Bass Culture; Jeff Chang, Can't Stop Won't Stop; David Katz, Solid Foundation.

Stance: toasting as a direct root of rap vs hip-hop as a distinct African-American innovation