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- For other meanings see Toast (disambiguation).
Toasting, chatting, or DJing is the act of talking or chanting over a rhythm or beat.
Traditional African American toasting
Toasting has been part of African American urban tradition since Reconstruction as part of a verbal art tradition, dating back to the griots of Africa. African American stories usually lauds the exploits of the clever and not entirely law-abiding trickster hero (not always human) who uses his wits to defeat his opponents.
Toasters continue the oral tradition by recounting the legends and myths of the community in venues ranging from street corner gatherings, bars, and community centers, to libraries and college campuses. As with oral traditions in general, and with other African American art forms as the blues, toasting uses a mixture of repetition and improvisation.
There are many versions of the most well known toasts, often conflicting in detail. Historically, the toast is very male- oriented, and many toasts contain profane or sexual language, although more family-oriented versions also exist.
Well known toasts include "Shine and the Titanic", "Dolemite", "Stack O Lee", and "Signifyin' Monkey". Toasters currently performing include Christopher Wilkinson and Arthur Pfister, both of New Orleans, Louisiana.
- See also: Signification
Jamaican toasting
In the late 1960s and early 1970s strain of Jamaican music called DJ Toasting was developed. DJ's working for producers would play the latest hits on traveling sound systems at parties and add their "toasts" or vocals to the music. These “toasts” consisted of boastful commentaries, chants, half-sung rhymes, rhythmic chants, squeals, screams, and rhymed storytelling. http://www.rhapsody.com/worldreggae/reggae/djtoasting.
Osbourne Ruddock (aka King Tubby) was a Jamaican sound recording engineer who created vocal-less rhythm backing tracks that were used by DJs doing "toasting" by creating one-off vinyl discs (also known as dub plates) of songs without the vocals and adding echo and sound effects.
Late 1960s toasting DJs included U-Roy and Dennis Alcapone, the latter known for mixing gangster talk with humor in his toasting. In the early 1970s, toasting DJs included I-Roy (his nickname is an homage to U-Roy) and Dillinger, the latter known for his humorous toasting style. In the late 1970s, Trinity became a popular toasting DJ.
The 1980s saw the first DJ Toasting duo, Michigan & Smiley, and the development of toasting outside of Jamaica. In England, Pato Banton explored his Caribbean roots humorous and political toasting http://www.rhapsody.com/worldreggae/reggae/djtoasting. and Ranking Roger of the "Second Wave" or Two-Tone ska revival band The Beat from the 1980s did Jamaican toasting over music that blended ska, pop, and some punk influences.
The rhythmic rhyming of vocals in Jamaican DJ toasting influenced the development of rapping in African-American hip-hop BBC Guide to Reggae http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/bluessoulreggae/guide_reggae.shtml. and the development of the Dancehall style http://www.rhapsody.com/worldreggae/reggae/djtoasting..
References
See also
"Toasting"