<P> Battle rap was also a part of the old school hip hop aesthetic . While discussing battle rapping, Esoteric said, "a lot of my stuff stems from old school hip - hop, braggadocio ethic". A famous old school hip hop battle occurred in December 1981 when Kool Moe Dee challenged Busy Bee Starski . Busy Bee Starski's defeat by the more complex raps of Kool Moe Dee meant that "no longer was an MC just a crowd - pleasing comedian with a slick tongue; he was a commentator and a storyteller". KRS - One also credits this as creating a shift in rapping in the documentary Beef . </P> <P> Sci - Fi / Afrofuturism was another theme introduced into hip hop . The release of Planet Rock in 1982 was a game changer, like "a light being switched on ." The combination of electronic percussive propulsion and Afrika Bambaataa's rap sounded like "an orchestra being rocketed into outer space ." "Light Years Away", by Warp 9 (1983), produced and written by Lotti Golden and Richard Scher, explored social commentary from a sci - fi perspective . A "cornerstone of early 80's beatbox afrofuturism," "Light Years Away" is characterized as "a brilliantly spare and sparse piece of electro hip - hop traversing inner and outer space ." </P> <P> Freestyle rap during hip - hop's old school era was defined differently than it is today . Kool Moe Dee refers to this earlier definition in his book, There's a God on the Mic: "There are two types of freestyle . There's an old - school freestyle that's basically rhymes that you've written that may not have anything to do with any subject or that goes all over the place . Then there's freestyle where you come off the top of the head". In old school hip hop, Kool Moe Dee says that improvisational rapping was instead called "coming off the top of the head". He refers to this as "the real old - school freestyle". This is in contrast to the more recent definition defining freestyle rap as "improvisational rap like a jazz solo". </P> <Table> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> Roland TR - 808 rhythm Roland TR - 808 drum machine rhythm with accent trigger used in hip - hop musical context </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td_colspan="2"> Problems playing this file? See media help . </Td> </Tr> </Table>

Who were the old-shool rappers that established social commentary in the hip hop tradition