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Rapping (also known as emceeing,^[1] MCing,^[1] spitting (bars),^[2] or rhyming^[3]) refers to "spoken or chanted rhyming lyrics".^[4] The art form can be broken down into different components, as in the book How to Rap where it is separated into “content”, “flow” (rhythm and rhyme), and “delivery”.^[5] Rapping is distinct from spoken word poetry in that it is performed in time to a beat.^[6][7]

Rapping is a primary ingredient in hip hop music and reggae, but the phenomenon predates hip hop culture by centuries. It can also be found in alternative rock such as that of Cake and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Rapping is also used in Kwaito music, a genre that originated in Johannesburg, South Africa and is composed of hip hop elements. Rapping can be delivered over a beat or without accompaniment. Stylistically, rap occupies a gray area among speech, prose, poetry, and song. The use of the word to describe quick speech or repartee long predates the musical form,^[8] meaning originally "to hit".^[9] The word had been used in British English since the 16th century, and specifically meaning "to say" since the 18th. It was part of the African American dialect of English in the 1960s meaning "to converse", and very soon after that in its present usage as a term denoting the musical style.^[10] Today, the terms "rap" and "rapping" are so closely associated with hip hop music that many use the terms interchangeably.

History[link]

The Memphis Jug Band, an early blues group, whose lyrical content and rhythmic singing predated rapping.

	The roots of rapping Deep Down in My Heart A spiritual performed by W. M. Givens in Darien, Georgia in 1926. Dollar Mamie A Southern work song performed by Judge "Bootmouth" Tucker and Alexander "Neighborhood" Williams in 1939.
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Etymology[link]

Rap etymologically means "fast read" or "spoke fast". It may be from a shortening of repartee.^[11]

Roots[link]

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Rapping can be traced back to its African roots. Centuries before hip hop music existed, the griots of West Africa were delivering stories rhythmically, over drums and sparse instrumentation. Such connections have been acknowledged by many modern artists, modern day "griots", spoken word artists, mainstream news sources, and academics.^{[12][13][14][15]}

Blues music, rooted in the work songs and spirituals of slavery and influenced greatly by West African musical traditions, was first played by blacks, and later by some whites, in the Mississippi Delta region of the United States around the time of the Emancipation Proclamation. Grammy-winning blues musician/historian Elijah Wald and others have argued that the blues were being rapped as early as the 1920s.^[16][17] Wald went so far as to call hip hop "the living blues."^[16] Jazz, which developed from the blues and other African-American and European musical traditions and originated around the beginning of the 20th century, has also influenced hip hop and has been cited as a precursor of hip hop. Not just jazz music and lyrics but also Jazz poetry. According to John Sobol, the jazz musician and poet who wrote Digitopia Blues, rap "bears a striking resemblance to the evolution of jazz both stylistically and formally."^[18] One of the main influences on Hip Hop artists was James Brown. James Brown is credited for inventing funk music in the middle '60s. The characteristic funk drum beat is the most common rhythm used for rap music. Two of the earliest recordings which have a funk beat and lyrics which are rhymed in rhythm over this type of beat were released by comedian Pigmeat Markham, "Here Come the Judge" which was released in 1968 by the Chess label and in 1969 another song about running numbers called "Who Got The Number?". "Here Comes the Judge" peaked at number 19 on the Billboard charts. While it was primarily a comical song about a Judge and his courtroom it is also notable for the political lyrics "I'm goin' to Paris to stop this war" and "I had a chat with Ho Chi Minh" both social commentary references about wanting to go to the Paris Peace Accord negotiations to stop the war in Vietnam.^{[citation needed]}

The spoken word jazz poetry of the United States was also a predecessor for beat poetry, as well as the rapping in hip hop music. Gil Scott-Heron, a jazz poet/musician who wrote and released such seminal songs as "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised", "H2OGate Blues Part 2: We Beg Your Pardon America," and "Johannesberg," has been cited as an influence on many rappers. His collaborations with musician Brian Jackson (Pieces of a Man, Winter in America) have been cited as major influences on hip hop, in terms of sound and lyrical style. Similar in style, the Last Poets who formed in 1969 recited political poetry over drum beats and other instrumentation, and were another predecessor for rap music. They released their debut album in 1970 reaching the top ten on the Billboard charts.^{[citation needed]}

Precursors also exist in non-African/African-American traditions, especially in vaudeville and musical theater. One such tradition is the patter song exemplified by Gilbert and Sullivan but that has origins in earlier Italian opera. "Rock Island" from Meridith Wilson's "The Music Man" is wholly spoken by an ensemble of travelling salesmen, as are most of the numbers for British actor Rex Harrison in the 1964 Lerner and Loewe musical My Fair Lady. In musical theater, the term "vamp" is identical to its meaning in Jazz, gospel, and funk, and it fulfills the same function. Semi-spoken music has long been especially popular in British entertainment, and such examples as David Croft's theme to the 1970s' sitcom Are You Being Served?, the 1979 song Mickey as performed by Toni Basil in 1982, and the 1984 title song, "One Night in Bangkok" for the musical Chess have elements indistinguishable from modern rap. In the realm of classical music, semi-spoken music was popular stylized by composer Arnold Schoenberg as Sprechstimme, and famously used in Ernst Toch's 1924 Geographical Fugue for spoken chorus and the final scene in Darius Milhaud's 1915 ballet Les Choéphores.^{[citation needed]} Although these probably did not have a direct influence on rap's development in the African American cultural sphere, they paved the way for acceptance of spoken word music in the media market.

More directly related to the African American community were items like schoolyard chants and taunts, clapping games,^[19] jump-rope rhymes, some with unwritten folk histories going back hundreds of years across many nationalities. Sometimes these items contain racially offensive lyrics.^[20] A related area that is not strictly folklore is rhythmical cheering and cheerleading for military and sports.

During the mid-20th century, the musical culture of the Caribbean was constantly influenced by the concurrent changes in American music. As early as 1956,^[21] deejays were toasting (an African tradition of "rapped out" tales of heroism) over dubbed Jamaican beats. It was called "rap", expanding the word's earlier meaning in the African-American community—"to discuss or debate informally."^[22]

One of the first rappers in the beginning of the hip hop period, in the end of '70s, was also hip hop's first DJ, Kool Herc. Herc, a Jamaican immigrant, started delivering simple raps at his parties, inspired by the Jamaican tradition of toasting.^[23]

Old school rap[link]

Old school rap (1979–1984)^[24] was "easily identified by its relatively simple raps"^[25] according to Allmusic, "the emphasis was not on lyrical technique, but simply on good times",^[25] one notable exception being Melle Mel, who set the way for future rappers through his socio-political content and creative wordplay.^[25]

The golden age[link]

Golden age hip hop (cited as either just the late '80s^[26] or the late 80s to early 90s^[27]) was the time period where hip-hop lyricism went through its most drastic transformation – writer William Jelani Cobb says "in these golden years, a critical mass of mic prodigies were literally creating themselves and their art form at the same time"^[28] and Allmusic writes, "rhymers like PE's Chuck D, Big Daddy Kane, KRS-One, and Rakim basically invented the complex wordplay and lyrical kung-fu of later hip-hop”.^[29] The golden age is considered to have ended around '93–'94, marking the end of rap lyricism's most innovative period.^[27][29]

Flow[link]

	Rapping Planet Rock noicon Hip hop pioneer Afrika Bambaataa mixed electro with old school rapping and beats. Bambaataa, the DJ, is also the rapper in this song; the first rapping in hip hop was done from behind the turntables.
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'Flow' is defined as "the rhythms and rhymes"^[7][30][31] of a hip-hop song's lyrics and how they interact – the book How to Rap breaks flow down into rhyme, rhyme schemes, and rhythm (also known as cadence).^[32] 'Flow' is also sometimes used to refer to elements of the delivery (pitch, timbre, volume) as well,^[33] though often a distinction is made between the flow and the delivery.^[30][34]

Staying on the beat is central to rap's flow^[35] – many MCs note the importance of staying on-beat in How to Rap including Sean Price, Mighty Casey, Zion I, Vinnie Paz, Fredro Starr, Del The Funky Homosapien, Tech N9ne, People Under The Stairs, Twista, B-Real, Mr Lif, 2Mex, and Cage.^[35]

MCs stay on-beat by stressing syllables in time to the four beats of the musical backdrop.^[6][36] Poetry scholar Derek Attridge describes how this works in his book Poetic Rhythm – “rap lyrics are written to be performed to an accompaniment that emphasizes the metrical structure of the verse”.^[6] He says rap lyrics are made up of, “lines with four stressed beats, separated by other syllables that may vary in number and may include other stressed syllables. The strong beat of the accompaniment coincides with the stressed beats of the verse, and the rapper organizes the rhythms of the intervening syllables to provide variety and surprise”.^[6]

The same technique is also noted in the book How to Rap, where diagrams are used to show how the lyrics line up with the beat – "stressing a syllable on each of the four beats gives the lyrics the same underlying rhythmic pulse as the music and keeps them in rhythm... other syllables in the song may still be stressed, but the ones that fall in time with the four beats of a bar are the only ones that need to be emphasized in order to keep the lyrics in time with the music".^[37]

History of flow[link]

Old School flows were relatively basic and used only few syllables per bar, simple rhythmic patterns, and basic rhyming techniques and rhyme schemes.^[33][38] Melle Mel is cited as an Old School MC who epitomizes the Old School flow – Kool Moe Dee says, “from 1970 to 1978 we rhymed one way [then] Melle Mel, in 1978, gave us the new cadence we would use from 1978 to 1986^[39]... he’s the first emcee to explode in a new rhyme cadence, and change the way every emcee rhymed forever. Rakim, Biggie, and Eminem have flipped the flow, but Melle Mel’s downbeat on the two, four, kick to snare cadence is still the rhyme foundation all emcees are building on".^[40]

Artists and critics often credit Rakim with creating the overall shift from the more simplistic Old School flows to more complex flows near the beginning of Hip Hop’s new school^[41] – Kool Moe Dee says, “any emcee that came after 1986 had to study Rakim just to know what to be able to do^[42]... Rakim, in 1986, gave us flow and that was the rhyme style from 1986 to 1994^[39]... from that point on, anybody emceeing was forced to focus on their flow”.^[43] Kool Moe Dee explains that before Rakim, the term ‘flow’ wasn’t widely used – “Rakim is basically the inventor of flow. We were not even using the word flow until Rakim came along. It was called rhyming, it was called cadence, but it wasn’t called flow. Rakim created flow!”^[44] He adds that while Rakim upgraded and popularized the focus on flow, “he didn’t invent the word”.^[42]

Kool Moe Dee states that Biggie introduced a newer flow which “dominated from 1994 to 2002”,^[39] and also says that Method Man was “one of the emcees from the early to mid-’90s that ushered in the era of flow... Rakim invented it, Big Daddy Kane, KRS-One, and Kool G Rap expanded it, but Biggie and Method Man made flow the single most important aspect of an emcee’s game”.^[45] He also cites Craig Mack as an artist who contributed to developing flow in the ‘90s.^[46]

Music scholar Adam Krims says, “the flow of MCs is one of the profoundest changes that separates out new-sounding from older-sounding music... it is widely recognized and remarked that rhythmic styles of many commercially successful MCs since roughly the beginning of the 1990s have progressively become faster and more ‘complex’”.^[33] He cites “members of the Wu-Tang Clan, Nas, AZ, Big Pun, and Ras Kass, just to name a few”^[47] as artists who exemplify this progression.

Kool Moe Dee adds, “in 2002 Eminem created the song that got the first Oscar in Hip-Hop history [Lose Yourself]... and I would have to say that his flow is the most dominant right now (2003)”.^[39]

Styles[link]

There are many different styles of flow, with different terminology used by different people – stic.man of Dead Prez uses the following terms –

• “The Chant”, which he says is used by Lil Jon and Project Pat^[48]
• “The Syncopated Bounce”, used by Twista and Bone Thugs N Harmony^[48]
• “Straight Forward”, used by Scarface, 2Pac, Melle Mel, KRS-One circa Boogie Down Productions era, Too Short, Jay-Z, Ice Cube, and Snoop Dogg^[49]
• “The Rubik’s Cube”, used by Nas, Black Thought of The Roots, Common, Kurupt, and Lauryn Hill^[50]
• “2-5-Flow”, a pun of Kenya's calling code "+254", used by Camp Mulla^[51]

Alternatively, music scholar Adam Krims uses the following terms –

• “sung rhythmic style”, used by Too Short, Grandmaster Flash and The Furious Five, and the Beastie Boys^[52]
• “percussion-effusive style”, used by B-Real of Cypress Hill^[53]
• “speech-effusive style”, used by Big Pun^[53]

Rhyme[link]

MCs use many different rhyming techniques, including complex rhyme schemes, as Adam Krims points out – “the complexity... involves multiple rhymes in the same rhyme complex (i.e. section with consistently rhyming words), internal rhymes, [and] offbeat rhymes”.^[47] There is also widespread use of multisyllabic rhymes, by artists such as Kool G Rap,^[54] Big Daddy Kane, and Eminem.

It has been noted that rap’s use of rhyme is some of the most advanced in all forms of poetry – music scholar Adam Bradley notes, “rap rhymes so much and with such variety that it is now the largest and richest contemporary archive of rhymed words. It has done more than any other art form in recent history to expand rhyme’s formal range and expressive possibilities”.^[55]

In the book How to Rap, Masta Ace explains how Rakim and Big Daddy Kane caused a shift in the way MCs rhymed: “Up until Rakim, everybody who you heard rhyme, the last word in the sentence was the rhyming [word], the connection word. Then Rakim showed us that you could put rhymes within a rhyme... now here comes Big Daddy Kane — instead of going three words, he’s going multiple”.^[56] How to Rap explains that "rhyme is often thought to be the most important factor in rap writing... rhyme is what gives rap lyrics their musicality.^[3]

Delivery/performance[link]

To successfully deliver a rap, a rapper must also develop vocal presence, enunciation, and breath control. Vocal presence is the distinctiveness of a rapper's voice on record. Enunciation is essential to a flowing rap; some rappers choose also to exaggerate it for comic and artistic effect. Breath control, taking in air without interrupting one's delivery, is an important skill for a rapper to master, and a must for any MC. An MC with poor breath control cannot deliver difficult verses without making unintentional pauses.

Raps are sometimes delivered with melody. West Coast rapper Egyptian Lover was the first notable MC to deliver "sing-raps."^[57] Popular rappers such as 50 Cent and Ja Rule add a slight melody to their otherwise purely percussive raps whereas some rappers such as Cee-Lo Green are able to harmonize their raps with the beat. The Midwestern group Bone Thugs-n-Harmony was one of the first groups to achieve nationwide recognition for using the fast-paced, melodic and harmonic raps that are also practiced by Do or Die, another Midwestern group. Another rapper that harmonized his rhymes was Nate Dogg, a rapper part of the group 213. Rakim experimented not only with following the beat, but also with complementing the song's melody with his own voice, making his flow sound like that of an instrument (a saxophone in particular).^[58]

The ability to rap quickly and clearly is sometimes regarded as an important sign of skill. In certain hip hop subgenres such as chopped and screwed, slow-paced rapping is often considered optimal. The current record for fastest rapper is held by Spanish rapper Domingo Edjang Moreno, known by his alias Chojin, who rapped 921 syllables in one minute on December 23, 2008.^[59]

Subject matter[link]

"Party rhymes", meant to pump up the crowd at a party, were nearly the exclusive focus of old school hip hop, and they remain a staple of hip hop music to this day. In addition to party raps, rappers also tend to make references to love and sex. Love raps were first popularized by Spoonie Gee of the Treacherous Three, and later, in the golden age of hip hop, Big Daddy Kane, Heavy D, and LL Cool J would continue this tradition. East Coast hip hop artists such as KRS One, Public Enemy, Mos Def, Talib Kweli, Jay-Z, Nas, The Notorious B.I.G., and dead prez are known for their sociopolitical subject matter. Their West Coast counterparts include Emcee Lynx, The Coup, Paris, and Michael Franti. Tupac Shakur was also known for rapping about social issues such as police brutality, teenage pregnancy, and racism.

Other rappers take a less critical approach to urbanity, sometimes even embracing such aspects as crime. Schoolly D was the first notable MC to rap about crime.^[57] Early on KRS-One was accused of celebrating crime and a hedonistic lifestyle, but after the death of his DJ, Scott La Rock, KRS-One went on to speak out against violence in hip hop and has spent the majority of his career condemning violence and writing on issues of race and class. Ice-T was one of the first rappers to call himself a "playa" and discuss guns on record, but his theme tune to the 1987 film Colors contained warnings against joining gangs. Gangsta rap, made popular largely because of N.W.A, brought rapping about crime and the gangster lifestyle into the musical mainstream.

Materialism has also been a popular topic in hip-hop since at least the early 1990s, with rappers boasting about their own wealth and possessions, and name-dropping specific brands: liquor brands Cristal and Rémy Martin, car manufacturers Bentley and Mercedes-Benz and clothing brands Gucci and Versace have all been popular subjects for rappers.

Various politicians, journalists, and religious leaders have accused rappers of fostering a culture of violence and hedonism among hip hop listeners through their lyrics.^[60][61][62] However, there are also rappers whose messages may not be in conflict with these views, for example Christian hip hop. Others have praised the "political critique, innuendo and sarcasm" of hip hop music.^[63]

In contrast to the more hedonistic approach of gangsta rappers, some rappers have a spiritual or religious focus. Christian rap is currently the most commercially successful form of religious rap. Aside from Christianity, the Five Percent Nation, an Islamic esotericist religious/spiritual group, has been represented more than any religious group in popular hip hop. Artists such as Rakim, the members of the Wu-Tang Clan, Brand Nubian, X-Clan, Busta Rhymes, and Nas, have had success in spreading the theology of the Five Percenters.

Literary technique[link]

Rappers use the literary techniques of double entendres, alliteration, and other forms of wordplay that are also found in classical poetry. Similes and metaphors are used extensively in rap lyrics; rappers such as Fabolous and Lloyd Banks have written entire songs in which every line contains similes, whereas MCs like Rakim, GZA, and Jay-Z are known for the metaphorical content of their raps. Rappers such as Lupe Fiasco are known for the complexity of their songs that contain metaphors within extended metaphors.

Diction and dialect[link]

Many hip hop listeners believe that a rapper's lyrics are enhanced by a complex vocabulary. Kool Moe Dee claims that he appealed to older audiences by using a complex vocabulary in his raps.^[41] Rap is famous, however, for having its own vocabulary—from international hip hop slang to regional slang. Some artists, like the Wu-Tang Clan, develop an entire lexicon among their clique. African American Vernacular English has always had a significant effect on hip hop slang and vice versa. Certain regions have introduced their unique regional slang to hip hop culture, such as the Bay Area (Mac Dre, E-40), Houston (Chamillionaire, Paul Wall), Atlanta (Ludacris, Lil Jon, T.I.), and Kentucky (Nappy Roots). The Nation of Gods and Earths, aka The Five Percenters, has influenced mainstream hip hop slang with the introduction of phrases such as "word is bond" that have since lost much of their original spiritual meaning. Preference toward one or the other has much to do with the individual; GZA, for example, prides himself on being very visual and metaphorical but also succinct, whereas underground rapper MF DOOM is known for heaping similes upon similes. In still another variation, 2Pac was known for saying exactly what he meant, literally and clearly.

Freestyle and battle[link]

There are two kinds of freestyle rap: one is scripted (recitation), but having no particular overriding subject matter, the second typically referred to as "freestyling" or "spitting", is the improvisation of rapped lyrics. When freestyling, some rappers inadvertently reuse old lines, or even "cheat" by preparing segments or entire verses in advance. Therefore, freestyles with proven spontaneity are valued above generic, always usable lines.^[64] Rappers will often reference places or objects in their immediate setting, or specific (usually demeaning) characteristics of opponents, to prove their authenticity and originality.

Battle rapping, which can be freestyled, is the competition between two or more rappers in front of an audience. The tradition of insulting one's friends or acquaintances in rhyme goes back to the dozens, and was portrayed famously by Muhammad Ali in his boxing matches. The winner of a battle is decided by the crowd and/or preselected judges. According to Kool Moe Dee, a successful battle rap focuses on an opponent's weaknesses, rather than one's own strengths. Television shows such as MTV's DFX and BET's 106 and Park host weekly freestyle battles live on the air. Battle rapping gained widespread public recognition outside of the African-American community with rapper Eminem's movie, 8 Mile.

The strongest battle rappers will generally perform their rap fully freestyled. This is the most effective form in a battle as the rapper can comment on the other person, whether it be what they look like, or how they talk, or what they wear. It also allows the rapper to reverse a line used to "diss" him or her if they are the second rapper to battle. This is known as a 'flip'. Jin the Emcee was considered 'World Champion' battle rapper in the mid 2000's.

Social impact[link]

Race and class[link]

Derivatives and influence[link]

Throughout hip hop's history, new musical styles and genres have developed that contain rapping. Entire genres, such as rap rock and its derivatives rapcore and rap metal (rock/metal/punk with rapped vocals), or hip house have resulted from the fusion of rap and other styles. Many popular music genres with a focus on percussion have contained rapping at some point; be it disco (DJ Hollywood), jazz (Gang Starr), new wave (Blondie), funk (Fatback Band), contemporary R&B (Mary J. Blige), reggaeton (Daddy Yankee), or even Japanese dance music (Soul'd Out). UK garage music has begun to focus increasingly on rappers in a new subgenre called grime, pioneered and popularized by the MC Dizzee Rascal. Increased popularity with the music has shown more UK rappers going to America as well as tour there, such as Sway DaSafo possibly signing with Akon's label Konvict. Hyphy is the latest of these spin-offs. It is typified by slowed-down atonal vocals with instrumentals that borrow heavily from the hip hop scene and lyrics centered on illegal street racing and car culture. Another Oakland, California group, Beltaine's Fire, has recently gained attention for their Celtic fusion sound which blends hip hop beats with Celtic melodies. Unlike the majority of hip hop artists, all their music is performed live without samples, synths, or drum machines, drawing comparisons to The Roots and Rage Against the Machine.

Bhangra, a widely popular style of music from Punjab (India) has been mixed numerous times with reggae and hip hop music. The most popular song in this genre in the United States was "Mundian to Bach Ke" or "Beware the Boys" by Panjabi MC and Jay-Z. Although "Mundian To Bach Ke" had been released previously, the mixing with Jay-Z popularized the genre further.

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Though the majority of rappers are male, there have been a number of female rap stars, including Lauryn Hill, MC Lyte, Lil' Kim, Missy Elliott, Queen Latifah, Da Brat, Eve, Trina, Nicki Minaj, Khia, M.I.A., Foxy Brown, and Lisa Lopes from TLC. As these all are hearing rap artists, there is also deaf rap artist Signmark.

See also[link]

Hip hop portal

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Paul Edwards; Kool G Rap (foreword) (December 2009). How to Rap: The Art & Science of the Hip-Hop MC. Chicago Review Press. p. 340. ISBN 1-55652-816-7. 
• Alan Light; et al. (October 1999). The Vibe History of Hip Hop. Three Rivers Press. p. 432. ISBN 0-609-80503-7. 
• Jeff Chang; D.J. Kool Herc (December 2005). Can't Stop Won't Stop: A History of the Hip-Hop Generation. Picador. p. 560. ISBN 0-312-42579-1. 
• Sacha Jenkins; et al. (December 1999). Ego Trip's Book of Rap Lists. St. Martin's Griffin. p. 352. ISBN 0-312-24298-0. 
• Kool Moe Dee; et al. (November 2003). There's A God On The Mic: The True 50 Greatest MCs. Thunder's Mouth Press. p. 224. ISBN 1-56025-533-1. 

This article describes a work or element of fiction in a primarily in-universe style. Please help rewrite it to explain the fiction more clearly and provide non-fictional perspective. (May 2012)

Rachel Karen Green^[1][2] is a fictional character on the popular U.S. television sitcom Friends, portrayed by Jennifer Aniston. Aniston received an Emmy Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and a Golden Globe for her performances.^[3]

Background[link]

She grew up on Long Island with her parents, Leonard and Sandra, and her two sisters, Jill and Amy. Her father is a doctor and her family is shown to be incredibly wealthy; Rachel states that they owned a boat and that she had her own pony. She and her sisters are portrayed to be vain and spoiled. She is described as being the most popular girl in her high school and was a head cheerleader, as well as class president and prom queen. Despite her popularity, her best friend was the formerly fat and unpopular Monica Geller (Courteney Cox). Rachel was close to Monica's family when she was in high school, so she already knew Monica's older brother Ross Geller (David Schwimmer), who harbours a long unrequited love for her, and Ross's best friend from college, Chandler Bing (Matthew Perry).

Rachel first appears in the Pilot episode when she comes into Central Perk in a soaking wet wedding dress. Rachel had crawled out of a bathroom window before the ceremony as she had realized that she couldn't marry Barry Farber (Mitchell Whitfield) as she didn't really love him. Monica, whom she hasn't seen in years, invites her to stay with her at her apartment. She also meets Phoebe Buffay (Lisa Kudrow) and Joey Tribbiani (Matt LeBlanc), having already met Ross and Chandler while growing up. (Although Rachel is introduced to Chandler in this episode despite the fact that it is later revealed that they already knew each other).

Personality[link]

Rachel's personality evolves during the series. Early on, she is portrayed as a spoiled "daddy's girl" but later, especially after having Emma, becomes less self-absorbed. Image-conscious, Rachel had a nose job during college which, she claimed, was due to a deviated septum. Flashback episodes show her with a much larger nose and the insinuation is that the operation was for image, a fact confirmed by a flippant comment from her sister Amy, regarding Emma – "Do you ever worry that Emma's going to get your real nose?".

She can be arrogant – her involvement with her neighbor, Danny, shows Rachel has an inability to comprehend that he might not be interested in her. Rachel has also been described as being a "pushover" but frequently shows she can be independent and stubborn, especially where Ross is concerned.

After working as a waitress, she was encouraged to use her interest in fashion to get a job in that world. Her focus on this and image come at the expense of domestic skills or common knowledge, of which she was constantly mocked for having little of. She is also seen as a bit promiscuous over the series, and is heavily implied to have lost her virginity before tenth grade. Rachel implies that she lost her virginity in the back of a van, and even possibly (though unlikely) the van that Monica and Phoebe buy in the episode. However, she has developed a rule that she does not sleep with guys on the first date. It is also revealed in season 7 that Rachel developed very early, with her breasts being developed to the extent of a fourteen-year-old girl by the age of ten.

She is very caring and affectionate towards her friends, shown by how she leaves messages on the mirror for Monica when Monica's taking a shower, how she covers Monica up with a blanket if her friend has fallen asleep on the couch, and how concerned she was for Joey after she had turned him down. She also comforts Phoebe when Phoebe is miserable about her songs.

Relationships[link]

Ross[link]

Rachel's most prominent relationship throughout the series is with Monica's older brother, Ross. When she moves to the city in the pilot, Ross is still obsessed with her from high school. Although the rest of the gang are aware of this, Rachel is oblivious until Chandler inadvertently reveals it on her birthday in the season one finale. Ross tries several times in the first season to admit his feelings but is stopped by her ex-fiance Barry and Paolo (played by Cosimo Fusco), a man she met during an electrical blackout.

After Chandler's bombshell, Rachel decides to give Ross a chance but when she goes to meet him, he has a new girlfriend – Julie. Rachel then has to deal with seeing them together, until she leaves him a drunken voicemail telling him how she feels. Ross eventually breaks up with Julie to be with Rachel, but she finds a list of pros and cons he wrote in order to make his choice, and is deeply distressed at his assessment of her, so calls it off. They finally get together in "The One With the Prom Video" when Rachel realizes Ross would have taken her to the prom if her date hadn't made it. They date for about a year before Ross's jealousy of her colleague, Mark, and his obsessive behavior in general leads Rachel to suggest taking "a break". Ross assumes this means they have broken up and depressed, gets drunk and sleeps with the girl from a copy place that same night. When Rachel finds out, she ends things for good. From then on, the two share an on/off relationship and are usually jealous when the other dates someone else; such as when Ross dates Phoebe's friend, Bonnie, (resulting in a short reconciliation) and when Rachel dates her customer, Joshua.

Rachel's history of admitting her feelings for Ross when he is with another woman happen again when Ross meets Emily, niece of Rachel's boss at Bloomingdale's. Ross and Emily quickly become engaged and decide to get married in London. Rachel claims she cannot attend because she has too much work but later tells Monica and Phoebe that watching them marry would be too painful. However, she changed her mind and flew to London to tell Ross that she loved him but sees them kissing just before the ceremony. She gave them her blessing instead but Ross accidentally says Rachel's name at the altar.

Following the wedding, Emily stays in London and tells Ross she will only return if he promises never to see Rachel again. He agrees, initially, but then tells her that he can't and their marriage ends. When the gang head to Las Vegas to visit Joey on a movie shoot, Ross and Rachel get married when drunk but don't remember. Ross tells Rachel he has annulled the marriage but doesn't because he does not want to be divorced again. Rachel is furious when she finds out but forgives him when she realises his reasons for that decision. The two are friends during the next season except for a brief kiss on the night of Monica and Chandler's engagement. Rachel is revealed to be pregnant in the Season 8 premiere and Ross is revealed to be the father. Ross initially thinks he and Rachel should get married but eventually agree to remain friends and raise the baby together.

In Season 10, Rachel is fired by Ralph Lauren and gets a job in Paris. This news devastates Ross. At her going-away party, she says goodbye to everyone except Ross and they have a fight about why this happened. Rachel tells him that she can't say goodbye because if she thinks about leaving, then she'll want to stay because Ross is so important to her. After the fight, they sleep together. In the morning, Ross thinks they are back together and is stunned when Rachel says "It was the perfect way to say goodbye". Ross chases her to the airport and admits how he feels but Rachel still gets on the plane. When he returns home however, he finds a message from Rachel on his answering machine telling him that she loves him too. The line cuts off, leaving Ross wondering if she got off the plane when Rachel comes into the apartment saying, "I got off the plane". The two make up, and start dating again in the end of the series.

All of the Friends season finales, except season six, involve a significant Ross-and-Rachel storyline.

Emma Geller-Green[link]

Ross and Rachel's daughter is born at the end of Season 8. After struggling to find a name for their daughter, Rachel decides on Emma after Monica tells her that she wants to name her future daughter Emma but allows Rachel to use the name. Rachel proved to be a protective mother and was furious when Amy got Emma's ears pierced without permission. At first, Emma lives with Rachel and Ross in his apartment, but moved in with Joey after Rachel and Ross have a fight. In the series finale, Ross and Rachel reconcile meaning Emma will live with both her parents.

Joey[link]

Joey and Rachel are very good friends and shared an apartment after Phoebe's was destroyed in a fire. Joey develops romantic feelings for Rachel and Ross- despite Rachel currently being pregnant with his daughter- gives his blessing but Rachel unfortunately does not feel the same way. However, this changes a year later, with Rachel telling Phoebe about her feelings for Joey before telling him later. Initially, he tells her they cannot be together because of Ross but changes his mind when he sees Ross kissing Charlie, his ex-girlfriend. Ross later walks in on the two kissing and, although at first he has trouble accepting it, he tells Joey he is happy for them. The two date for a while but have trouble when it comes to consummating their relationship, unable to get past the knowledge that it is their close friend touching them, and a conversation with Chandler about how easy it was for him and Monica to become more than friends helped Joey and Rachel realize that they were better off as they were.

Monica[link]

Monica and Rachel have been friends since they were six years old. In their high school years, it is revealed that Rachel was a popular cheerleader with a string of boyfriends, whilst Monica was her less attractive, overweight best friend. After this, it is assumed they lost contact until they meet again in the pilot. A chance encounter, revealed in a flashback, shows that Monica didn't expect to become close friends with Rachel again, with her remarking: "Ten bucks says I'll never see that woman again in my life."

During the time they lived together, the pair coexist in relative harmony, despite their opposing personality types, most notably when concerned with household chores. Monica is portrayed to be extremely uptight and compulsive whereas Rachel is shown to never help out and be unaware of where items such as the Hoover is kept. Despite these tensions, the two display a true affinity for each other. As Monica tells Phoebe, Rachel has sweet little quirks, such as folding back the pages in catalogues of things she thinks Monica would like, leaving messages on the mirror when Monica takes a shower and letting Monica borrow her hundred-plus pairs of boots. Their living situation lasts until Chandler moves in with Monica and Rachel's moving out drew the two women to tears. Their relationship mirrors that of sisters, and the two grow even closer once Rachel has Emma as Monica becomes her aunt due to Ross being the father.

Phoebe[link]

Rachel's other best friend. Phoebe first met Rachel in the pilot episode when Rachel leaves Barry and comes to live with Monica.

In a season 5 episode "The One With The Kips", Phoebe and Rachel consider starting a new group of friends with Joey after Emily (Ross's current wife) demands that Ross doesn't see Rachel anymore. Rachel says "We can start a new group, you and me, we're the best ones," to which Phoebe responds "Okay. But let's try to get Joey." This never happened as Ross could not go without seeing Rachel and the group remained as it was.

From seasons 6–7, Rachel and Phoebe lived together after Chandler moved into Monica's apartment. In "The One Where Ross Dates A Student", Phoebe and Rachel's apartment catches fire, causing Phoebe to temporarily live with Monica and Rachel to live with Joey. Later on, in "The One with the Holiday Armadillo", the apartment is fixed and Phoebe and Rachel decide to move back but the repair work left them with only one bedroom, so Phoebe lives there alone while Rachel stays living with Joey.

In an early episode, Phoebe and Rachel go to get tattoos together. Though Rachel ends up getting a heart tattooed on her hip, Phoebe does not get the intended lily (for her mother) on her shoulder because she 'didn't know they did it with needles'. Rachel tried to convince her to get the tattoo, but the artist barely touched her with the needle before she ran off screaming. She now has a 'blue freckle' which she claims is 'the earth as (her) mother sees it from heaven'.

Phoebe and Rachel have a very strong relationship throughout the series, despite occasional and humorous squabbles over things like jogging, massages, Pottery Barn furniture and an alleged lesbian encounter Rachel had in college (which Phoebe refused to believe). As with Rachel and Monica, their relationship is like that of close sisters.

Chandler[link]

Although it appeared that Rachel and Chandler met for the first time in the pilot episode, they had actually met before, in flashback episodes. They met for the first time in 1987 when Ross introduced them, initially at the Gellers' house and then again at a party at Ross and Chandler's college. At the party, Chandler and Rachel kissed briefly (but it was revealed that Chandler only kissed Rachel to get back at Ross).

In 1993, they met at a bar that was closed down to make room for Central Perk. Rachel hadn't seen Monica, Ross, or Chandler since high school and Chandler overhears Rachel talking to some friends about how she wants to have one last night of meaningless sex before she marries Barry and that she wants to have it with the first guy she lays her eyes on, which happens to be Chandler. They didn't hook up but Rachel did fantasize about him, regretting not sleeping with him but it was too late. This was shown in the Season 3 episode "The One With The Flashback."

At the start of the show, Rachel and Chandler crossed paths again in 1994, when Rachel, having just left Barry, goes to Central Perk, looking for Monica. During the series, Rachel and Chandler's relationship grows, and they are close friends, often consoling and confiding in one another. On one particular occasion, they share a stolen cheesecake and concealed it from the others. Particularly in earlier seasons, they go out to lunch together a few times. The two have also set each other up on dates, although the results were mixed; Chandler's brief relationship with Rachel's boss, Joanna, ended because she handcufffed him to a chair in her office, while his attempt to set her up on a date with a colleague went wrong when he claimed she only wanted a fling but later told the guy she was looking for a serious relationship. In Season 2, Chandler, being the child of divorced parents, is the only friend able to empathize with Rachel when her parents are unable to be in the same room on her birthday. Before Rachel leaves for Paris in season 10, they share a strong private moment and Chandler tells her that he loves her, will miss her and is sad that she's leaving, to which Rachel responds tearfully "I love you, too."

Family[link]

Like all the main characters, Rachel has slight problems within her family.

Sandra Green (Marlo Thomas), her mother, can be quite dominating and unpleasant without going overboard. She can also be quite harsh with her opinions (such as, for instance, when she suggested moving into Ross's apartment after Emma's birth and saying that his "dinosaur things" belonged in the garbage). It is implied that Rachel was very like Mrs. Green before she turned things around and started a life in the city, running away from her marriage, whereas Mrs. Green actually married "her Barry." During her first visit, she says that Rachel's life is what she wants.

Dr. Leonard Green (Ron Leibman), however, is quite a dominating and harsh man when it comes to speaking. He is very concerned about discipline. He has a striking sense of sarcasm and what he deems right or wrong, but he is not afraid of spoiling his daughters (as shown in one episode when Rachel reveals that her father bought her "her own boat" to cheer her up after her "pony was sick"). However, when disagreeing with them, he disables their unlimited use of money. However, despite being quite generous when it comes to his daughters, he shares very little of his wealth with others, as reflected when he leaves a 4% tip at a restaurant after eating out with Rachel and Ross. He was against Rachel leaving Barry at first, but her success in taking control of her life eventually made her, according to her sister in "The One With Rachel's Sister", the only daughter Dr. Green was proud of. He charges into Ross's apartment when hearing about the pregnancy demanding he marry Rachel and mostly destroys Ross and Mona's relationship himself.

Rachel's parents have had barely any love life, as they married for the sake of money; according to Rachel, they barely even spoke (except when they argued) and divorced in Season 2. They could not be in the same room together, as shown when the Friends throw Rachel two birthday parties; one with Rachel's mother in Monica's apartment and one with her father in Joey and Chandler's. Rachel also has two sisters, Jill, (Reese Witherspoon) and Amy (Christina Applegate), with whom she has a typical sibling-rivalry relationship; when they were younger, they would constantly pull pranks on each other. Jill is supposedly her "favorite" sister, despite being extremely spoiled, and during her visit when their father decides to financially cut her off, Jill starts dating Ross, but does it to get back at Rachel (only for Ross to end it because he wanted to be with Rachel). Unlike Jill, who at least found Ross "cute, but nerdy," Amy does not even recognize him and believes he is a falafel-seller. In spite of her tactless nature, it is also revealed that Amy is the "one who bit [Rachel]" as questioned by Phoebe in the Thanksgiving episode in which Amy comes to spend the holidays with the Friends. Rachel isn't as close to Amy as she is to Jill. When Amy visits during Emma's first Thanksgiving, she only says Hi and tells her she came by to borrow a hair-straightener. She says how "Emmett" is cute and then realizes the baby is a girl. Amy also believes that she is Rachel's "favorite" sister and revealed she never liked Jill when saying "Sisters talking about real stuff, just like when we were kids, except without that stupid Jill!"

In "The One with Rachel's Phone Number," some guys in a bar live in her grandmother's building. Her grandma's name is Ida Green, and the men's affectionate nickname for her is "Spuds". Rachel says that she has "no sense of personal space, kinda smells like chicken, looks like a potato – that's my bubbe!" This is another indication that the character is of Jewish descent; the word "bubbe" means "grandmother" in Yiddish.

Career[link]

Rachel gets a job as a waitress at Central Perk but is shown not to be very good as she is careless, takes long breaks to sit with her friends and regularly gets orders confused. In the third season, with encouragement from Joey and Chandler she quits her job as a waitress to pursue a career in fashion. Joey is able to get her a job with Fortunata Fashions as a personal assistant. Later on, she gets a job as an assistant buyer at Bloomingdale's with the help of colleague Mark, but after Mark leaves and her boss Joanna dies, she is demoted to personal shopper. She then begins a job at Ralph Lauren in "The One With Rachel's Inadvertent Kiss" where she is the coordinator of the women's collection. Ralph Lauren is impressed by her work and in "The One With Rachel's Assistant" she is promoted to merchandising manager where she memorably has an affair with her assistant, Tag Jones (although she can't recall his last name).

In the final episodes of the last season, Rachel is fired from Ralph Lauren when her boss overhears her job interview with Gucci, but is offered a lucrative job in Paris with Louis Vuitton by her ex-colleague, Mark. Upset by Rachel's impending move to Paris, Ross, through bribery, manages to convince Rachel's old boss at Ralph Lauren to give Rachel her job back for more money than the offer in Paris. Initially, Rachel declines this offer and decides to accept the job with Louis Vuitton. However, she cancels her plans after realizing she is still in love with Ross.

Surname[link]

Some inconsistency in the spelling of the surname has led to confusion as to the correct spelling. The credits of any episode where her parents appeared list their last name as "Green" and on the Warner Bros. Friends Official Website the biography on Jennifer Aniston states her character's name as Rachel Green. However, in certain episodes it is seen to be spelled "Greene" such as when her name was written on an invitation sent out by Ross and a subsequent RSVP. Finally, Jennifer Aniston confirmed that the name Green was spelled: G-R-E-E-N. ^[4]

Birthday[link]

In the episode "The One With Joey's New Girlfriend", Rachel tells Gunther that her birthday is May 5 (her birthday is celebrated in various episodes in May). Rachel says she is a 28-year-old cheerleader, which would make her birth year 1969, the same year as Monica's, and one year younger than Ross and Chandler, coinciding with several flashback episodes throughout the series. That also makes the May 5 date more plausible, as she would turn 29 on May 5, 1998. Her real birthdays were shown in the season 1 episode "The One Where Rachel Finds Out", the season 2 episode "The One With The Two Parties" and in the season 9 episode "The One With The Rats".

There are some further inconsistencies. In 2001 ("The One Where They All Turn Thirty"), she celebrates her 30th birthday, implying a birth year of 1971. It is revealed in that episode that she is the youngest of the six friends, as the others had already turned 30 and were relating their birthdays. In the episode, she is wearing a shirt that has her supposed birthday on it (12–4), which is also inconsistent with the dates above.

Notes and references[link]

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