Wiki: Sprechs timme
The first known use of this technique was in the opera Königskinder by Engelbert Humperdinck (1897), but it is most often associated with the composers of the Second Viennese School, especially with Pierrot Lunaire, a song cycle composed by Arnold Schönberg and premiered in 1912
The Last Poets, a vocal jazz group, published songs using semi-speaking vocal performances. Later, Hip Hop culture popularized rap from the late 1970s into jazz and funk-based songs based on African musical traditions. Earlier, since the 1960s, Jamaican reggae also popularized a similar formula on typical island rhythmic bases.
