Kool Herc: A Biographical Essay

In honor of Kool Herc, who is struggling to pay off medical bills after being hospitalized, this is a great article detailing his accomplishments as a pioneer of Hip-hop:

Few individuals can claim a life story that so closely parallels hip-hop’s narrative arc as Clive Campbell, better known as DJ Kool Herc. Often considered the movement’s founding father, an early participant in and innovator of the musical and cultural practices that have since swept the world, Kool Herc embodies hip-hop’s roots and routes, its booms and busts, its struggles and triumphs. From his childhood in Kingston, Jamaica to his coming-of-age in the Bronx, from his rise as a streetwise, peerless DJ to his decline in the wake of hip-hop’s new forms and commercial success, from his drug addiction in the 80s to his recent return as standard-bearer and spokesman, Herc’s tale can be read as a thread running through hip-hop history. Although his story has been told and retold and sold many times over, often making it difficult to extract the truth from the myths, the representations, and the press releases, Herc has been generous in granting interviews over the years, and his myriad recollections, as well as those of his peers, provide a strong outline for understanding his role as an architect and inventor, as one who forged so many of the forms we recognize today as hip-hop...

Continue Reading at Wayne and Wax

If you want to donate to Kool Herc, donations can be sent to:

Kool Herc Productions, PO Box 20472, Huntington Station, New York, NY 11746.

or send donations through Paypal: cindycampbell1@aol.com.

http://www.hiphopdx.com/index/news/id.13891/title.dj-kool-hercs-sister-sets-up-a-paypal-account-for-donations/

More information here: http://www.DjKoolHerc.com/

Africa is where music was born....

Via Kiss My Black Ads

Channel O Tree Animation from Rudi de Wet on Vimeo.

Black Music Month #21: "Listen Up!" Young Women's Voices in Hip-Hop

"Listen Up!" Young Women's Voices in Hip-Hop - A Summer Arts Program in DC

PLEASE DONATE!!!

ABOUT THIS PROJECT

About "Listen Up!" The young woman's voice in Hip-Hop

This summer, we will create original hip-hop theatre driven by the interests of the young women and girls in the program. Our work will take place inside a supportive and nurturing environment that challenges them to become self-actualized. Participants will have the opportunity and produce all aspects of their own show while learning about the elements of hip-hop and West African drumming.

* Explore hip-hop's elements of Fashion, Breaking, Beatboxing, Rhyme/Rap and Knowledge of Culture & Self
* Investigate the roles of young women in hip-hop
* Learn performance techniques and ensemble creation
* Learn West African drumming, dancing and rhythms and how they have influenced hip-hop music and culture
* Create and perform an original play


Project location: Washington, DC

About YWDEP
The Young Women’s Drumming Empowerment Project strives to create a safe space for young women to build community, and to fearlessly express their authentic selves through drumming, spoken word poetry, song, movement and performance.

About The Saartjie Project
The Saartjie Project (pronounced Sar-key) is a black women artist collective producing and developing theatre through collaborative processes. We are committed to working together consistently to develop a distinctive body of work and practices reflective of who we are.

youngwomendrum.org
thesaartjieproject.org

Black Music Month #19: Hip Hop Is More Than You Think It Is

Via The Marriage of a Dead Blog SING!

Me: To all the people who think Hip Hop is not a legitimate art form, not a part of history or treat Hip Hop like it is a monolithic entity (side-eyes Thomas Chatterton Williams), here is your response:

A friend of mine, who is a fellow music junkie, occasionally gives me heads up on weird shit he finds he thinks I might like to sample. He told me about this track the other night and I’ve only just gotten around to checking it out now. It’s pretty fucking awesome, no?
Anyway, whilst digging the fuck out of this track, I was browsing through the comments on Youtube, and came across one that enraged me.
“rap comes from this song yeaaaag”
Recently, when Banksy started pissing about in America, someone here linked to an article which quoted an unnamed art historian as saying graffiti was the greatest urban cultural movement “since Punk”.
Let’s just get one thing straight right here. What we understand as Hip Hop today began in the early 70’s. It grew up at the same time, if not before, Punk. Graffiti existed as a movement before Hip Hop became a defined, integrated culture. In reality, Punk is the most influential movement since Graffiti.
This is something that needs to stop. Just because White people didn’t hear about Hip Hop until the 80’s doesn’t mean it didn’t exist. White people need to stop looking down on Hip Hop. Just because it’s made by Black people doesn’t mean it’s anything less than mind blowingly innovative. I’m not joking here, or trying to get mad props by showing how”down with the black kids” I am, it is genuinely one of the most ground breaking genres of all time.
I don’t mean it in a political sense, though that is most certainly true (seriously, go read Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop by Jeff Chang if you want to see how Hip Hop evolved as a responce to White Oppression). But right now, I want to simply talk about it as a musical form.
Many people toyed with the idea of sampling before Hip Hop. The idea was first properly realised by Musique Concrete in the late 40’s. The bassline from the Doctor Who theme tune (universally acclaimed as one of the most influential pieces of electronic music ever) was made up of resampled recordings of an elastic band on a matchbox. Miles Davis made heavy use of looping and sampling for On The Corner. Steve Reich messed about with it for Come Out and It’s Gonna Rain.
But Hip Hop was the first time that it was treated as a normal concept. There was no chin stroking over intellectualism involved, just a bunch of people sitting around and going “hey, these 10 seconds are the best part of this song, let’s make it the whole song”. They didn’t have a studio filled with complicated equipment, they didn’t have a fancy college education grounding them in the tennents of music. Let’s be honest, they probably knew fuck all about French Advent Garde musicians, British Childrens TV shows or New York Hipsters. They literally just had 2 turntables and an ear for a decent hook. That was it. They took the most basic piece of equipment you could find - your average home stereo - and turned it into an instrument, THEN THEY ELEVATED IT TO AN ART FORM!
Seriously, I’m not entirely sure I can explain how ground breaking the concept of Hip Hop is to you. It’s just such a revolutionary idea it’s almost impossible to grasp. The entire history of human music was turned entirely on it’s head, just because a roomful of people in the Bronx wanted to dance.

Rocumentaries: Is Hip-Hop History?

Mark Anthony Neal is a professor of Black Popular Culture in the African American studies department at Duke University. He has authored four books, What the Music Said: Black Popular Music and Black Public Culture (1998), Soul Babies: Black Popular Culture and the Post-Soul Aesthetic (2002), Songs in the Keys of Black Life: A Rhythm and Blues Nation (2003) and New Black Man: Rethinking Black Masculinity (2005). On February 20, 2010, Neal was the keynote speaker at City College for the"Is Hip-Hop History" Conference. In the lecture, he discusses the historical elements that led to the birth of Hip-hop and how Hip-hop itself is making history.

Click on the title of the post to see the webcast. ^

Cool Vids: Nas Comments on Hip-Hop

Along with Nick Cannon and Affion, Nas does a P.S.A. about the declining state of mainstream Hip-hop. I could not agree with him more...

Music Note #9: Where My Female Rappers At?

Another reason why I love Old School Hip-Hop is the abundance of strong female rappers. In the late 80s to mid 90s, there was Salt & Pepa, Sha-rock, Queen Latifah, Monie Love, MC Lyte, Yo-yo, Da Brat, Lauryn Hill, the early Missy Elliot, the early Eve and the list goes on. What was different about these ladies and some of the female rappers out here today who seem to come and go. Well, first, these rappers had respect for themselves. Second, they did not use their body to sell their music because they knew their music was good enough to sell itself. Yes, they talked about sex and yes they used some profanity, but that was not what their whole career was focused on. They were focused on saying something important. Not only could these ladies stand up to male rappers and be just and good or better, but they also knew that they were not these guys' playthings. This is something that I feel today's mainstream rappers have lost.



































For example, in 1993, Queen Latifah did a song called "U.N.I.T.Y". in which she made it clear that a man cannot do anything he wants with her and that includes calling her a b***h or a h**. Her other song, "Ladies First" honored all the strong black women in history. Salt N Pepa's "Lets Talk About Sex" was an intellectual discussion about sex, not all vulgar. "Whattaman" was about the strong black men in their life that they loved (yeah, black love). One of the best known female rappers to use her mind and not her body was Lauryn Hill. Just listen to "Lost Ones," "Everything is Everything," "That Thing," and her earlier records from the Fugees.

Now, let's look at the mainstream female rappers who represent the declining essence of Hip-hop. I really do not expect any better when the male rappers mostly discuss a few topics: money, guns, h**s, drugs, cars, jewelry and yep that's about it. From the female rapper's side, we have Lil' Kim, Trina, Khia, Shawnna and others who feel the need to be in extremely revealing outfits, act like a slut or a h**, get implants, use the word b***h like it is a nickname, and speak about everything they do with such vulgarity (e.g. my butt, my boobs, how I gave someone a blow-job or how I am going to give someone a beat-down), just to sell a song. From what I see, that is only thing they are about and that is very shallow. I hear barely any purpose or positivity in their lyrics. That is not female empowerment or sexual liberation because she is still selling her body which at that moment belongs to the person (or people) buying it. Is this the image to be portrayed to young girls like myself? What makes it worse is that the public keeps buying it, a reflection of our declining culture.



So, what do I have to do now -- basically turn away from the mainstream to find a great female rapper and that's what I did. Artists like Amanda Diva, Ms. Dynamite, Keny Arkana (from France) and other stars in the making are what true Hip-hop is about, which is to make you think. Sex should not be what is selling Hip-Hop, it should be Hip-hop itself and these actual female Hip-hop empresses are doing that.



An up and coming female rapper who should be at the top: Miss Nana "D.O.F. (Death of the Female rapper)

Music Note #8: "The N-Word in Music and Pop Culture"

Ah, the infamous "n-word" or to put it more bluntly, "nigger" and our culture's mitigated counterpart "niggah." The word has become widespread within the Hip-hop and R&B community and throughout the Black culture. Not only that, many people within the Black community and even outside our community, make excuses for the word "niggah" because it a "term of endearment" and it has the "ah" ending instead of the "er" ending. You know what I think: that is a bunch of Bovine Scatology a.k.a. Bulls**t.

Just carelessly using the word shows me how far we have come as a people. Some of us have become so diconnected from our past that they do not even know who Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X are (if you want to know why we are so discoonected from history, check out my article on individualism: http://macaulay.cuny.edu/eportfolios/artsandculturewithreese/). We have the audactity to forget the people who came before us, struggled for their freedom, were beaten, whipped, had hoses released on them, chased by dogs, lynched, and mutilated along with being called that word. Even worse, by using that word we also disrespect ourselves and give our oppressors easier access to oppress us. They have less to do because we already are saying what they think we are...idiots.

Why am I suddenly coming out to say this? Well, a number of reasons. It started a few years ago when I was watching Antwone Fisher. Hear Antwone's foster mother say to him "What's up, my nigga" freaked me out and disgusted me at the same time (knowing that she abused him too made it worse). That scene showed me that saying the word to someone is disprspectful even with the best intentions. Then, I heard that the famous comic Richard Pryor gave up saying the n-word after he went to Africa. Recently, one of my favorite rappers, Mos Def, refused to say it all on the set of the movie, Next Day Air. Basically, it has build up to this point.

First, to address what I said earlier (b.s. comment). Changing the ending of a word does not mean one is linguistically changing the word. For example, if you have a word that ends in "er" and let's say you have an accent and say it with a "ah" or "a" ending does not mean the word has had a change of meaning. Also, changing the ending of a word usually only means changing its tense ot the category of a word (verb, noun, adjective) not the meaning. Since, "the two words" of "nigger" and "niggah" are so closely related, a change of two letters will not change the hateful meaning of the word that has been around for centuries. Be realistic! Also, using it as a "term of endearmeant" means nothing. How would you like it if I called you "a piece of s**t" or "an a**hole," but I meant it in a good way like "my brother, my sister." Doesn't feel so nice!

In addition to that, the use of the n-word not only makes us look bad as a people (whether consciously or subconsciously), but it also sends mix signals to other races. In a way, it gives us the right to exclude others and exclude ourselves from everyone else. We, as black people have the right to say it, but as soon as someone who is not black says it, we get offended. It shows that we are still not over the word. I remember a few years ago when Jennifer Lopez said the n-word in the her hit song "I'm Real" and the media went into uproar over it. It also happened again when Fat Joe said it over and over in "Lean Back," but to less of an uproar. Also, a hidden rule within the Hip-hop community is that white rappers cannot use the n-word. Why is there different standards over who can and who cannot use the word. More and more people are feeling that it is okay to say the word now as long as it does not have bad intentions because of what the media is portraying.

The funny thing is people outside of the Black race use the word that was specifically used as a derogatory label for us, but do you hear other races or ethnicities widely using their own racial slurs towards themselves. Do you hear white people saying, "What's up, my cracker" or Hispanics saying "What's up, my Spic" or Chinese saying "What's up, my Ching Chong." No, because they have more respect for themselves as a people.

We also send mix signals to ourselves.If we are friendly with someone, we say "that's my nigga," but as soon as you are mad at someone it is "punk a** nigga" or "you nigga." Hey wait a minute, I thought this was suppose to be a postive word now?! How are we suppose to get over the word and move on as a people, if we keep using the n-word, especially when we have a bi-polar stance when it comes to the word.

Increasingly, I am having a hard time ignoring the word whenever I hear it used without thought behind it. It makes me uncomfortable. Why is it artists, including rappers (look at Run-DMC), who came before could go their whole career without using it and be successful, but our generation uses it everywhere like it is natural. If the world educated themselves about the word and its true meaning in history, people would realize how ridiculous it is to use the "n-word." Seriously, there is no point it saying the word and from what I have seen it has had a more negative effect on our culture than a positive effect. Yeah we need to let go of the word, but using recklessly to the point it becomes desensitized is not the way. Realize, you are not a nigger or nigga, unless you act like one (which sadly I am still seeing). So, please stop using it as a term of endearment! But if you want to have an intellectual discussion with me about the word, get back to me.

Peace and Love.

Huh? Moment

So, I just watched the first performance of Joaquin Phoenix's new rap career. Joaquin Phoenix is one of my favorite actors and I was greatly saddened when he decided to give up his acting career for music. On the other hand, I loved the movie Walk the Line and so I thought he could pull of a music career as maybe a country-ish singer. I was willing to be open to the idea. But a rap career? Ok, so I had to force myself to be even more open to that idea. After watching his performance, I am on the fence about the whole situation. The beats sounded cool, but Joaquin's posture and swagger as a rapper were so off (not to mention his neanderthal look with the scraggly beard)! Plus, maybe it was just the sound quality on the video and I would have had to be there, but I could not understand a word he was saying. Yet, when I closed my eyes he did not sound half bad. I just don't know what to think of it at this moment and I am kind of hoping it is a hoax for a his documentary. If not, I can't wait till his album comes out in order to really judge his music. Take a listen for yourself: