Keeping up with my promise to release regularly, I want to write a quick simple note here on the topic at hand. The inspiration behind creating this blog was to create a forum where by my regular thoughts on the culture could be presented, and also as a sort of tribute to the art form; an expressive musical form that has shaped the subtleties of my character.
Soon I will be compiling a list of the top hip hop sites on the web today, which will be a part of a larger project of forming a collective on the best contributions to date. The notion that 'hip-hop is dead' or has nothing else to give is something that every fan, artist, friend of hip-hop should take seriously. Here's an article I found that sheds good light. Smith gives tribute. Stay tuned for this.
-Nat
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Sunday, February 10, 2008
Rhapsody [Volume 1.0 - Issue 5.0 ]
Rhap.so.dy [rap-suh-dee]-noun : A usually instrumental composition of irregular form that often incorporates improvisation.
The day my son was born, an overwhelming spirit of change had overcome me. He was 7 pounds and 1 ounce of anticipation, his imposing pecan-shaped eyes tearing up, looking to me for comfort. I'd just turned 24 years old, and welcomed parenthood like an agrarian welcomes the spring season. Our seeds had been 'spontaneously' sown, in a time when our atmosphere was filled with highly contrasting moods, color and tonality. Yet despite our lack of exposure to the air of parenthood, we were invested in our measure of clairvoyance. We knew that our free form style of parenting was usually thought upon with skepticism (free form because our finances were unpredictable, and our housing situation was still undetermined). We also knew that the improvisation meant that we could likely less afford to be choosy.
Four years later, my young one has grown. Motherhood is still a matter of balancing moods, managing your personal passions versus your professional passions and being honest about the choices you make or have made and how they define your life in the long run. Though at times it's difficult to make decisions, us growing as effective parents, are like emerging, creatively driven artist recording their first record, their raw deliverance and devotion emptying out into a product of the varied pulse of their hearts words.
Those early intro to industry feelings that we can genuinely feel in works like Illmatic(Nas), Reasonable Doubt(Jay-Z), Enter the Wu-tang (Wu-tang Clan), seem to fade as we enter the first decade of the 21st century. As of lately my feelings of hip-hop have been distant, speaking honestly. For you to thoroughly understand my POV I'd have to tell you first my personal feelings on hip-hop for the decade that is just behind us.
Here is a list of the past hit singles from the billboard charts from 1998 - 2005:
#1) 1998 Lauryn Hill, Miseducation
#1) 1999 Juvenile, 400 Degreez
#1) 2001 Dr Dre 2001
#1) 2002 RKelly TP2
#1) 2003 50 Cent, Get Rich or Die Tryin
#1) 2004 Usher, Confessions
#1) 2005 50 cent, The Massacre
Hip-Hop has always been familiar geography for me. Street Talk, Hard Beats, mental struggle, financial struggle and the extreme materialism that illusions much of my goals as a youth growing up. For inner city youth such as myself, material things become representative of a coming into being, having status or finally being recognized. It says look at me and look at what I've accomplished. It's a reactive mentality that youth become used to, namely myself at one point in time.
There is also my relationship with minority men, and how they feel towards women. There was a time when I felt that listening to hip-hop made me understand closer the voice of minority men, my interest there being relationships with black or latino men. Successful rappers claim their bragging rights for what they've achieved. Their are key human interest perspectives here. Men, that are doing well for themselves, even thought they are not the best looking guys, they've gained popularity with money, charisma, and not being afraid to say how they feel.
The combative part of hip hop has a mass appeal that cannot be denied. What we call battle rhymes, where two artist go verbally head to head in a verbal war for who is the better freestyle or written artist. We’ve seen Nas and Jayz fight for the crown. We see it in politics everyday, the top candidates expressing what they feel they represent and why they are a better choice to stand at the head of our nation. Hip hop can be considered a microcosm of this system. May the most articulate slanderer win.
There is also the Afro-Caribbean rhythm, and flow of tracks that speak to me personally (and a lot of young people from what I've seen) on an emotional level. In my experience, many people don't listen to lyrics of hip-hop up front but first the tempo, and poetic timing that has become a defining character of the art form, and it becomes sticky. Many times listeners are appealed to by the sound first, the melody, the drums, how it persuades them to move. Next they look at the lyrics and whether it relates to them. What I listen to and what’s in my ipod is a mixture of genres / sounds. What makes up my hip hop collection is a series of old and new works that comprise sounds that uplift, or that illustrate the nitty gritty of the youth that I am familiar with. The streets of harlem. Dark and sometimes lonely, these streets clearly draw the experience of being in the minority. The experience of feeling a sense of self-restriction that does not afford the personal freedoms that we very often search for. Some of my favorites are, Common, Nas, Lauryn hill, Kanye west. Artists that represent hip hop as an art form, as an expression of hope, an expression of creativity and change.
I went to a concert of Lauryn Hill's at the garden in 1999. The performance was, of a magnitude that I haven’t been able to express about artists I listen to since then. The reason why is because her delivery was brilliant in many ways. The performance had elements of old school and new school, DJs on the ones and two’s (New School) versus Lauryn and her band(Old School). It was truly brilliant. Why I love hip hop is because it has the potential to be everything that music can and should represent. Passion, struggle, overcoming adversity, expression of human truths and experience.
Here we are today in 2008 Grammy's for best rap album, the most celebrated music award ceremony of our nation ... And the winner is ...
Kanye West, Graduation (Great Album).
Now there's this awkward number with Kid Rock and older women who's name I didn't quite get...
The day my son was born, an overwhelming spirit of change had overcome me. He was 7 pounds and 1 ounce of anticipation, his imposing pecan-shaped eyes tearing up, looking to me for comfort. I'd just turned 24 years old, and welcomed parenthood like an agrarian welcomes the spring season. Our seeds had been 'spontaneously' sown, in a time when our atmosphere was filled with highly contrasting moods, color and tonality. Yet despite our lack of exposure to the air of parenthood, we were invested in our measure of clairvoyance. We knew that our free form style of parenting was usually thought upon with skepticism (free form because our finances were unpredictable, and our housing situation was still undetermined). We also knew that the improvisation meant that we could likely less afford to be choosy.
Four years later, my young one has grown. Motherhood is still a matter of balancing moods, managing your personal passions versus your professional passions and being honest about the choices you make or have made and how they define your life in the long run. Though at times it's difficult to make decisions, us growing as effective parents, are like emerging, creatively driven artist recording their first record, their raw deliverance and devotion emptying out into a product of the varied pulse of their hearts words.
Those early intro to industry feelings that we can genuinely feel in works like Illmatic(Nas), Reasonable Doubt(Jay-Z), Enter the Wu-tang (Wu-tang Clan), seem to fade as we enter the first decade of the 21st century. As of lately my feelings of hip-hop have been distant, speaking honestly. For you to thoroughly understand my POV I'd have to tell you first my personal feelings on hip-hop for the decade that is just behind us.
Here is a list of the past hit singles from the billboard charts from 1998 - 2005:
#1) 1998 Lauryn Hill, Miseducation
#1) 1999 Juvenile, 400 Degreez
#1) 2001 Dr Dre 2001
#1) 2002 RKelly TP2
#1) 2003 50 Cent, Get Rich or Die Tryin
#1) 2004 Usher, Confessions
#1) 2005 50 cent, The Massacre
Hip-Hop has always been familiar geography for me. Street Talk, Hard Beats, mental struggle, financial struggle and the extreme materialism that illusions much of my goals as a youth growing up. For inner city youth such as myself, material things become representative of a coming into being, having status or finally being recognized. It says look at me and look at what I've accomplished. It's a reactive mentality that youth become used to, namely myself at one point in time.
There is also my relationship with minority men, and how they feel towards women. There was a time when I felt that listening to hip-hop made me understand closer the voice of minority men, my interest there being relationships with black or latino men. Successful rappers claim their bragging rights for what they've achieved. Their are key human interest perspectives here. Men, that are doing well for themselves, even thought they are not the best looking guys, they've gained popularity with money, charisma, and not being afraid to say how they feel.
The combative part of hip hop has a mass appeal that cannot be denied. What we call battle rhymes, where two artist go verbally head to head in a verbal war for who is the better freestyle or written artist. We’ve seen Nas and Jayz fight for the crown. We see it in politics everyday, the top candidates expressing what they feel they represent and why they are a better choice to stand at the head of our nation. Hip hop can be considered a microcosm of this system. May the most articulate slanderer win.
There is also the Afro-Caribbean rhythm, and flow of tracks that speak to me personally (and a lot of young people from what I've seen) on an emotional level. In my experience, many people don't listen to lyrics of hip-hop up front but first the tempo, and poetic timing that has become a defining character of the art form, and it becomes sticky. Many times listeners are appealed to by the sound first, the melody, the drums, how it persuades them to move. Next they look at the lyrics and whether it relates to them. What I listen to and what’s in my ipod is a mixture of genres / sounds. What makes up my hip hop collection is a series of old and new works that comprise sounds that uplift, or that illustrate the nitty gritty of the youth that I am familiar with. The streets of harlem. Dark and sometimes lonely, these streets clearly draw the experience of being in the minority. The experience of feeling a sense of self-restriction that does not afford the personal freedoms that we very often search for. Some of my favorites are, Common, Nas, Lauryn hill, Kanye west. Artists that represent hip hop as an art form, as an expression of hope, an expression of creativity and change.
I went to a concert of Lauryn Hill's at the garden in 1999. The performance was, of a magnitude that I haven’t been able to express about artists I listen to since then. The reason why is because her delivery was brilliant in many ways. The performance had elements of old school and new school, DJs on the ones and two’s (New School) versus Lauryn and her band(Old School). It was truly brilliant. Why I love hip hop is because it has the potential to be everything that music can and should represent. Passion, struggle, overcoming adversity, expression of human truths and experience.
Here we are today in 2008 Grammy's for best rap album, the most celebrated music award ceremony of our nation ... And the winner is ...
Kanye West, Graduation (Great Album).
Now there's this awkward number with Kid Rock and older women who's name I didn't quite get...
Sunday, February 3, 2008
Songs that make the whole world sing ...
I've always been fascinated by the human dynamic involved in the makings of epidemics. A group of individuals or an individual uses a snappy word or phrase, wears an article of clothing, or makes a memorable gesture and turns something ordinary into an intense trend where it's consumption is infectious. ( See Malcolm Gladwell's 'The Tipping Point' ).
Much of the music industry base their business philosophy's or strategies on predicting trends or a calculated effort in lighting the spark that may catch fire and become rampantly spread. It happened with golds chains and flat tops in the 80s, then baggy clothes and bling in the late 90's and in the 21st century 20+ inch tire rims became a must have. Politicians tie phrases to their campaigns in the hopes that voters are drawn to the words and repeat them.
I say this because I feel it is important to acknowledge that music in itself is highly epidemic in nature. Hip-hop artists are among the most influential personalities of the world. This influence attributes to an immense power. The power to reach so many people at once, for the length of about 3-6 minutes.
I've admitted that I allow my son to listen to hip-hop understanding the power that it has to influence his mind. Nevertheless, the truth is I do a considerable amount of filtering, on a song by song basis judging on whether certain records tone or content exudes a certain level of negativity.
Like any art form that uses subjective forms of expression and is open to many opinions, I choose not to ignore the contribution that this music form offers as a pandemic culture.
http://hiphopgalaxy.com/blogs/spatemag/2008/02/02/news-kanye-west-50-cent-and-snoop-get-painted/
Much of the music industry base their business philosophy's or strategies on predicting trends or a calculated effort in lighting the spark that may catch fire and become rampantly spread. It happened with golds chains and flat tops in the 80s, then baggy clothes and bling in the late 90's and in the 21st century 20+ inch tire rims became a must have. Politicians tie phrases to their campaigns in the hopes that voters are drawn to the words and repeat them.
I say this because I feel it is important to acknowledge that music in itself is highly epidemic in nature. Hip-hop artists are among the most influential personalities of the world. This influence attributes to an immense power. The power to reach so many people at once, for the length of about 3-6 minutes.
I've admitted that I allow my son to listen to hip-hop understanding the power that it has to influence his mind. Nevertheless, the truth is I do a considerable amount of filtering, on a song by song basis judging on whether certain records tone or content exudes a certain level of negativity.
Like any art form that uses subjective forms of expression and is open to many opinions, I choose not to ignore the contribution that this music form offers as a pandemic culture.
http://hiphopgalaxy.com/blogs/spatemag/2008/02/02/news-kanye-west-50-cent-and-snoop-get-painted/
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