Multi-colored subway signs, Deteriorated bricks of the dark shade stacked 15 or more stories high, and heaps of rubble and debris all sitting under a dark dreary cloudy sky describe the scenery of the South Bronx; the birthplace of Hip-Hop. Since the birth from its’ origins here Hip-Hop for the most part has been a predominately black and Latino form of music. Getting credibility as a white emcee was more difficult than riding a bike with no handlebars. There were a few attempts in the 90’s the most known being Vanilla Ice who was enjoyed a good 15 minutes of fame before being written off as a embarrassing fad. In fact he had been written off in so much ridicule that it was seen to have set white emcees back ten years even when he sold over ten million albums. Just when everyone thought it was almost impossible for a white emcee to break through and gain credibility, out of the cold, grimey , gritty, extremely racially segregated infrastructure of Detroit came a phenomenally talented white emcee by the name of Eminem.
For the first time a white emcee had broken through taking what the popular representations of race, class, and even to an extent gender roles in hip hop meant at that point and went left into his lane with them. It wasn’t a black or latino male from the projects rapping about selling drugs or gangbanging anymore but a skinny white boy from lower class trailer park Detroit whose very different subject matter consisted of drug indulgence, being broke, getting the shit beat outta him, killing his child’s mother, and wide arrange of other very taboo subjects. Just like Stuart Hall in his piece The Spectacle of Other discusses the difficulty of labeling subject Ben Johnson Hero or Villain, the rap world at first didn’t really know how to take this extremely eccentric but very lyrically talented white boy. Being backed by one of the most prolific hip-hop producers of all time (Dr. Dre) didn’t hurt at all either as he set precedents and smashed records including being the first rapper ever to sell over a million records in a week, while causing the most controversy a single rap artist has every conjured by himself.
The aesthetics were very intriguing to many, skin as white as the paper he wrote on, platinum blonde hair, and blue eyed but with a demeanor and attitude that just screamed “FUCK YOU” as his intricately crafted rhymes pushed buttons in the most witty ways imaginable while he did lyrical acrobatics all over the track but a the same time making it seem extremely easy. His acceptance sent emcees of every color back into the labs, showing that he had taken the cards dealt to him and flipped them to his benefit when they were the same ones initially keeping him from acceptance in the socially structured black masculinity defined world of hip-hop from a very young age. It showed that the “other” described by Stuart Hall could break through without selling out and get acknowledgement from all the legends from Rakim to Nas to Jay-Z. Ultimately crafting his own lane he shattered the hegemonic criteria how to be accepted as “authentic” while still be considered “authentic” crippling the dominant norms with his own set of demented and unique polemics.
Monday, December 8, 2008
Without a Reasonable Doubt
A tall dark figure steps on the stage draped in a cocaine white three piece contrasted but complemented nicely with the black suit scarf hanging from his neck to match the black tie. A hat to match adds to the to make his look just as clean as the old school Lexus GS300 which sits behind him on the stage. This is Jay-Z’s 10th anniversary performance of his debut album Reasonable Doubt, a show which sold out in ten minutes. As I watch the show I realize one thing, Jay-Z stands alone as a double threat, not only does this album’s showcase demonstrate his food for though like intricate approach to lyricism but it demonstrates his rich appreciation for lyrics. “Lock my body can’t trap my mind/ easily explain how we adapt to crime/I’d rather die enormous then live dormant/ that’s how we on it” says Jay and he not only tell you his train of thought but he is also willing to back track the cold, hard, beaten steel railings which led him there, as well as the brutally honest, dark, and cold truths which lay in the interior of the train carts both through the lyrics and aesthetics of the show.
As I sit and watch his aesthetically and lyrically rich performance of what many and he himself consider his best work I realize that there is a unstated aspect to what makes this performance so special. What adds even more significance and phenomenal aura to this retrospective performance is Jay-Z’s one a kind rags to riches embodiment of the American dream. A high school drop out from Marcy Projects in Brooklyn who once sold crack now sits atop of a 400 million dollar plus net worth along with ownership of multi-million dollar clothing line, ownership in a NBA basketball team, former president of a major record label, two record deals, ownership of a separate record label, ownership in a New York marketing firm, his own signature Reebok shoe line, and marriage to one of the most talented RNB performers of our time all while having lunch with Bill Gates and advising the United Nations on a global project for water, all this accomplishment simply because he could rap……very well.
Why did I give you a break down of his accomplishments? It is simply because it adds to the overall aura of a performance like this. That’s why this performance is so intriguing because it gives you a raw representation of the drive, mentality, and attitude that was responsible for the road to success he has accomplished but at the same time reminds me of the Hustler aspect of Hip-Hop that we discussed in class. It displays the initiative, the persistence, the desperation of a man who had to start his own record label because no one would sign him, a man who started a 400 million dollar clothing line in a 12 x 12 room with two sewing machines. As I watch him on stage it adds alteration to what most people expect of a hip hop hustler’s image. No baggy sagging pants, no white t-shirt, no oversized chunky jewelry, no sneakers, no overdosing of seemingly incoherent slang, why are all these aesthetics missing? As Jay-Z elegantly spits lyrics on the stage you realize HE chooses, HE trail blazes, HE pioneers the looks and aesthetics of what defines him from the crisp three piece suit, to the elegantly gleaming Lexus automobile he once rapped admirably about, to the ambient lighting, and lastly but most significantly to set him apart is the fact that he has no instrumental but rather a 50-piece professional orchestra who cover the musical aspect of all his songs during the performance. This is probably the most surprising but wonderfully chosen aesthetic of the performance. What other rapper cares enough about his performance to hire a 50-piece orchestra, it just shows how much passion Jay has towards expanding the culture aesthetically.
The first song he jumps into is the classic “Can’t Knock the Hustle” with Mary J. Blige, and I immediately notice an aesthetic discussed in class, Polyrhythm. In multiple aspects of the song this is demonstrated, you have these HARD bouncing drums over the SMOOTHly crooning horns, you have the hard hustler lyrics of Jay in juxtaposition with the soulfully smoothly singing of Mary J, and ultimately the lyrical representation of the hard realities in the street wrapped in this very nice, smooth, and elegant packaging. It really boggles your mind when you hear the audio and have to remind yourself like “this is a song about street hustling? But it is so smooth, soulful, and elegant?” That is aesthetically overwhelming. Also watching the cocky and confident body language of Jay in conjunction with the street slang filled yet metaphorically intricate, elaborate and intelligent verbatim all presented in the three-piece suit is an incredible experience.
The next song he jumps into is “Coming of Age” a melodic yet bouncy tune in which two lyricists go back and forth. Another class discussed aesthetic popped-up, Call and Response but in a more conversational back and forth way then the traditional audience involved one. It was in the form of Mentor and apprentice as Jay-Z with assistance from his own artist Memphis Bleek lyrically draw a picture of a conversation and tale between the big time hustler on the block taking a young aspiring hungry newbie under his wing. The first few bars go
[Jay-Z] Hey fella I been watchin you clockin
[Memphis Bleek] Who me holdin down this block it ain't nothin
You the man nigga now stop frontin
[JZ] Hahahh I like your style
[MB] Nah, I like YO' style
[JZ] Let's drive around awhile
[MB] Cool nigga
[JZ] Here's a thou'
[MB] A G? I ride witchu for free
I want the longterm riches and bitches
This demonstrates another experience as you are able to watch the exchanging of different sides not only in message and opinion, but voice and rhythmic style of their rapping. As the performances keep strolling through I think about how this representations from a different region tie into the contemporary scene of Southern Hip-Hop. The Hustler image is very well shared between the two regions. It is evident when you have artists like T.I. and Young Jeezy whose music both well reflect some of the aspects presented in Jay’s. The Cockiness and Swagger you see in those two definitely are reflective of the same “D-boy” persona you see Jay-Z displaying. To use my own “common sense” understanding of Southern Hip-Hop it is very well evident that you see a lot of materialism such as nice cars, and jewelry as well as females. Jay-Z lyrics intersect with those aspects because as a hustler that is what he aims for. He actually tries to make sense through lyrical explanation to those who don’t understand the glamorization of these things. “They say nine to five is how you survive/ I’m not trying to survive, I’m trying to live it to the limit, and love it a lot” he says on his on stage performance of D’evils. He also stops to add narrative during this show to add explanation when he says that a lot of people wonder why rappers always glamorize the material things to such an extent. A main point use to ridicule southern hip-hop and its lack of depth. Jay goes to explain that when you are where they are from, and you have nothing, and your always bottom on the totem pole in everything from housing, to schooling, to life in general and you’re trying to come up, that those little things you gain through hard work such as a nice watch or a car or big wins for you. This pretty much explains the “common sense” understanding of Southern Hip-Hop for a lot of people by answering criticism with ……. common sense.
Also Jay-Z is phenomenal for what he contributes, he engages the audience by showing to them and telling them of where he comes from, the struggles of where he comes from, and how those struggles effect his behavior. He shows the complexities of the art form that what society deems as negative behavior is not always associated with malicious intent. He shows this in his lyrics that what seems bad on the surface is not always bad on the inside and vice versa. He does this by lyrically explaining the rationale and experiences which led to the actions, and therefore demonstrates the complexities of the human being that lead to the complexity in the expressions within the art form. Also this performance revealed to me Jay-Z’s strong passion for engaging the audience with his desire to expand the culture. He is doing something for the culture and the world at large when he changes the perception and expands it both lyrically but more importantly aesthetically because not everyone can understand his message at surface yet but almost any human being can see what he is doing. Who would expect a “rapper” to be in a three piece suit, (a well fitting expensive one at that) . Who would expect a Hip-Hop performance to include a 50-piece orchestra? Who would expect a Hip-Hop song to have metaphorically more meaning and message than the majority of mainstream hits out now? Then the mental ideas that add to these aesthetics such as who would expect that this same crack hustler from Brooklyn would be advising the United Nations and having lunch with Bill Gates? Jay shows that maybe it is environment that causes some to hustle? But regardless he shows that growth and positive change is possible and makes the mental effort in his lyrics and physical effort in his performance to demonstrate that.
As I sit and watch his aesthetically and lyrically rich performance of what many and he himself consider his best work I realize that there is a unstated aspect to what makes this performance so special. What adds even more significance and phenomenal aura to this retrospective performance is Jay-Z’s one a kind rags to riches embodiment of the American dream. A high school drop out from Marcy Projects in Brooklyn who once sold crack now sits atop of a 400 million dollar plus net worth along with ownership of multi-million dollar clothing line, ownership in a NBA basketball team, former president of a major record label, two record deals, ownership of a separate record label, ownership in a New York marketing firm, his own signature Reebok shoe line, and marriage to one of the most talented RNB performers of our time all while having lunch with Bill Gates and advising the United Nations on a global project for water, all this accomplishment simply because he could rap……very well.
Why did I give you a break down of his accomplishments? It is simply because it adds to the overall aura of a performance like this. That’s why this performance is so intriguing because it gives you a raw representation of the drive, mentality, and attitude that was responsible for the road to success he has accomplished but at the same time reminds me of the Hustler aspect of Hip-Hop that we discussed in class. It displays the initiative, the persistence, the desperation of a man who had to start his own record label because no one would sign him, a man who started a 400 million dollar clothing line in a 12 x 12 room with two sewing machines. As I watch him on stage it adds alteration to what most people expect of a hip hop hustler’s image. No baggy sagging pants, no white t-shirt, no oversized chunky jewelry, no sneakers, no overdosing of seemingly incoherent slang, why are all these aesthetics missing? As Jay-Z elegantly spits lyrics on the stage you realize HE chooses, HE trail blazes, HE pioneers the looks and aesthetics of what defines him from the crisp three piece suit, to the elegantly gleaming Lexus automobile he once rapped admirably about, to the ambient lighting, and lastly but most significantly to set him apart is the fact that he has no instrumental but rather a 50-piece professional orchestra who cover the musical aspect of all his songs during the performance. This is probably the most surprising but wonderfully chosen aesthetic of the performance. What other rapper cares enough about his performance to hire a 50-piece orchestra, it just shows how much passion Jay has towards expanding the culture aesthetically.
The first song he jumps into is the classic “Can’t Knock the Hustle” with Mary J. Blige, and I immediately notice an aesthetic discussed in class, Polyrhythm. In multiple aspects of the song this is demonstrated, you have these HARD bouncing drums over the SMOOTHly crooning horns, you have the hard hustler lyrics of Jay in juxtaposition with the soulfully smoothly singing of Mary J, and ultimately the lyrical representation of the hard realities in the street wrapped in this very nice, smooth, and elegant packaging. It really boggles your mind when you hear the audio and have to remind yourself like “this is a song about street hustling? But it is so smooth, soulful, and elegant?” That is aesthetically overwhelming. Also watching the cocky and confident body language of Jay in conjunction with the street slang filled yet metaphorically intricate, elaborate and intelligent verbatim all presented in the three-piece suit is an incredible experience.
The next song he jumps into is “Coming of Age” a melodic yet bouncy tune in which two lyricists go back and forth. Another class discussed aesthetic popped-up, Call and Response but in a more conversational back and forth way then the traditional audience involved one. It was in the form of Mentor and apprentice as Jay-Z with assistance from his own artist Memphis Bleek lyrically draw a picture of a conversation and tale between the big time hustler on the block taking a young aspiring hungry newbie under his wing. The first few bars go
[Jay-Z] Hey fella I been watchin you clockin
[Memphis Bleek] Who me holdin down this block it ain't nothin
You the man nigga now stop frontin
[JZ] Hahahh I like your style
[MB] Nah, I like YO' style
[JZ] Let's drive around awhile
[MB] Cool nigga
[JZ] Here's a thou'
[MB] A G? I ride witchu for free
I want the longterm riches and bitches
This demonstrates another experience as you are able to watch the exchanging of different sides not only in message and opinion, but voice and rhythmic style of their rapping. As the performances keep strolling through I think about how this representations from a different region tie into the contemporary scene of Southern Hip-Hop. The Hustler image is very well shared between the two regions. It is evident when you have artists like T.I. and Young Jeezy whose music both well reflect some of the aspects presented in Jay’s. The Cockiness and Swagger you see in those two definitely are reflective of the same “D-boy” persona you see Jay-Z displaying. To use my own “common sense” understanding of Southern Hip-Hop it is very well evident that you see a lot of materialism such as nice cars, and jewelry as well as females. Jay-Z lyrics intersect with those aspects because as a hustler that is what he aims for. He actually tries to make sense through lyrical explanation to those who don’t understand the glamorization of these things. “They say nine to five is how you survive/ I’m not trying to survive, I’m trying to live it to the limit, and love it a lot” he says on his on stage performance of D’evils. He also stops to add narrative during this show to add explanation when he says that a lot of people wonder why rappers always glamorize the material things to such an extent. A main point use to ridicule southern hip-hop and its lack of depth. Jay goes to explain that when you are where they are from, and you have nothing, and your always bottom on the totem pole in everything from housing, to schooling, to life in general and you’re trying to come up, that those little things you gain through hard work such as a nice watch or a car or big wins for you. This pretty much explains the “common sense” understanding of Southern Hip-Hop for a lot of people by answering criticism with ……. common sense.
Also Jay-Z is phenomenal for what he contributes, he engages the audience by showing to them and telling them of where he comes from, the struggles of where he comes from, and how those struggles effect his behavior. He shows the complexities of the art form that what society deems as negative behavior is not always associated with malicious intent. He shows this in his lyrics that what seems bad on the surface is not always bad on the inside and vice versa. He does this by lyrically explaining the rationale and experiences which led to the actions, and therefore demonstrates the complexities of the human being that lead to the complexity in the expressions within the art form. Also this performance revealed to me Jay-Z’s strong passion for engaging the audience with his desire to expand the culture. He is doing something for the culture and the world at large when he changes the perception and expands it both lyrically but more importantly aesthetically because not everyone can understand his message at surface yet but almost any human being can see what he is doing. Who would expect a “rapper” to be in a three piece suit, (a well fitting expensive one at that) . Who would expect a Hip-Hop performance to include a 50-piece orchestra? Who would expect a Hip-Hop song to have metaphorically more meaning and message than the majority of mainstream hits out now? Then the mental ideas that add to these aesthetics such as who would expect that this same crack hustler from Brooklyn would be advising the United Nations and having lunch with Bill Gates? Jay shows that maybe it is environment that causes some to hustle? But regardless he shows that growth and positive change is possible and makes the mental effort in his lyrics and physical effort in his performance to demonstrate that.
The 4th Dimension of Banner
When most people think of music, they think of the auditory value, and how they can interpret it sonically. Many times they do not consider the picture it paints in your head. Similar to how a good novel with no illustrations can still conjure up your imagination to tailor fit vivid visuals of the content of the book, music has an intense magical ability to do the same if not to an even greater extent. Many people neglect that “4th dimension” to the music, the real of aesthetic value. Bell Hooks describes this in great detail in her Black Aesthetics article, and I will illustrate with my words how David Banner’s album Mississippi paints a colorful world interpreted through the senses more than it is through simple literate competency of reading the black and white lyrics of a printed page. Do you ever wonder why Hip-Hop music is so huge outside of the U.S. in foreign countries where the don’t even understand the lyrics of the song? It is because they can still to a great extent experience this alternate dimension of aesthetic value the music delivers. Just like you having to stop and carefully listen to a beat to identify each magical instrument separately bouncing on it’s on rhythm beautifully on it’s own yet still complimenting the overall harmonic beauty of the “whole” production
Just examining the cover of the album you see a photographic indication of what the rest of the album holds. You see David Banner’s face unapologetically bold and saturated with emotion that you know is waiting to spontaneously erupt on you the second you tap play on your Ipod. This depiction alone arouses curiosity, why is his facial expression so extreme? Just like a nicely decorated cake’s alluring luscious frosting it makes you want to not waste a second to start digging into the disc to find out it’s underlying and quite possibly rich content. After listening to the album in it’s rollercoaster of an experience entirety I must say it does a great job in aesthetically of painting a picture of Mississippi and all the visual, emotional, and physical beauty which coexists with the harsh realities in Banner’s hometown of Jackson, Mississippi. “We from a Place where my soul still don’t feel free/ where a flag means more than me!” Banner stresses on the album’s self- titled track. Many may argue this line as well as others on this album are too extreme but I feel John Berger from Bell Hooks article has a good interpretation of this when he says “ when an experience is ‘offered up’ it is not expected to be in any way transformed. It’s apotheosis should be instant”.
One thing is sure, Banner does a hell of a job painting a picture for my senses to indulge into. “Pinky ring on my hand, peanut butter top (lovin wood)……..and we still eating chicken in the club bitch!” I marinate my senses in lines like this because it provides the rich visual of his environment yet leaves the intellectual interpretation and emotional conclusion to be reached by the listener. Banner pours the aesthetics to you in such a consistency that you would think your were trying to drink the whole Mississippi river through a kitchen funnel, overwhelming I tell you! I can almost feel the dirt of the delta filling my nostrils and see the acres of cotton fields, the “crackaz” banner describes regulating the crack trade and of course the delicious fried chicken being eaten in the club as the bass probably bumps so hard that it probably knocks the crispy skin right off the southern poultry. Bell Hooks stresses how “art was also a way to escape one’s plight” and you see this in Banner’s work. He seems to thrust the emotionally charged harsh experience at you so hard that it seems it gives him a certain extent of relief to be able to have an outlet to channel this pain. Then when the club bangers such as like a pimp come on you see the art which depicts the activity used to escape the plight. Watching the video in class I recognized the visual aesthetics of a packed parking lot signifying the intensity of the community, the confederate flag which my mind took as a illustration centerpiece and quickly drew in the surrounding racially tense environment which probably exists in Jackson. It seems after examining Bells Hooks statement of “Art was necessary to bring delight, pleasure, and beauty into lives that were hard, that were materially deprived” is when I understand why Banner had such a strong and over the top like demeanor in expressing himself with such rich aesthetic. It was because the harsher the environment the stronger the emotion accumulated and ultimately the more potent the expression in the music.
Just examining the cover of the album you see a photographic indication of what the rest of the album holds. You see David Banner’s face unapologetically bold and saturated with emotion that you know is waiting to spontaneously erupt on you the second you tap play on your Ipod. This depiction alone arouses curiosity, why is his facial expression so extreme? Just like a nicely decorated cake’s alluring luscious frosting it makes you want to not waste a second to start digging into the disc to find out it’s underlying and quite possibly rich content. After listening to the album in it’s rollercoaster of an experience entirety I must say it does a great job in aesthetically of painting a picture of Mississippi and all the visual, emotional, and physical beauty which coexists with the harsh realities in Banner’s hometown of Jackson, Mississippi. “We from a Place where my soul still don’t feel free/ where a flag means more than me!” Banner stresses on the album’s self- titled track. Many may argue this line as well as others on this album are too extreme but I feel John Berger from Bell Hooks article has a good interpretation of this when he says “ when an experience is ‘offered up’ it is not expected to be in any way transformed. It’s apotheosis should be instant”.
One thing is sure, Banner does a hell of a job painting a picture for my senses to indulge into. “Pinky ring on my hand, peanut butter top (lovin wood)……..and we still eating chicken in the club bitch!” I marinate my senses in lines like this because it provides the rich visual of his environment yet leaves the intellectual interpretation and emotional conclusion to be reached by the listener. Banner pours the aesthetics to you in such a consistency that you would think your were trying to drink the whole Mississippi river through a kitchen funnel, overwhelming I tell you! I can almost feel the dirt of the delta filling my nostrils and see the acres of cotton fields, the “crackaz” banner describes regulating the crack trade and of course the delicious fried chicken being eaten in the club as the bass probably bumps so hard that it probably knocks the crispy skin right off the southern poultry. Bell Hooks stresses how “art was also a way to escape one’s plight” and you see this in Banner’s work. He seems to thrust the emotionally charged harsh experience at you so hard that it seems it gives him a certain extent of relief to be able to have an outlet to channel this pain. Then when the club bangers such as like a pimp come on you see the art which depicts the activity used to escape the plight. Watching the video in class I recognized the visual aesthetics of a packed parking lot signifying the intensity of the community, the confederate flag which my mind took as a illustration centerpiece and quickly drew in the surrounding racially tense environment which probably exists in Jackson. It seems after examining Bells Hooks statement of “Art was necessary to bring delight, pleasure, and beauty into lives that were hard, that were materially deprived” is when I understand why Banner had such a strong and over the top like demeanor in expressing himself with such rich aesthetic. It was because the harsher the environment the stronger the emotion accumulated and ultimately the more potent the expression in the music.
The Growth of Hip-Hop
Hood to Hollywood,Lust to Love
“ Ay yo I got a resolution This year I’m playing right/ No six fifteen this year/ Yea you can stay the night/ we can go bowling it ain’t like before/ Can’t y’all see that I’m growing? I was so immature” says Jay-Z referring to his once misogynistic and objectifying attitude towards women. Hip-Hop is a world where bicep flexing, gun toting, aggressive, patriarchal attitude possessing males seem to not be able to express any sensitivity, respect, or admiration toward the opposite sex. Well it seems like the new attitude of contemporary rappers is making it cool to trade in the playa cards for wedding bands. The aesthetics and visuals of the videos are changing as well along with the attitudes. The videos are changing, we once saw cash throwing rap matriarchs inebriated off Cristal, their head surrounded by marijuana clouds, bandanna hanging, fitted cap titlted, shiny chrome firearm tucked under a couture Gucci print belt with $3,000 dollar bottles of champagne. Funny that it is not even being drunk, rather the contents are being poured from the bottle onto the bodies of voluptuous scantily clad females dancing on the pole, objectification which almost reminds me of a chef pouring basting butter to on a rotisserie chicken, which notes the extremely objectifying image it could create. Bell hooks candidly speaks about this expected form of gender role within the culture.
“they know if they can make a million dollars talking about how they want to fuck a woman…..the capitalistic forces that drive these men are going to make them go for the gusto (money)” she says as she talks about the misogynistic and anti-feminist sentiments that males in Hip-hop for years have clinged onto harder than the stack of rubber banded hundreds in their video. Though it seems the climate is changing and gender roles are being queered and the same misogyny based premise can no longer to apply to all of hip-hop videos. Now the visual picture painted depicts a whip cream white G5 Private jet being unloaded by one rapper and his one special lady. Affectionate stares between the two as he hands over the keys to a fleet of exotic European luxury vehicles parked at the strip, as he handles her butter leather louie vuitton bags to the back seat. A move which would’ve got your playa card revoked with three years pimp probation years ago. Though now it is cool as everyone from Jay-Z to Fat Joe to 50 cent does it. Like T.I. and Lil Wayne express on their hit singles though “everyone knows it aint tricking if you got it!”. Then you look at the lyrics and it expresses the same sentiments, “ So I put her car in park, and never let her cry alone/ I listen to her heartbeat cuz it plays my favorite song!” declares Wayne, the admiration is no longer in financial gifts but verbal and emotional expression. Hip-Hop is finally is jumping over the gender hurdle over the finish line of misogyny to get its’ grown man on. They are showing sensitivity, vulnerability, emotional attachment, and respect to the females they once degraded in the expected gender roles, and even admitting mistakes “ They say you can’t turn a bad girl good/ but once a good girl has gone bad, she’s gone forever, I mourn forever, shit I got to live with the fact I did you wrong forever” admits Jay-Z on Song Cry. Though now they have learned and giving their special someone “Whatever You Like” as T.I. proclaims “my chick can have whatever she wants, and go up in the store and buy any bag she wants”.
It’s basically the same idea you get when you saw the once dating but now married Jay-z and Beyonce, hard to imagine for a guy who once stated “Shit I..parts with nothin, y'all be frontin Me give my heart to a woman? Not for nothin, never happen I'll be forever mackin”. The transformation has shown that there has been tremendous growth in the expectations of gender roles in Hip-Hop, North or South, Jay-z or Wayne, Conscious or Crunk. They have reformed and found a new attitude as they reflect and declare “they love it when im hard on hoes/ they say a G don’t give a bitch keys or security codes/I agree BUT my lady aint no bitch , she gets whatever I own, so when you see understand that’s me nigga, understand im the same O.G. nigga, I know the difference between a bitch and a B nigga” – Jay-Z
“Bridging The Gap”
“Bridging The Gap”
One thing I like about Hip-Hop is when an artist can step out of his own first person perspective and tell of the story of another person from a third person perspective. Watching a clip on folkstreams.net called “cigarette blues” I noticed some parallels between blues musician Sonny Rhodes tale with those of some contemporary rappers. In the song he talks about a young lady who he was in love with or admired but whose nasty smoking habit lead to her early demise. It has always intrigued me when an artist can step out his own world to show that he is conscientious of both his environment and listener by crafting art from an observational standpoint. Sonny Rhodes during the video explains some of his bluesy music as message he preaches similar to how a sermon is delivered in a church. When I heard the song many other hip-hop narratives came to mind which were similar in content. One particular one was Nas’s first verse on “I Can” where he spits a similar narrative of a young lady whose talent and beauty left him in awe but her dependence on another harmful substance also brought some negative unwanted effects in her life.
On deeper thought I noticed another connection being that Nas father was a blues musician named Olu Dara. Matter in fact Nas collboarated with him on one his recent albums. I also noticed that Nas has a very bluesy style of lyricism mixed with the style of “kicking” intellectual street knowledge that he more than likely picked up growing up in the biggest housing projects in New York City known as Queens Bridge. A lot of Nas’s music screams a blues influence from his slow and sorrowful production to his critical narrative on many of his songs including “If I ruled the World” to “The Message” to even “Fried Chicken”. In a sense it just bridged the gap and shows how influential blues music can be with contemporary forms of art.
Atlanta Hip-Hop Week 2
Atlanta Hip-Hop
Atlanta Georgia may not be the birthplace of Hip-Hop but out of the heavy bass infected muddy waters of the Dirty South a come the rebirth of the culture. It is widely credited as the birthplace of Crunk Music ever since Lil John ripped through the scene circa 2003 with his bass heavy, and spiky jumping synthesizer rifts. Though it seems even being a huge fan of East Coast Hip-Hop myself that the majority of the Hip-Hop audience gives the South less artistic credibility than deserved. Beyond the commercially driven finger snapping, and “supermaning” is a region with enough artistic diversity to rival that of New York in the mid-90’s. On one hand you can have six-time grammy award winning Atlanta Rap pioneers Outkast with their poetically intricate lyrical approach flowing over funky but melodically soulful beats while on the other hand you can have Dem Franchise Boyz whose straight-to-the-point simplistic lyrics ride on a sing-songy flow over heavy bass. Whether it be Outkast touching on contemporary issues such as Baby Mama Drama on Miss Jackson to the rigors of staying afloat in the constantly changing music industry spun by the fickle masses or Dem Franchise Boyz spending a whole 4 minutes and 38 seconds over a 50,000 dollar beat articulating their affinity for a five dollar piece of apparel on “White Tee” you will see the artistic sound and content of Atlanta varying but at the same time being so concentrated in a particular region that it resembles a Soul food like cornucopia of musical art.“The concept of the Dirty South as elaborated by the Goodie Mob and other rappers and producers in several of the major cities of the South was complex, contradictory, and multidimensional” says writer Matthew Miller in reflection of his evaluation of the region. He seems to notice the same interesting aspect I described in the proceeding paragraph but it’s not that hard to when many Atlanta artists have been successful breaking through mainstream and now run most of the Hip-Hop world which shunned them ever since Outkast proclaimed “The South has something to say” in their acceptance speech back at the 1999 Source Awards amidst a East-West Coast rivalry fiasco. Not only have they taken the reins but they have also added their own artistic spin to it, when once Hip Hop birthed the five elements of the MC, the DJ, Breaking, Graffitti paint, and the B-Boy, it has not changed into the MC, the DJ, Cranking Soulja Boys, Automobile Candy paint, and the D-Boy. So whether it be the honestly harsh but heart-driven poems of former dope boy T.I. or the animated and lyrically intricate yet comedic rhymes of Ludacris, Atlanta has proved and made their worthy contribution to the culture.
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